Built for Customers: Inside Timken’s Product Pipeline

From enabling a circular global rail economy to supporting aircraft lightweighting and more efficient flight, innovative Timken product solutions push the boundaries of motion for a new era of industrial technology.

That innovation starts with customer feedback. John Szarka, vice president of product management for Engineered Bearings, explains how the company’s structured, responsive approach to product development ensures smart, efficient Timken solutions that move customers forward.

“Customers want solutions that are ready when they need them, deliver the expected results and offer long-term value. That’s what we continue to deliver every day.”

John Szarka
Vice President, Product Management – Engineered Bearings

Q: How does Timken ensure its product pipeline aligns with customer needs?

Szarka: Customer input is at the heart of everything we do. One of the most effective ways we prioritize product development is through our technology roadmaps. These are built by our application engineering teams and shaped with direct input from customers. They help identify solutions our customers need today — and anticipate what they’ll need tomorrow — based on key industry trends like sustainability, efficiency and automation.

We also conduct annual product line reviews to evaluate performance and uncover opportunities for improvement or innovation. It’s a highly collaborative, cross-functional process. In many cases, our sales and service engineering teams are the spark for new ideas. They’re in constant contact with customers and submit thousands of requests each year that help us spot real-world challenges and opportunities. That feedback plays a critical role in shaping where we invest next.

Q: How does that customer focus translate into actual product innovation?

Szarka: It happens in both incremental and transformative ways. Incrementally, we constantly work with customers to adapt existing Timken bearing solutions to meet new industry needs. That might mean applying a specialized coating, adjusting lubrication systems, or fine-tuning the load capacity of a mounted bearing design. These kinds of updates happen every day and make a real difference in performance.

On the transformative side, we take a broader view. When we identify emerging trends, we invest in researching and developing entirely new technologies. One example is our ceramic hybrid roller bearings for aerospace, which respond to the need for lighter weight and longer life. We also introduced a next-generation solution that combines the benefits of cylindrical and spherical bearings in response to fan and paper customers looking for higher-speed capabilities. For food and beverage customers, we engineered a new bearing seal that solve challenges in high-pressure washdown environments. These all started with a single customer challenge and grew into solutions we could bring to the wider market.

Timken® EnviroSpexx roller bearings were designed with customer input to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Q: What do you currently have in the works to support immediate customer challenges?

Szarka: We have several new developments in the pipeline, all driven by what our customers are asking for. We’re expanding our cylindrical roller bearing line to include smaller sizes with polymer cages — ideal for general industrial applications. We’re also rolling out a self-aligning ball bearing that handles misalignment well, which was driven by requests from our authorized distributors.

One of the most exciting initiatives is our EnviroSpexx™ line. It started as a solution for automotive customers, and we’ve adapted it for industrial applications to help reduce torque, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. We’re also standardizing our sealed spherical roller bearings, which used to be custom-made, so they’re easier to access across more industries. Every one of these efforts is about staying in step with customer needs — and being ready before they ask.

Q: Thinking out three to five years, what’s in store for the Timken portfolio?

Szarka: Customer demand for efficiency and sustainability will continue. While concepts like power density, or getting the most power with the least input possible, have been around awhile, the urgency behind them has ramped up. We’ll continue to invest in addressing these trends.

We’re also closely watching fast-growing sectors like food and beverage, aerospace and automation. They have new challenges, which we can help overcome by ensuring easy access to a robust portfolio. Customers want solutions that are ready when they need them, deliver the expected results and offer long-term value. That’s what we’ll continue to deliver every day.

As industry needs evolve and the future of motion changes, Timken helps customers operate and compete more effectively. Learn more about the company’s investment in customer-centric solutions like digital self-service platforms and industrial bearing repair services.

Published: 2025/07/2