Reducing Maintenance Costs and Downtime by the Redesign of an Extruder Drive Stand for Ceramics Manufacturer January 13, 2016 Result The design for a new drive stand arrangement reduced downtime on the primary clay extruder, ultimately decreasing maintenance costs and improving overall efficiency. Challenge The client’s primary clay extruder was plagued by routine maintenance problems associated with the drive system, shafts, and bearing arrangement, resulting in significant maintenance costs and downtime. The equipment was custom designed and manufactured in Japan, so working through a re-design with the OEM was not practical or cost effective. Solution The extruder has two independently driven shafts. The top, or pug mill shaft, feeds clay into a vacuum box and into the bottom sha

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