A new mobile tool aims to simplify the process of mounting and installing bearings and is designed so that it can be used by everyone in a maintenance organisation.

The application (app) is said to be suitable for use by all engineering and maintenance teams to help minimise the problems of incorrect mounting, reduce installation time and cost, and extend the operating life of bearings.

The SKF Bearing Assist app was developed in collaboration with customers and provides detailed mounting instructions for a range of SKF bearings. The company asserts that its mobile tool enables quick, correct and easy mounting of bearings.

Bearing Assist also allows engineers to record the work they have carried out, which can improve the way that bearing knowledge is shared across an organisation.

The app contains detailed product information and visual images, including bearing designation, bearing type and suffix descriptions, as well as dimensions and illustrations. The mounting instructions cover bearings with basic design that are included in the standard assortment. Information such as clearance reduction and drive-up method calculations, as well as recommendations on lubrication, can be used to save time and effort when fitting bearings.

In addition, the supplied information can help to improve the efficiency of bearing installations and allows maintenance and production engineers to improve fitting techniques by following detailed instructions.

Once a bearing has been mounted, it can be recorded on the app with details such as date, specific asset, location and work order. Details of which specific bearing has been mounted can also be added and results can be exported as a PDF, reducing the time needed to produce a mounting report.

Logging details in an efficient manner aims to help improve maintenance collaboration, maintenance planning and asset reliability.

Bearing Assist is available as a free download from app stores, with in-app registration required for access to full functionality such as storing and sharing records. Log-in details are the same as for ProCollect and other SKF applications.