In February 2005, Michell Bearings and Pioneer Motor Bearing Company (North Carolina) signed a broad-ranging alliance, pooling 170 years of excellence in the field of hydrodynamic bearing experience, whilst remaining independent companies. Founded - like Michell - in 1920, Pioneer is one of the leading U.S. companies engaged in engineering, manufacturing, service and repair of fluid film babbitt bearings and seals, primarily in power generation, marine, petro-chemical, oil and gas applications. Pioneer provides engineering services, including professional consulting time, and manufactured products to OEMs, plus engineering, manufactured products, and technical service and repairs to the End-Users of turbomachinery across the United States. Through the alliance Michell will provide more comprehensive and flexible support to our industrial and marine customers across North America, with Pioneer’s network of agents authorised to represent our full range of products manufactured at our Newcastle facility. Michell have exclusively licensed Pioneer to repair and service our products in the USA, with Michell continuing to provide full technical backup from our UK facility whenever necessary. Furthermore, Pioneer are exclusively licensed to manufacture our hydrodynamic PTFE bearings in the USA, and to provide repair and technical services to users across North America. In parallel, Michell now represent Pioneer’s own products, making their proprietary Fluid Pivot® journal and thrust bearing designs and technology available across Europe, in addition to closely collaborating on further technical innovation.