Atlanta Gear Works saw a 30 percent efficiency boost and 50 percent fewer interruptions (eliminated wheel adjustments) with Weiler’s grinding wheel. (Images: Weiler Abrasives) Machines in paper/pulp applications are among the longest and most complex continuous manufacturing machines in the world—some stretch more than 300 yards. Maintaining precise speed ratios across dozens of shop machines is critical for operational success—even the slightest speed mismatch can cause the paper web to break, wrinkle, or stretch unevenly. Gearboxes (combined with variable speed drives) make this coordination possible. This has become a specialty market for engineers at Atlanta Gear Works (AGW), a critical rotating equipment design, engineer, manufacture, and repair company headquartered in Dawsonville, Georgia, less than an hour north of Atlanta. The engineers tasked with rebuilding and repurposing printing equipment after failure are on a huge time crunch the second a gearbox goes down. “Paper mills are one of Atlanta Gear Works most important types of customers,” said Dennis Brown, strategic sales leader, Weiler Abrasives Group. “When paper mills go down due to a gearbox failure, AGW will come up with a maintenance/service plan 24/7. This can only be accomplished if they have the necessary tooling in shop, ready to go. It’s important to have everything they need in the shop the minute a service call comes through.” With downtime costing thousands per minute, AGW’s engineers work around-the-clock to rebuild critical gearboxes and restore operations. Response time, however, depends on having the right, customized grinding wheel available immediately. In the past, some suppliers have offered grinding wheels with inconsistent performance during emergency maintenance and unrealistic lead times for custom orders. As a result, Atlanta Gear Works turned to Weiler Abrasives to get the grinding wheels they sorely needed within a reasonable timeframe. 

 Meeting and Exceeding Expectations

The longer the paper mill is down, the more costly the maintenance work required. AGW prides itself as an organization that not only reviews the overall root cause of gearbox failure, but also the condition of all internal components. All these factors must pass quality control measures before assembly. In the past, grinding wheel delivery for AGW took 16 weeks to process. Weiler Abrasives delivered their wheels in weeks instead of months, customized and matching the exact specifications for AGW’s gearbox needs. On-site analysis and collaboration led to a custom-designed grinding program fit specifically to the exact applications. After the change in grinding wheels, Atlanta Gear Works saw a 30 percent efficiency boost (8 hours saved per part) and 50 percent fewer interruptions (eliminated wheel adjustments). Brown credits similar engineering philosophies between Weiler and Atlanta Gear Works as critical to the collaboration. Potential swarf build up was a concern with the new tooling. Weiler worked with AGW’s engineering team to ensure the swarf would not clog the drains or flood the floor. The size of the chips coming off the machine were no different from previous setups with the new grinding wheel. Another challenge was making sure grinding burn (discoloration, cracking, or tempering caused by excessive heat) was prevented. The Weiler team formulated a wheel that reduced the risk for burning while maximizing form holding. “This is where the experience of the machine tool operators really comes into play and they can provide instant feedback on our tooling recommendations,” Brown added.