NTN Timing System, Wheel Bearings, Hubs

NTN began in 1918 when investor Noboru Niwa, his sales company Tomoe Trading Co., and engineer Jiro Nishizono joined together to design and manufacture the first NTN ball bearings. By 1939, NTN had constructed what would become its global manufacturing center, Kuwana Works, and in 1954, NTN became the first Japanese industrial manufacturer to be awarded the prestigious Deming Prize for statistical quality control. NTN continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s as additional factories were built and NTN sales operations expanded to Europe.

NTN Bearing Corporation of America was established in 1963 to support NTN bearings in the American market. NTN was now capable of manufacturing ball bearings, spherical, tapered, cylindrical, and needle roller bearings and automotive constant velocity joints. By the mid 1980s, NTN had acquired the Bower brand from Federal-Mogul Corporation, thereby expanding the company’s line of tapered and cylindrical roller bearings. Ten years later, NTN acquired BCA, again from Federal-Mogul, to round out its product line with automotive clutch release bearings and specialty agricultural bearing assemblies. NTN’s success has continued into the new millennium with seven new North American plants.