Global Quality: Defined by Customers, Delivered by Timken

Those who know the Timken name associate it, invariably, with premium quality. As the company has grown globally and expanded its product portfolio and expertise, this enduring commitment to quality has remained a driving force for supporting diverse industries and applications.

At the heart of this effort is Ann Langton, general manager of quality, who leads the engineered bearing quality team that ensures Timken solutions across its portfolio meet stringent, standardized expectations — no matter where or how they are manufactured.

“Customers recognize Timken quality in every product they receive, whether it’s manufactured in France, India or the U.S.,” Langton said. “That’s a huge differentiator for our customers who count on us to deliver on their expectations every time.”

Quality excellence for a portfolio that meets real-world needs

According to Langton, quality is one of the greatest standards by which Timken measures itself, and that definition comes from customers.

“To achieve excellence,” she said, “we must understand and deliver on our customers’ requirements and expectations, not just at a transactional level but as long-term partners invested in their success.”

This philosophy drives the Timken Quality Management System (TQMS), a framework implemented throughout the company’s expansive network of engineered bearing and industrial motion manufacturing facilities. TQMS aligns internal processes with external demands to ensure a seamless follow of quality — from initial product design and manufacturing to delivery and customer support.

Global standards for global customers

While Timken commits to high-quality standards worldwide, TQMS provides flexibility for how those standards can be implemented based on the unique, customer-focused processes and equipment at each facility. Whether a facility team consists of 100 or 1,000 employees, every site must meet the same high bar.

Langton’s global engineered bearings quality team — whose expertise spans North America, Europe, China and India — supports these efforts through hands-on collaboration, training and audits. They also facilitate knowledge sharing across plants and help tailor solutions to align with local resource availability.

“Smaller sites without their own certified internal auditors can reach out to nearby ‘sister’ facilities that can perform audits and provide additional support,” Langton said. “It’s a very collaborative approach.”

Advancing quality with metrics, mindset and recognition

Driven by customer expectations, Timken continually enhances its approach to evaluating quality across all operations. Metrics like complaint resolution and audit scores remain vital, with the company recently incorporating more emphasis on cultural indicators: Are teams proactively identifying issues? Is quality embedded in everyday decision-making? Are corrective actions closed quickly and thoroughly?

This evolution is captured in the company’s Foundation of Quality Excellence (FQE) Awards, which annually recognize facilities that exemplify the high Timken quality standards.

“Our team lives our quality culture at the highest level every day,” Langton said. “They are passionate about serving customers, developing and maintaining strong documentation, embedding TQMS across all their processes and demonstrating amazing responsiveness to customers’ questions and concerns.”

Responding to challenges, driving improvements

While the purpose of Timken quality standards is to proactively avoid quality concerns, their true value shines when issues do occasionally arise. Langton provides two recent examples: accurately identifying and fixing a software glitch to ensure production parameters for a product line and preventing performance issues in a customer’s million-dollar equipment through rapid response.

“Our responsiveness is our strength,” she said. “We don’t react to problems. We anticipate and learn from them, building better processes as a result.”

This proactive mindset also drives greater efficiencies at Timken — benefiting customers through initiatives like streamlined inspection processes that reduce lead time and strategic investments in manufacturing assets that boost production capacity to meet industry demand.

“Ultimately, our goal is to make every Timken plant a model of quality excellence,” Langton said. “Because when we deliver on our promises to customers, we strengthen their trust in our capabilities, our solutions and our brand.”

Deep Timken expertise in quality, engineering and manufacturing ensures customer equipment performs efficiently and sustainable across industries. Learn how Timken delivers solutions for applications with the world’s most stringent quality requirements from commercial aircraft to surgical robots.

Last Updated: 2025/06/26

Published: 2025/06/23