Many companies often end up buying counterfeit ball bearings today because they fail to understand the true costs. Although buying counterfeit bearings may look like a good bargain upfront, it often comes with a lot of costly issues in the future. Below are a few risks associated with using counterfeit bearings in your mechanical systems today:
- Damaged equipment
- Reduced performance
- Frequent downtime
- High risks of failure
You can only avoid these aforementioned problems when you end up buying high-quality bearings. In the rest of this post, you’ll discover the different factors that influence the true costs of ball bearings today.
Upfront cost
Today, ball bearings are available in different types. The common options are angular contact bearings, miniature bearings, and deep groove ball bearings. One thing you should know about these bearings is that they have varying prices. Upfront, these bearings usually come with high price tags, as long as you’re choosing high-quality products.
Some ball bearings are also available at very low initial costs. Many companies often go for these options just to save costs. While saving costs is okay, you should keep in mind that upfront cost is just one of the few factors that influence ball bearings’ true costs.
Yes, you’ve successfully been able to save costs by choosing inferior products. But here are a few questions:
- Will these ball bearings deliver the much-needed performance when used on your equipment?
- Will the bearings last longer in your mechanical system?
- With the low-priced bearings, are you likely to get the necessary quality, which is needed for your industrial application?
In most cases, the answer to any of these questions is no. Low-priced ball bearings will never last longer and they’ll only deliver very poor performance. This is usually because they are often made with substandard materials.
Other crucial factors
One mistake companies that go for low-priced bearings make is that they only factor in the initial prices of buying ball bearings. This shouldn’t be so if you truly want to get the best out of your mechanical system.
In addition to the initial price tags, you need to factor in the following factors:
- Hidden costs
- Total costs of ownership (TCO)
- Material quality
- Equipment performance
Hidden costs
Agreed, counterfeit bearings often come with low initial costs. But do you know that these ball bearings also come with hidden costs?
You need to understand that using low-priced bearings often requires frequent maintenance. Interestingly, frequent maintenance means regular downtime. Frequent maintenance requires money while regular downtime will lower productivity in your company. These are a few hidden costs associated with using low-priced bearings. Over time, they’ll accumulate and turn into something very expensive. The only way to avoid these hidden costs is by buying competitively priced, high-quality custom bearings.
Material quality
The biggest difference between low-priced bearings and high-priced ball bearings can be seen in the material types used for producing them. Low-priced bearings often come with substandard materials, making them less capable of providing a certain level of support for axial and radial loads.
High-priced ball bearings, on the other hand, are produced with precision. They come with superior materials, which can always deliver high performance even with the most demanding industrial conditions. With these materials, you’ll only need to maintain your equipment once in a while. In the long term, you’ll only experience reduced maintenance, repair, and downtime rates.
Equipment performance
With high-priced ball bearings, you’ll surely get more than durability. As earlier mentioned, these bearings are made with precision. This is why they can deliver high performance even when used in demanding applications. This will surely increase your company’s productivity.
Total costs of ownership
The total cost of ownership (TCO) is a crucial factor worth considering when buying spare parts for mechanical systems. TCO goes beyond just factoring in the initial costs of ball bearings. In addition, TCO also factors in other costs, such as longevity, equipment performance, maintenance costs, repair costs, and replacement needs.
Agreed, high-priced bearings require you to pay more money upfront. But over time, these bearings have low TCO when compared to the so-called low-priced bearings.
Looking for high-quality ball bearings to buy today? If yes, then TFL-Bearing is one of the best-bearing brands you can rely on to get the best deals. You can visit the official website today to find different products that suit your needs.
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