Challenge:
This summer presented a different kind of project for General Kinematics. One of our customers was having issues with an existing Trench Conveyor – that was a competitor’s machine. The 360′ long Conveyor featured one drive at the feed-end and was located in a trench that handles aluminum die cast scrap. The customer was not only having issues blowing up the drive, breaking the base, rocker legs, drive bearings, and more, they had spent roughly $200,000 trying to maintain this machine over the past year and a half. In addition to all of this, the unplanned downtime was horrendous.
Approach:
Because GK had been working with this customer in other areas of the two plants and they realized our commitment and capabilities, they finally asked if we could step in and “take this headache away”. General Kinematics is committed to making sure you are operating at full capacity with minimal downtime.
Solution:
GK assessed the condition of the existing machine in great detail. Immediately apparent were rocker leg angles varied down the length of the machine as well as the condition of the bushings and tightness of hardware. GK offered to replace all the rocker legs, any damaged clips, re-setting the rocker leg angles, and more. The drive issues were address by completely cutting the first 20′-0″ of the conveyor and removing that entire section. GK engineered and fabricated a completely new conveyor section with a heavier duty drive arrangement. Additionally, a second drive was installed in the machine mid-way down the length, engineered in such a way that if ether drive had an issue, one of the two drives could drive the entire machine from a redundancy standpoint. Finally, GK took the time to properly anchor and epoxy grout this new section to the trench foundation which was done below par previously.
GK provided this equipment as a turn-key project, implementing engineered solutions, project management, and on-site support for our hired local mechanical and electrical contractors.
Results:
To date this has not only renovated the customers reliability in terms of running the upgraded Trench Conveyor, it has also improved their confidence level for meeting deadlines and expanding production.
Do you have an existing machine that is causing you trouble? Contact GK Parts & Service for help!
