subsidiary of enpro industries inc. 1 nyse npo industry manufacturing founded 1910 headquarters annecy france number of locations 8 manufacturing facilities in the u.s. germany france brazil slovakia and china area served worldwide products metal polymer solid polymer filament wound and metallic plain bearings ; bushing blocks ; bearing housings number of employees 1 100 website www.ggbearings.com www.enproindustries.com ggb bearing technology formerly glacier garlock bearings manufactures self lubricating and prelubricated plain bearings for various industries and applications . it has production facilities in the u.s. germany france slovakia brazil and china . the company is an enpro industries inc. company nyse npo . the company manufactures metal polymer bearings engineered plastics bearings fiber reinforced composite bushings metal and bimetal bearings bushing blocks & thrust plates and bearing assemblies . 2 contents 1 history 2 industries 3 present day operations 4 references 5 external links history edit ggb bearing technology has its origins in 19th century technology used in steam pistons on industrial equipment and by the 21st century saw its advanced metal polymer bearings used on nasa s curiosity rover on the surface of mars . 3 high points in the company s growth include the development of the industry s first metal polymer bearing with bronze and polytetrafluoroethylene ptfe lining . these du self lubricating bushes launched in 1956 are still being manufactured specified and used today . its dx marginally lubricated bearings introduced in 1965 are still specified and used for applications where a thin film of lubricant is required . 4 recent advancements in ggb materials technology include the development of products like the hi ex bearing material which complies with end of life vehicles directive rohs and weee requirements limiting hazardous substances . timeline 1887 olin j. garlock 5 invented a system for sealing piston rods in industrial steam engines in palmyra n.y. 1955 patented a process for mush impregnation of porous bronze and shortly thereafter began producing the industry s first metal polymer plain bearings . 1956 introduced du the world s first steel backed metal polymer bushings with bronze and ptfe lining . 4 1958 garlock inc. was established as the u.s. distributor for glacier . 1965 launched the marginally lubricated dx metal polymer product for greased and oil lubricated applications . 4 1970s glacier licensed technology to a number of overseas bearing manufacturers . licensees included sic france garlock bearings usa . 1976 glacier and garlock inc. established a joint venture for the production of metal polymer plain bearings in the u.s. garlock bearings inc. 1978 introduced fiber reinforced composite bushings in the usa including gar max . 6 1986 launched hi ex metal polymer bushes material designed for high temperature applications . 7 2002 b.f. goodrich spun off its engineered industrial products division creating enpro industries inc. the new parent company of glacier garlock bearings . 8 2003 introduced lead free dp31 metal polymer bushes with improved performance under lubricated conditions . acquired saver north america a producer of self lubricating composite bearings . glacier garlock bearings expanded business in asia . 7 2004 glacier garlock bearings changed its name to ggb bearing technology and opened a production facility in su any slovakia . 9 2007 introduced sbc sealed bearing cartridges for off highway equipment applications . acquired boehringer kunststofftechnik gmbh a precision injection molder of high performance engineered plastics bearings . 10 2008 production facilities were established in suzhou china . 11 the new dx10 bushings won frost & sullivan s product innovation of the year award in the class 7 8 truck bearings category . 7 2009 fiber reinforced composite bushings introduced to the european and asian markets ; ggb north america certified to as9100c the aerospace industry s standard for quality management systems . 7 2010 introduced lead free dp10 and dp11 metal polymer bearings for under marginally lubricated and dry running conditions . 7 2011 ggb acquired pi bearings 12 a producer of pical aluminum alloy bushing blocks for demanding fluid power applications . ggb plants certified to ohsas 18001 for health and safety management systems . 2012 dts10 machinable metal polymer bushes are launched for the fluid power and compressor markets . ggb bearings used in nasa s curiosity mars rover . 3 2013 launched new self lubricating metallic plain bearings ggb csm and ggb cbm as well as flash click two piece double flanged engineered plastics bearings . 7 2014 series of self lubricating sintered bronze and sintered iron bearings introduced including ggb bp25 ggb fp20 and ggb so16 . three plants mark milestone anniversaries 40 years for heilbronn germany and dieuze france and 10 years for su any slovakia . 7 2015 introduced hpmb self lubricating fiber reinforced composite bushings with machinable liner and ggb sz lead free bimetal bearings . the thorofare nj usa filament wound plant relocated to a nearby larger facility . industries edit the company s bearings are used by the automotive 13 aerospace agriculture construction medical 14 fluid power 15 compressor off highway 16 recreational equipment renewable energy 17 oil & gas and primary metals production industries . present day operations edit ggb plain bearings are found in a variety of demanding and highly engineered applications worldwide . notably the du bushing is a critical component in the drill that is used on nasa s curiosity rover to collect soil samples on the surface of mars . on the curiosity rover the du bushing serves as the primary suspension component for the mission critical drill spindle . 3 the dx bearing can be found in the lokomat pro a functional robotics system used to improve mobility in individuals following neurological diseases and injuries . 18 additionally ggb products can be found in the gateshead millennium bridge ggb dbtm monometal maintenance free bearing the miter gates of the panama canal ggb db cast bronze hemispherical bearing and the xiangjiaba hydropower plant hpm and hpf fiber reinforced composite bearings . references edit official 2011 enpro and ggb annual sales figures . official 2014 enpro and ggb annual sales figures . a b c bearings from enpro s ggb unit go to mars . reuters . retrieved 31 march 2016 . a b c austin morgan tom . what to wear . eureka . retrieved 31 march 2016 . a brief history of palmyra . a world of bearings pdf . engnet global . retrieved 31 march 2016 . a b c d e f g ggb north america . macoin . bf goodrich garlock division acquires glacier industrial bearings from dana corporation . ebearing news . may 2001 . new bearing facility in slovakia marks enpro s third new facility opening in three months . the auto channel . november 2004 . kay falk . drivetrains bearings go a step beyond . oem off highway . retrieved 31 march 2016 . ggb begins polymer bearing production in china . ebearing news . may 2008 . pi bearing technologies acquired by enpro industries . hydro world . 2011 . bearing all pdf . engine technology today . march 2007 . plain bearings shake a leg . machine design . january 2008 . spherical bearings provided for son la pdf . hydropower & dams . 2008 . bearings go a step beyond . oem off highway . february 2007 . ggb s hpmb bearings approved for use in hydropower turbines . reuters . retrieved 31 march 2016 . bearing tips . retrieved 31 march 2016 . external links edit ggb bearing technology company website company profile by engine technology international company profile by economy tribune company profile by oem off highway company profile by motorindia company profile by eureka company profile by traceparts retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ggb bearing technology & oldid 733420688 categories manufacturing companies of france navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 7 august 2016 at 18 08 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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