Counterfeits: On the increase

Brammer is reminding UK companies of the threat posed by counterfeit engineering spares and the importance of only sourcing spares through authorised distributors.

The advice follows a recent court order in France, which saw a distributor hit with swingeing fines after being found guilty of selling counterfeit SKF bearings. This incident was the latest in a series of counterfeit bearing seizures by authorities across Europe.

Brammer's Jeremy Salisbury (pictured), says: "The threat from counterfeit bearings seems to be increasing and given the problems these products can create in terms of unscheduled downtime, reduced performance, damage to machinery, invalidation of warranty and the risk to employee health and safety, it is simply not worth the risk of buying through an unauthorised source."