The Timken Company is entering what some are calling an industry recovery, and the Timken Aerospace division is a major component of the improving economic climate. According to general manager for aerospace Larry Shiembob, the Canton, Ohio-based company has been investing throughout the recession, expanding its product line and investing in a growing global presence.

Shiembob noted that today, 50 percent of Timken Aerospace revenue is from outside North America and Timkin as a whole is on track to surpass $5 billion in revenue in 2011.
At NBAA 2011 in Las Vegas, Timken announced completion of a new $2-million engine test cell at the company’s Mesa, Ariz. facility, where it now provides in-house engine and component overhaul services for a variety of engine platforms on airplanes and rotorcraft. The test cell is capable of analyzing Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A and PT6T engines as well as the Honeywell T53.

“With these comprehensive capabilities at Timken’s Mesa facility, we can now receive a customer’s engine, completely overhaul it with either OEM or Timken replacement parts, and complete acceptance testing, all at one location,” said Shiembob.

Expansion by acquisition has long been a goal of Timken, even in the midst of the recession. Those acquisitions include Philadelphia Gear for $200 million and Drives, LLC for $92 million, “all of which compliment our current revenue sources.”

While most of Timken Aerospace revenue is from within the U.S., v-p for aerospace and defense Erik Paulhardt said there is growing interest from the Asian market and that its Latin American market is continuing to grow.

The diversity, global reach and wise acquisitions and have all contributed to the present position of Timken and the Timken Aerospace division, said Paulhardt. “We’re now in a place to meet a recovery.”