SKF President, CEO Tom Johnstone to step down

Aug 25, 2014

Sweden's SKF Group announces that President and CEO Tom Johnstone has decided to step down, effective 1 January 2015. Photo at right from SKF.

Leif Östling, Chairman of the Board of SKF, comments: “Under Tom’s leadership, SKF has developed into a knowledge engineering company, profitably increased its sales from SEK 41 billion in 2003 to SEK 63 billion last year, and delivered a total shareholder return of over 400%.”

Commenting on 2013, Johnstone said SKF stepped up investment in R&D: "We increased the spend to 2.9% of sales and increased the number of patent filings by 11% – around 2 every working day." The company also "opened opened 6 new SKF Solution Factories during the year, bringing the total number to 27 worldwide."

Johnstone will be succeeded by Alrik Danielson, who has been President and CEO of Höganäs AB since 2005. Danielson worked at SKF between 1987 and 2005 and held a number of executive positions within the Group.

Östling continues: "I am very pleased to welcome Alrik Danielson back to SKF. His experience during 18 years at different positions in SKF and the last nine years as CEO of Höganäs AB makes him a competent successor to Tom Johnstone.”

Johnstone comments: “To retire from SKF after almost 38 years with the company will not be easy. However, the time is right and the decision to step down has been made easier by the Board choosing Alrik Danielson as my successor. I wish him and the SKF team the best of luck. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board, our shareholders, our customers and distributors and all the fantastic employees within SKF for their strong support in my years as President and CEO.”

The company

Founded in 1907 as Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB, later AB SKF, today's SKF Group develops and supplies products, solutions, and services related to rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. Services include technical support, maintenance services, condition monitoring, asset efficiency optimization, engineering consultancy, and training.

New CEO

Alrik Danielson is a Swedish citizen and holds a B.Sc in Business Administration and International Economics from the University of Gothenburg. He joined SKF in 1987 as a financial controller in Gothenburg. Before leaving SKF in 2005, he held a number of managerial positions in Sweden, Venezuela, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Brazil. Between 1996 and 1999, he was President of SKF’s Industrial Division in Spain and Portugal. Thereafter, he was appointed President of SKF do Brazil between 1999 and 2003, and from 2003 to 2005, he was President of the SKF Group’s Industrial Division and member of the SKF Group’s Executive Committee. From 2005 to 2014, he has been President and CEO of Höganäs AB.

Analyzing wireless machine condition monitoring for offshore applications, July 2014 OE [by Marty Herzog]

SKF wireless machine condition sensor, 23 June 2014 [video]

Maintenance-free pumping, 10 November 2012

Åsgard gets its bearings, 10 February 2012