In order to increase the number of learning centres and expand outside Europe, SKF in 2006 inaugurated three new college campuses – in Pune, India; in Shanghai, China; and in Elgin, Illinois, in the United States. All three campuses are located in connection to an SKF plant to enable course members and visitors to experience the production at these sites.

The college campuses provide SKF employees with training and also host conferences and meetings for SKF customers and distributors. The vision is to create SKF hubs worldwide where knowledge is increased and shared. The next step is to open a campus in Latin America.

Another well-established educational facility, SKF Distributor College, recently awarded its 15,000th certificate. The main objective of SKF Distributor College is to enhance the support distributors give their customers through training in the proper use of SKF products and services
as well as the applications in which they will be used.

For a number of years SKF has been working together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to define new models to evaluate and measure the energy use of systems in order to improve energy efficiency and develop new solutions. One example is the design of bearings in which SKF evaluates the energy impact of any change in design along the life cycle: during manufacturing, in use and in the recycle stages.

SKF is also working closely with the School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, to support three PhD research positions on sustainability, two of which focus on BeyondZero. The third position focuses on corporate social responsibility.

  BeyondZero, a trademark of the SKF Group, is an initiative to increase the positive impacts of SKF products and services so that the overall environmental impact becomes positive.