Press Release

Press Release

April 21, 2008

NSK Ltd.
CSR Division Headquarters
Public Relations Department

NSK Establishes Independent Research and Development Body in China

Tokyo, Japan, April 17, 2008 - NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarter: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Seiichi Asaka) is pleased to announce the founding of its China Technology Center ( CEO: Shinichiro Takahashi), an independent research and development corporation aimed at enriching the quality of the company's sales and technology services. NSK, a leading bearing manufacturer in Japan, seeks to maintain its position as the top bearing manufacturer in the rapidly-developing Chinese market, and to develop a strong overall framework which combines production, sales and technology.

The new technology center will work towards strengthening sales engineering, localizing a speeding up design, and boosting research and development functions to meet the unique demands of the Chinese market.  Through this, NSK aims to expand its business scale in China to 100 billion yen in 2010.

With the expansion of its overseas operations, NSK has established a global technological service framework.  With Fujisawa Technology Center serving as the central hub, NSK has established a total of twelve research and development units in the 4 main worldwide regions of Japan, the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The profile of the center is as follows:
Company Name NSK (CHINA) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD
Location HUAQIAO INTERNATIONAL SERVICE BUSINESS PARK, KUNSHAN CITY, JIANGSU PROVINCE
Capital 20 million dollars (approx. 2.2 billion Yen)
Investment 4.4 billion Yen (to 2011)
Date of Establishment January, 2008
Construction Commenced Summer, 2008
Completion Summer, 2009
Land Area approx. 30,000㎡
Building Area Office building: approx. 10,000㎡ (7 floors),
Laboratory building: approx. 6,000㎡ (2 floors)
Employees 300
Products Bearings, Precision Machinery Products, Automotive Parts, Mechatronic Products (all NSK products)
Activities Basic research, applied research, development and design, investigative analysis
Production engineering R&D Providing technical support to users

Technology Plan

1. Organization, Personnel

In China, 65 employees are currently employed in the China Technology Division at the company's main Chinese production base, NSK Kunshan (suburb of Shanghai City).  When the new company building is completed in 2009, China Technology Division will be shifted to the new independent research and development corporation. The range of functions handled will be expanded, and staff numbers significantly increased, employing approximately 300 staff members in 2011.

2. Technology

The current China Technology Division mainly provides technological support for ball bearing products, such as product testing and evaluation. In addition to this, the new research and development organization will provide technological support for all NSK products, such as machinery components and linear products.

By engaging in the research and design of products which had previously only been handled in Japan, the new center will develop broader, higher quality research and development functions, with a speedier design process. The center will also serve a new function of developing products to meet the specific needs of the local Chinese market, promoting the acceleration of the China business.

Image of the finished building

Image of the finished building