The GSM Industrial team was recently challenged with a project for a wood cabinet manufacturer to replace and rebuild components of a one-of-kind, 30+ year old overhead product transport system. Our team needed to replace thousands of feet of conveyor chain, field weld dozens of track sections, and ensure proper alignment with existing sections for smooth system operation.
Click photo to enlarge
With no documentation or drawings from the original installation, our team did extensive research to locate replacement parts for a system that was built from a mix and match of various vendor components over three decades ago. Following supply chain issues and procurement and scheduling challenges, our crew worked 16-18 hour days to maximize the availability of the customer’s downtime in order to maintain their busy production schedule. In addition, there were significant safety concerns, given the “hot work” that had to take place in a highly flammable wood dust/debris filled environment.
Our team successfully executed the replacement of 2,200 feet of chain and replaced over 5,000 cotter pins individually. In addition, the team replaced worn out sections of the unit, field welded thirty-eight, 90-degree track sections into seventeen, 180-degree track sections, maintaining an alignment tolerance of +/- 1/16” with existing track sections to ensure smooth operation of the system with no “hang-ups” on the track.
Our team put in over 500 man-hours to successfully execute this project, which required the utmost in communication, flexibility, and adaptability among all GSM Industrial departments in order to meet the customer’s needs and maintain their busy production schedule.
