Carter Manufacturing has signed a distribution agreement with US custom bearing specialist Napoleon Engineering Services (NES) to provide custom engineered bearings in small and medium order quantities and on fast lead times to the aerospace industry and other markets in Europe. NES manufactures, tests and inspects bearings for industry sectors including aerospace, defence, automotive, oil and gas, medical, and wind energy. Its custom bearings include deep groove ball bearings, angular contact ball bearings, double row self-aligning bearings, needle roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings, in outside diameters ranging from 20 to 350mm. Chris Napoleon, president and chief engineer at NES said: “Carter is a great fit for NES, as we are both niche providers of bearing products and services for similar markets. The aerospace industry in particular requires highly engineered bearing products in very small batch quantities but on faster lead times than the major global bearing suppliers can provide. Our typical lot size for custom bearings is 25 to 50 pieces, with lead times of between 12 and 26 weeks, which is significantly faster than other major bearing suppliers.” NES uses a variety of materials to suit specific applications, which can vary from satellite and UAV arm actuation systems to antennas, fuel pumps, ram air turbines, rocket engine valves, turbo pump, rotorcraft transmissions and aircraft turbine engines. Karl Brundell, managing director of Carter Manufacturing commented: “With our local market knowledge combined with NES’ expertise, we would expect to see a great deal of interest from customers in Europe who will see strong opportunities for custom engineered bearings. “In a marketplace that has traditionally been dominated by major global bearing manufacturers that require large volumes to start production, this new distribution agreement will provide a solution to satisfy this need,” he added.