Driving forward the aftermarket
May 1st 2009

A good aftermarket partner can be relied upon to quickly assess the damage when failure occurs on important plant and will offer a repair solution that gets the plant up and running as soon as possible. Steve Watson of David Brown explains the benefits for users of industrial drives

In today's marketplace – and particularly as a result of the current downturn – industry is more than ever in need of the best advice on management of capital equipment.Where large drives are concerned there is a spectrum of investment that can be made: from major overhaul and redeployment of existing drives to drop-in replacement of drives (typically up-rating performance without disturbing surrounding plant) to partial or complete renewal of the entire process.

Efficient, reliable operation depends on a good relationship with the drives partner to find the best solution at any time. Operators, where they can, will look to defer major capex decisions involving new build, yet the market is increasingly competitive and they have orders to fulfil.

Drop in drive solutions can be proposed that offer superior capacity within the same footprint and are designed around existing plant which means optimisation of investment and minimisation of downtime while the installation is being completed. It is a win-win situation for the operator who gets improved performance for less capital investment than might have been expected.

Furthermore a good aftermarket partner is one who can be relied upon to quickly assess the damage when failure occurs and is able to offer a repair solution that not only gets the plant back up and running as soon as possible but gives the operator confidence that the production will be able to run for an acceptable period – perhaps while more long term investment plans are investigated. All this pre-supposes a good understanding of the issues involved and a track record in the industry.

Techniques such as lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen and Value Stream Mapping will help drives' specialists to stick to deadlines, respect promises, keep customers informed and ultimately enable the industrial aftermarket to enjoy the same levels of customised solutions as new build.

At David Brown we have established a stand-alone aftermarket business to take care of our own brand or any other geared installation and have given it a regional base, a structure that permits fast turnaround and the backing of a dedicated team with its own proposals, engineering and purchasing people.We are making substantial investment in expert people and aligning our organisation to customer focused value streams under the ownership of Clyde Blowers. Our express intention in all this is to help our customers emerge at the end of the recession fighting fit and ready to face new challenges.