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Issue 1: Two separate wineries approached us about replacement rubber parts for equipment. The first case involved one of the largest and oldest wine producing plants in America. In their case rubber covered impellers used to move grapes into their crushing equipment would wear and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) was located overseas. While the metal core of the part was still useable, when ordering from the OEM our customer not only paid to import the part but also bore the cost of replacing the rubber and the metal core.
Issue 2: In the second case a start-up winery in Virginia, had purchased a used European made de-stemmer sorter. Rubber driving plate pins used in the machine needed replacement but and our customer could not locate an available domestic supplier for parts for this equipment.
In both cases, our customers were seeking a reliable source for replacement parts. In both cases, NO DRAWINGS were available, only the existing, worn parts.
Objective: Our objective in both cases was to be able to replicate the existing parts for our customer so that they could maintain their significant investments in important equipment used in their winemaking processes.
Results: Cheers! In the case of the impeller, not only were we able to replicate a functional replacement part but we saved our customer money by eliminating the cost in purchasing an unnecessary, yet expensive new metal core. We furthered their savings by domestically producing a part that saved on expensive freight and import charges. In the case of the rubber de-stemmer pins, our customer was now able to utilize a piece of equipment that may have been rendered obsolete had replacement parts not been made available. |
