A paper mill customer needed a fast solution for a critical component that suffered from chronic cracking due to bearing failure.  Without the slusher equipment, the customer would not be able produce its high-gloss, high-quality sheet products.  Casting from the OEM would take much longer. After a thorough discussion of parameters, Western Machine Works proposed to manufacture the part. There was no manufacturing print available so the team reverse engineered the slusher housing. With the customer’s production timeline a priority, our engineers and technicians completed and delivered the critical component in 5 days. The customer was able to resume operations at a much faster and more cost effiently than if the part was sourced by the OEM.

Project:

• Part: Slusher Runner Housing
• Customer: Paper Mill. High gloss sheet 

Challenge:

• The housing was severely cracked from a catastrophic bearing failure.
• Excessive lead time for a casting from the OEM was unacceptable.
• Critical function. This equipment is critical to the high-quality product the customer produces.
• No manufacturing drawings were available.
• Critical timing. Work required over a holiday weekend to meet customer’s needs.

Engineered Solutions:

• Reverse engineering of the existing housing components.
• Measurement and specification verification of critical dimensions.
• Fabrication manufacturing and material solutions vs casting construction.
• CAD generated manufacturing prints.
• Quality control check points documented.

Result:

• The new slusher runner housing was completed and delivered to the customer in 5 days.
• The customer was able to resume production of their high-quality product much quicker than if the housing had been sourced by the OEM.

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