Length Adjustment Mechanism Repair and Replacement – Forming Machine
- Category: Manufacturing
This project was initiated in response to a critical breakdown in the length adjustment mechanism of a forming machine, which brought production to a complete halt. The failure was traced to a fractured shaft inside the adjustment block, rendering the system inoperable. Replacement parts were estimated to take a minimum of 90 days to arrive from Europe—an unacceptable delay for our client’s operation.
Our scope of work was divided into three key phases:
Phase 1: Temporary Recovery & Rapid Prototyping
Our first goal was to restore temporary functionality to minimize downtime. The damaged shaft was cut off and a temporary replacement was pressed into place for testing. However, this solution failed under the high braking force of the mechanism—the shaft was pulled out under load.
A second attempt involved a more robust interim solution:
- The broken component was reverse-engineered and measured.
- A new shaft was machined locally and attached to the existing block using a threaded screw-in design instead of a press fit.
- To reinforce the connection, the shaft was also welded after being secured.
This approach successfully restored machine functionality, allowing operations to resume while a long-term solution was developed.
Phase 2: Full Component Remanufacture
With the temporary fix in place, we proceeded to fully remanufacture the broken assembly from a single solid piece of material. The new part was fabricated in-house and completed within two weeks, well ahead of the estimated delivery for OEM replacements.
Phase 3: Final Installation & Testing
The newly machined part was installed and tested in the forming machine. It passed all performance checks under load, and the system was successfully brought back into full production with a stronger, more reliable component than the original design.
