SKF Group, as a part of its ongoing initiatives to ensure the supply of genuine and reliable products to its customers, announced the seizure of a sizable number of products marked “SKF” from 5 counterfeit sellers in the main bearing market in Nigeria recently. These traders were non-authorised traders of SKF.
Based on the initial information shared with the authorities, a thorough investigation was conducted, and enforcement action was then planned. The raid was carried out by the local Nigerian police authorities with support from SKF Group. A large number of counterfeit SKF packed bearings of various types and sizes, used across industrial and automotive applications as well as several empty cartons and packaging material were seized.
Counterfeit bearings continue to be a challenge in recent years and all markets are now susceptible to receiving these unpredictable quality products, of all brands, unknowingly. These counterfeit products may lead to production and other losses due to unplanned shutdowns and could destroy expensive plant machinery.
SKF shows no tolerance for counterfeit products and continues to work hard to keep counterfeits away from the Nigerian market. SKF will continue to educate its customers on the importance of buying genuine bearings. This raid was carried out on a tip-off received from the end customers who suffered huge production losses due to counterfeit bearings and being cheated by receiving unsuspected sub-standard bearings.
Counterfeit products look very similar to genuine products and only trained SKF personnel can recognise if a product is genuine. SKF actively assists local authorities in continuously acting against this illegal activity. SKF supports customers by verifying the authenticity of doubtful products by encouraging customers to use an easy-to-use app called “SKF Authenticate”. The best way to safeguard authenticity is to source products from authorised distributors.
