Case Study
Aluminum Products Manufacturer Saves Over a Half Million Dollars with Gearbox Repair from Philadelphia Gear®
The Primary Challenge
Routine preventative maintenance is crucial in aluminum coil manufacturing facilities that operate 24/7. Made from recycled materials, aluminum coil is a sustainable solution used across diverse applications like electric transformers and batteries, HVAC systems and specialty packaging.
One global aluminum producer with operations in the U.S. has a robust preventative maintenance program, with daily planned shutdowns for routine maintenance. In one facility that processes 1.3 million lbs. of recycled aluminum daily, the maintenance team planned to overhaul a 175-horsepower motor-driven non-Philadelphia Gear brand triple reduction gearbox that drives the rollers in one of its eight caster mills. The customer initially engaged Philadelphia Gear® to repair the 40-year-old gearbox onsite using replacement parts in inventory at the aluminum facility. The repairs needed to be completed within the five-day window of planned downtime.
Philadelphia Gear Onsite Technical Services (OTS) experts were immediately dispatched to assist. However, while the manufacturer did have the spare gears, seals and spacers needed for the repairs, the spare bearing was missing.
“We arrived on a Monday and learned about the missing bearing, which the customer quickly ordered for rush delivery,” said Jeff Wewetzer, Philadelphia Gear territory sales manager. “When we started disassembly on Tuesday, we learned the mill didn’t have the tooling or local capability to remove the gearbox’s old components and press on the new ones.”
An additional challenge was identified once the gearbox was in pieces; the unit’s coupling had previously been mounted and operated backwards, leading to misalignment requiring welding and grinding work to correct. Those capabilities also weren’t available onsite or from any local machine shops.
The Solution
Responsiveness is at the heart of Philadelphia Gear’s commitment to its customers. With a network of six strategically located Regional Service Centers, Philadelphia Gear ensures prompt service across the mainland U.S. and Canada. Each center is positioned within a short drive of major industrial areas, allowing Philadelphia Gear to stay close to its customers and deliver fast, dependable support when they need it most. When it became clear that the aluminum manufacturer’s required repairs couldn’t be completed onsite, the Philadelphia Gear team expedited shipping of both the new and partially-disassembled old gearbox components to its Southeast Regional Service Center in Birmingham, Ala. — just four hours from the customer’s location.
The service center received the components at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and scheduled two technicians to work on them starting at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. The team removed the old components, provided necessary machining and repairs, and pressed on the new and repaired parts. Engineering calculated axial thrust tolerance parameters to ensure proper bearing performance upon installation. The service center then shipped the entire component set back to the customer’s location Wednesday evening for the OTS team to reassemble on Thursday.
“It arrived back to us on a pallet with three sets of new gears and three repaired shafts with the repaired coupling and new bearing in place,” Wewetzer said. “Our Onsite Technical Services (OTS) team then placed the components into the gearbox housing, tightening and realigning everything for optimal performance. The unit was back up and running on Friday.”
Key Results
Philadelphia Gear’s quick problem-solving and turnaround helped the aluminum manufacturer stay on schedule and avoid unplanned downtime. The repairs were completed in five business days, compared to the months-long lead time for a new replacement gearbox, saving the customer over $500,000.
“From onsite work to engineering to our service centers, Philadelphia Gear has the knowledge and capabilities to repair any type of gearbox and overcome any technical challenge,” Wewetzer said. “Our customers understand that and have confidence we can support their preventative maintenance programs correctly, efficiently, and expeditiously.”
