Upon evaluation of the damaged shaft, Craftco determined that weldments would be necessary to replace the damaged cast components. However, the nearest materials of adequate thickness were in Houston, TX and needed to be shipped to Dallas, TX for the necessary first tier processing. After a full day of phone calls, the material was on its way to Dallas, with shipment to Sheridan (via air freight) scheduled for the following day.

While waiting for the materials, Craftco dismantled the shaft assembly, measured components, and completed drafting. Craftco also cut and prepared all components that could be produced from locally available materials. Upon receipt of the material from Dallas, all available manpower was directed to quickly completing the repair while paying attention to quality and tolerances.

With both Craftco’s machine shop and fab shop teams involved, the crusher components were pre-machined, welded, and finish machined, all while under nearly constant observation by stressed and nervous customer representatives. Over a period of five days, eight employees–in 193 hours–reproduced the necessary components, reassembled, and delivered a crusher shaft assembly back to the customer.

Upon resuming production–in far less time than anticipated– the customer told us that they were initially skeptical on our ability to deliver due to the size of our facility and staff; however, our competitors (much larger companies) were not able to meet the necessary schedule, which is why they chose to work with Craftco. In the end, Craftco not only delivered an extremely high-quality replacement assembly, but did so in a mere eight days from failure to delivery.
This project was a complete “game changer” in the eyes of what was to become the largest client in Craftco’s history.