Oracle Packaging able to reuse rather than scrap component

CANTON, Ohio — Sept. 17, 2008 — The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) is helping Oracle Packaging Co. reduce repair costs by providing a service that enables the damage-free removal and reuse of caster roll shells.

Oracle uses caster rolls and shells at its light-gauge converter foil production facility in Winston-Salem, N.C.  Unexpected failures in a caster core, which houses the chilled water passages that keep the outer shell cool as hot metal passes through the roll, once forced Oracle to cut off and scrap caster shells to complete repairs.  Timken’s service enables the expansion of the shell so it is easily slipped off and reused, saving customers such as Oracle Packaging the cost of a new caster shell.

Performed at the Timken facility in Niles, Ohio, the removal service also prevents caster roll shells from being discarded before they reach their full operating life, helping Oracle gain full use of each shell and reduce waste.

“Repairing caster rolls has always been a very expensive deal considering the cost of new shells and the process of installing them,” said Larry W. Coplin Sr., Oracle Maintenance – Phoenix Division.  “Now the turn-a-round time from detecting the problem to putting the caster roll back into service is nominal and the cost is more than justifiable.”

A customer of Timken bearing reconditioning programs, chock repairs and caster roll services, Oracle is a leading manufacturer of flexible and specialty paperboard and package solutions.  The company is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla.

Key markets served by Oracle Packaging include: health-care/pharmaceutical; substrates for beverage, dairy, retort and shelf-stable products; specialty foil-based laminations for high-performance applications; and light-gauge converter foil and specialty paperboard for liquid/beverage and confectionary makers.