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General Bearing Corporation was founded in 1958 by Seymour Gussack, currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors, as an engineering-oriented supplier which designed bearings for a variety of special industrial applications. In 1965, using its established sales force, the Company began marketing standard precision bearings to OEM's.
In 1975, the Company formed it Distribution Division, which sold the Company's full line of products, both manufactured and imported, to industrial distributors throughout the U.S. In 1969, the Company built a manufacturing facility in North Carolina and moved its domestic manufacturing operations there. Bearings and bearing components produced at this facility were sold primarily to the automotive industry.
In 1985, the North Carolina facility was sold, and in October 1987, the Company purchased the assets of Hyatt Clark, a former division of General Motors. Hyatt was primarily a manufacturer of Tapered Roller Bearings for the automotive and railroad industries. This transaction presented General Bearing with the opportunity to acquire a large amount of equipment to establish new domestic manufacturing capabilities, to utilize the well - recognized Hyatt trademark, and to gain entry into the Tapered Roller Bearing market and railroad market.
In 1987, a portion of the assets acquired were used to establish a new manufacturing facility in Union, New Jersey and to form a joint venture in China, Shanghai General Bearing Co., Ltd. (SGBC). The joint venture provided for SGBC to manufacture bearings and bearing components using the equipment obtained from acquisition of the Hyatt assets. In 1994, SGBC was certified as a supplier of wheel bearings to Shanghai Volkswagen. In September 1997 Shanghai General achieved certification with the requirements of GB/T19002-1994 idt ISO9002:1994
In January 1996, the Company headed by President David L. Gussack, moved into their new corporate headquarters, located on an 18-acre site, at 44 High Street, West Nyack, New York 10994. The new facility provides 35,000 square feet of office space and 155,000 square feet of industrial area. That same year a second joint venture was established in China, the Shanghai Pudong General Bearing Co., Ltd.
In November 1997, General Bearing formally opened its third joint venture facility to produce bearings in China, the Ningbo General Bearing Co., Ltd., further bolstering our position as an innovative, cost-effective bearing provider to the automotive industry. This underscores the flexibility which continues to drive our growth and enhance our overall presence in niche markets.
In December 1999, General Bearing Corporation formed Jiangsu General Ball & Roller Company, Ltd. (JGBR), a joint venture company in which GBC has controlling interest. Located in Rugao City, JGBR is a manufacturer of rolling elements for bearings ; its products are sold under the "Li Xing" and "JGBR" brands in China and internationally. In a short period of time JGBR has grown to become the leading manufacturer of steel balls in China. Its product offering of chrome, carbon and stainless steel balls are manufactured in newly constructed facilities totaling 300,000 square feet. JGBR is complemented by a technical support center and distribution warehouse in the U.S. Similar to other GBC operations, JGBR is both ISO and QS9000 certified.
General Bearing sources, assembles and distributes a variety of bearing components and bearing products, including ball bearings, tapered roller bearings, spherical roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings under the Hyatt and The General trademarks. The Company supplies original equipment manufacturers ("OEM's") and the industrial aftermarket principally in the United States and Canada. The Company's products are used in a broad range of applications, including automobiles, railroad cars, locomotives, trucks, office equipment, machinery and appliances. General Bearing achieved QS-9000/ISO-9001 certification in January 1998, and most recently were certified to TS-16949:2002 including the requirements of ISO-9001:2000 in September 2004. TS-16949 is the automotive industry's highest globally accepted quality standard to date.
Through flexibility in manufacturing and sourcing, as well as attentive customer service, the Company strives to be a reliable, innovative and cost effective provider of bearing components and products to the approximately $5 billion per year U.S. bearing market.
