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“You Simply Cannot Underestimate How Much The Wheel Determines The Performance Of A Shot-Blast Process”

Stanislav Venclik is the mastermind behind Wheelabrator blast wheel technology.

He's been in charge of our wheel portfolio for nearly a decade, with an increasingly global scope. We sat down with him to talk about the importance of wheel innovation, the hidden risks of outdated wheel tech, and how the trusted wheel can still be reinvented every day. Continue reading Part 1 of our 2 part series exploring the importance of the blast wheel during the shot blast process.

Why We Keep Reinventing the Wheel?

Stanislav, you have just concluded a major review of our wheel portfolio, reducing the number of wheels people can buy from us. Why is reducing choice a good thing?

Because “the more choice, the better” is a false logic when it comes to blast wheels. From an engineering perspective, it’s possible to answer any customer need with a smaller, perfectly formed portfolio, while ensuring our customers have access to only the very best, the very latest science and innovation. We’re proud of the rich legacy of wheel innovation that our huge family tree of wheel types and brands represents. We’ve looked after all of them and we’ve learned from them. But dozens of different wheel types can’t all be the best.

So what is the answer? How do you find the right balance between choice and excellence?

That’s exactly what we set out to do with our portfolio review. We rigorously assessed every single wheel we had and questioned everything. The result are three major wheel families that together cover all our customers’ needs while leaving room for individual choices.

But crucially, the smaller number of designs means we can really focus our R&D. These three wheel families are constantly invested in and continuously improved. They are: TITAN, ATLAS and EZX.

We believe in innovation at every opportunity. It’s so easy to simply give people a like-for-like wheel replacement when they ask for it. But it doesn’t mean it’s right. It will leave them stuck in the past.

We want our customers to operate at peak performance, not fall behind their competitors because they’re running on old technology at a higher running cost.

Wheel Technology

"It’s in our DNA to support and look after decades old equipment whether it’s got our name on it or not. That’s a good thing. The exciting challenge is to bring innovation to those machines. Wheels are the key to that."

Stanislav Venclik - VP Portfolio Development Manager

Is that the hidden risk in keeping legacy wheels going?

Absolutely. At Wheelabrator, it’s in our DNA to support and look after decades old equipment whether it’s got our name on it or not. That’s a good thing. The exciting challenge is to bring innovation to those machines. Wheels are the key to that. 

You simply cannot underestimate how much the wheel determines the performance of a shot-blast process – not just in blast results, but in energy use, abrasive consumption, wear behavior, maintenance cost.

If a wheel is 20 years old and hasn’t been upgraded, the difference in running cost and performance compared to a state-of-the-art wheel will be significant. And it’s an incredibly cost-effective wheel upgrade  to do. It could give you the performance of a new machine at a fraction of the cost, enable you to do more with less or even adapt the machine to new requirements.

 

The new wheel portfolio is global by default. What does that mean and how do customers benefit?

Let me start by explaining the benefit to our customers. A global approach to wheel innovation means that our wheel portfolio is constantly improved based on learnings from our entire installed base and from a vast number of customer tests around the world.

Innovations are carried across the different wheel families and the variations that are there between the wheel designs are not about regional differences but about what works best for the application.

What Are Those Regional Differences About? How Do They Emerge?

We sometimes see patterns evolve in regional preferences that are based around what people are used to seeing or what they’ve been trained on. And that’s fine! But we don’t ever want to be in a position that we can’t offer someone a wheel that’s better for them, because of where they happen to be.

An example is the dominance of direct-drive wheels in North America, which can seem unshakable, but is actually quite a recent development. Belt-driven wheels were common 30/40 years ago. And, for certain use cases, they are the best choice today (which is why we’ve got them in our portfolio).

As a technology leader, we want the customer to make an informed choice – and get the best technology for their circumstances. It’s down to us to show them the options, help them weigh up the technical, practical and economic aspects of each option and find the best fit for them.

And that’s what we’ll cover in the second part of  our interview! Read it here.