Timken in outsourcing mode

bangalore: with margins getting squeezed for coporates across the globe, outsourcing seems to be the buzzword even in old economy. bearings major timken, as part of its restructuring exercise, has decided to increase sourcing from outside the us. "the idea is to step up our outsourcing from countries which have low production costs," said james w. griffith, president and chief operating officer, timken.the us multinational has put timken india on par with other low-cost production bases like china and singapore. the us company till date has invested around $35 million in its jamshedpur plant in india and plans to invest another $5 million to expand capacity. timken entered india through a joint venture with tata 10 years ago but bought out tata''s stake in 1998. at present, timken holds 80 per cent equity while the balance is held by the general public. according to bukhard stumpf, country manager (india), timken india will be able to increase its export of tapered roller bearings to its parent from $9 million to $25 million after the expansion. in the next couple of years, timken hopes to increase its outsourcing to $150 million from its various plants across the globe. besides increasing its share of outsourcing, timken has also decided to focus on service and has set up an engineering research company in india. "the indian company with skilled professionals will be a global technology supplier to other markets," said james griffith. the research outfit in india at present has been working closely with its parent by offering technical support to timken''s global clients. the export of services of the research company amounted to $2.5 million in 2001 and the same is expected to double by the end of the current calender year.