Mechanical Variable Speed Drive: Obsolete Solutions

Downtime and loss of productivity can be one of the most expensive issues you may have to deal with in your operations. Avoiding and/or minimizing it is a huge opportunity for cost savings, and we’re here to identify and implement those solutions that will keep you up and running as much as possible. Whether you’re in a breakdown situation or you’re trying to tackle the problem before it occurs, we have the expertise and product line to maximize your production potential.

Success Story: Avoiding Downtime by Preemptively Maintenancing Mechanical Variable Speed Drive

Industry – Metal & Steel
Region – Nortwestern PA
Cost Savings – $150,000

Problem
The customer had an obsolete mechanical variable speed drive. Due to the application and environment, they were unable to upgrade to an electrical VFD to vary the speed. They had no spare for this drive and were concerned about what they’d do if it failed.

Solution
ErieTec provided them with a gearbox, an adjustable base motor, and variable speed sheaves to achieve the desired speed range they needed.

Savings Calculation
A mechanical variable speed drive from Germany had a 12-16 week lead time. Cost of downtime would be $12,500 per week, equaling $150,000.

This particular example is among our favorite types of cost savings, because we like to avoid the problems before they occur. When you work closely with us, we can talk about your operations and understand the challenges. We appreciated that this customer was able to consult us before the drive actually failed. If it had failed before they called us, there would have been at least some downtime. Because we were able to address all of this before an actual shutdown, they didn’t lose any productivity. We still could have helped them, of course, but the savings wouldn’t have been quite so impressive.

What catastrophes can we help you avoid? Contact us!