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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Keeping the machinery moving U.S. Bearings and Drives supplies the critical components for almost every type of mechanical power transmission system Alan Bailey Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
Look at any type of machine and chances are you’ll see moving parts such as ball bearings, gears, drive belts and pulleys. U.S. Bearings and Drives Inc. specializes in these critical components that transmit power through much of the machinery we depend on every day.
“Anything that moves something from point A to point B is power transmission. If it rolls or moves in a linear direction we probably sell the parts for it,” Dena Kelley, the Anchorage branch manager for U.S. Bearings and Drives told Petroleum News.
The company’s Alaska and Seattle operations started in 1952 as Bearing Engineering and Supplies or BESCO. Three years ago U.S. Bearings and Drives bought out BESCO and acquired the company’s outlets in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Seattle. U.S. Bearings and Drives forms part of the BC Bearing Group, based in Burnaby, British Columbia.
U.S. Bearings and Drives operates 15 branches in various parts of the United States. Industrial applications The company deals mainly in parts for industrial applications and different branches tend to specialize in the needs of local industries.
“We focus on industrial products, so (in Alaska) we sell to the mines, the oil companies and the drilling companies,” Kelley said. The Anchorage branch also sells HVAC components like motors, pulleys and belts, as well as some automotive components such as wheel bearings, Kelley said.
U.S. Bearings and Drive’s aggregate division supplies parts and expertise for making, handling and sifting rock aggregate.
The division supports the Alaska aggregate and mining industries — the company supplies rock crushers and the Anchorage branch carries aggregate handling components, including the motor drives, rollers, idlers and scrapers for conveyor belts. Wide range of products A tour of the company’s Anchorage warehouse reveals a bewildering array of parts ranging from heavy-duty electric motors and motor couplings to a variety of gears. Wheel bearings of many types and sizes occupy one line of shelves, while other shelves contain sprockets and chains for high-power industrial drive systems.
“(Drive) belts are our biggest line,” Kelley said. “Loctite (chemicals) are our second biggest line.”
The chemicals include anti-seize compounds for preventing seized bolts, thread locking paste for preventing bolts from working loose and special-purpose lubricants for industrial applications.
“We carry a line of lubricants called Superlube and Viperlube, which are high-temperature, salt water-resistant lubricants,” Kelley said. They’re really good for applications in Alaska and we sell them to the marine industry, she said. In fact Alaska conditions tend to require particularly robust materials and equipment.
“Typically, because our climate conditions are so rough, (our customers) are looking for products that will last and most of the time ... they want to know that we’re going to sell them a quality product that’s not going to fail,” Kelley said.
However, Kelley emphasized that the company also carries an economy line of products for less demanding applications. Small company-style local service Although the original BESCO company has become part of a large organization, Kelley takes pride in continuing BESCO’s tradition of providing a small company-style of local service. In fact, U.S. Bearings and Drives gives each branch a high level of autonomy in how it operates. For example, a local branch may carry specific products for local customers.
Company personnel assist customers in finding parts they need and in following up on any problems encountered.
And customers sometimes need assistance with the installation of equipment.
For example, the variable frequency drives that the company sells require particularly careful installation — a variable frequency drive enables an electric motor to run at a range of horsepower settings.
“If you do (the install) wrong you can fry the whole box,” Kelley said. “We like to have someone knowledgeable and experienced there to make sure that everything goes fine.” Training and expertise Maintaining the expertise to help customers involves continuous training.
“We have an on-going training program,” Kelley said. “We do staff training once a week. Sometimes it’s a vendor that comes up and does the training and other times it comes out of videos or books.”
The Anchorage branch also maintains an extensive library of reference publications for both company personnel and customers.
“We also offer free training to the customers,” Kelley said. “We just recently did a seminar with Loctite where we went onto Elmendorf and did a presentation for 30 people on how to use Loctite products.”
And many manufacturers provide expert support. For example, a manufacturer’s engineering staff can design products such as the massive motor couplings that go into some oilfield facilities.
“Once the engineering staff has determined what the customer needs, then we go ahead and quote them that product,” Kelley said. “And that way they’re guaranteed to be backed up ... because what the engineering staff recommends will be warrantied.” Large parts inventory For off-the-shelf components, many customers look for rapid response in obtaining spare parts — local availability of parts may be critical to a customer’s operations. To meet this need, U.S. Bearings and Drives’ 5,000 square-foot warehouse in Anchorage contains a particularly large and comprehensive supply of parts.
At the moment Kelley is expanding the inventory of parts for aggregate processing for the sand and gravel industry’s summer operations.
“The sand and gravel companies, if they have a breakdown, it’s costing them a lot of money every hour because of our short (summer) season,” Kelley said. “So our goal was ... to be able to provide anything they needed out of stock, so they wouldn’t have to wait a day for us to fly something out of Seattle.” Competitive pricing Although Kelley ensures that her branch office focuses on providing an excellent local service, she sees major benefits in being part of a large corporation. For example, she can offer her customers very competitive prices for the products: “We’ve got unlimited buying power and we can take advantage of the price incentives and pre-paid freight incentives that vendors will offer to U.S. Bearings and Drives,” she said.
And U.S. Bearings and Drives’ internal computer system, known as Eclipse, minimizes inventory costs by monitoring inventory levels in relation to product demand.
“I don’t have to continuously pay attention to what is being sold ... because Eclipse will pay attention for me and it will tell me to order it,” Kelley said. “It also keeps track of what’s not selling and it will tell me to send that back.”
The computer system also enables all the company branches to see each other’s inventories. If one branch doesn’t carry a product that a customer needs, the sales staff can reserve and order the product from another branch. The sales staff also uses the system to send messages to staff in other branches.
“If we’re looking for a hard-to-find item ... nine times out of ten somebody’s going to come back and say ‘yep, I know exactly where to get that’,” Kelley said.
It all comes back to customer service.
“Our goal is to actually be a partner to our customer,” Kelley said. “We don’t want them to just come to buy things from us. We want to be there ... and bring value to them by offering expertise and helping them out.”
Editor’s note: Alan Bailey owns Badger Productions in Anchorage, Alaska
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