Company Profile
MSSC is a supplier of automotive suspension components. Produces stabilizer bars, torsion bars and coil springs.
Increased production and a dramatic reduction in downtime and maintenance costs are just some of the benefits being felt by MSSC, a Mitsubishi Steel division, after upgrading the blast wheels of its shot peening machine to Wheelabrator EZEFIT wheels (the EZEFIT wheel family is the imperial equivalent to the globally offered, metric SATURN wheel range).
Challenges
Non-stop production was taking its toll on the shot peening equipment at MSSC in Chatham, Ontario.
Used exclusively to shot peen stabilizer bars for the automotive industry, the machine was experiencing a number of issues, including high levels of vibration, wear on the housing and major wear and tear to the impellers inside the blast wheels.
Working at full capacity - in three-shift operation, seven days a week - also resulted in the need to replace blast wheel motors at an alarming rate of twenty per year.
The MSSC maintenance team called in experts from Wheelabrator Plus to analyze the machine set-up, identify the root causes of the problems with the machine, and find a solution.
Solution
Joe Decarvalho, Wheelabrator Plus, Technical Sales Representative said:
“A myriad of factors can cause operational issues of shot blast equipment and with today’s production pressures there often is little time to fix things. In the case of MSSC, however, finding the source of the problem was easy. Their operations had simply outgrown the equipment installed, in particular the blast wheels. The solution, therefore, was equally simple. Blast wheels were needed that wouldn’t be stretched by everyday requirements and tough enough to perform happily in a busy and pressured production environment at MSSC.”
Collectively working with Kevin Daly, maintenance supervisor at MSSC, to find the best longevity solution, the decision was made to upgrade to 40HP EZEFIT blast wheels to improve longevity and permit flexibility to allow for wheel amp adjustments based on customer needs, while still meeting the demands of a high paced operation.
Result
The result: motors on the four new EZEFIT wheels no longer have to run at full capacity, ensuring the blast wheels operate reliably and efficiently – and for longer.
All four wheels were fitted with hardened impellers to withstand the pressure of the special abrasive used by MSSC for the application, drastically reducing wear and downtime.
Kevin Daly said: “The wheels are now running smoothly without being forced, because we are running the 40HP motors at 30HP – it’s a bit like driving a car at 70mph with an engine that is capable of doing 120mph, it feels comfortable and can run continually without being under pressure. The problems we were experiencing with vibration and wear and tear to the impeller were eliminated immediately with the EZEFIT wheels, and we have only had to replace one motor in the last twelve months.”