SKF consolidates seal operations in the North American market

SKF consolidates seal operations in the North American market SKF USA Inc. has announced a plan for consolidating its Chicago Rawhide seal plants to improve the company's long-term competitive position. The plan includes the closure of the Franklin facility in North Carolina and the outsourcing of the stamping operations from the plant in Guadalajara, Mexico. Production from the Franklin plant will be transferred to other Chicago Rawhide facilities in North America. The plant in Franklin manufactures standard line seals for various industrial customer segments in North America. In CR Mexico the component stamping operations in the manufacturing of seals will be outsourced to a local manufacturer. The process for phasing-out is expected to take place over a period of at least 12 months and some 170 employees in the two plants will be affected. The cost of this consolidation will be included in the provisions to be taken for the fourth quarter, which were announced in the nine-month report in October this year. Göteborg, December 11, 2003 Aktiebolaget SKF (publ.) For further information, please contact: PRESS: Lars G Malmer, SKF Group Communication, tel. +46 (0)31 337 1541, e-mail: Lars.G.Malmer@skf.com IR: Marita Björk, SKF Investor Relations, tel. +46 (0)31 3371994, e-mail: Marita.Bjork@skf.com Aktiebolaget SKF, SE-415 50 Göteborg, Sweden, tel. +46 (0)31 337 1000, fax +46 (0)31 337 2832, www.skf.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/11/20031211BIT00080/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/11/20031211BIT00080/wkr0002.pdf