AB SKF (Swedish: Svenska Kullagerfabriken, 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and lubrication systems, maintenance products, mechatronics products, power transmission products, condition monitoring systems and related services globally.[2] SKF is the world's largest bearing manufacturer, [3] and employs 44, 000 people in 108 manufacturing units. It has the largest industrial distributor network in the industry, with 17, 000 distributor locations encompassing 130 countries.[1]: 4  SKF is one of the largest companies in Sweden and among the largest public companies in the world.[4]