Tech Squad™ Case Studies:
See how our Tech Squad™ Engineers solve Industry problems by creating customized solutions. Take advantage of our Engineers on demand.
Custom Designed Rubber Backed Plate
Customer Problem:
The customer was using a competitor’s rubber-backed plate with a standard full aperture and matrix design which caused severe pegging and blinding and reduced the open area significantly, leading to inefficient screening and carryover. The surge pile saw carryover of material that should have been screened through the screen, resulting in unnecessary excess fines recirculating to the crusher, driving up wear liner costs, higher crusher costs, and more fines than necessary. The competitors’ design was not technically sound for the heavy-duty application causing costly permanent damage to the machine’s support bars which required repair.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ worked closely with the customer to engineer and manufacture a custom rubber-backed plate for their screening machine.
Buffalo Wire Works engineered half holes/apertures with solid blank outs into the rubber-backed plate to maximize open area, prevent carryover, protect screener supports, and eliminate pegging and wedging.
Partnership Results:
Using half holes, Buffalo Wire Works’ solution maximized the screen’s open area and increased screen efficiency, thus reducing smaller materials and fines from entering the surge pile, creating more fines and decreasing costs.
Direct Quote from Plant Manager: “Previous rubber steel back panels weren’t blanked out. Material fines blinded over the openings parallel to the support bars. Too much-oversized material was retained and went into a surge pile. The machine’s support bars wore out prematurely. Buffalo Wire Tech Squad™ reviewed, measured, and found a solution. The new panels were engineered with blank outs across the support bars, and half holes were added to maximize save open area.”
Modular PFX Hybrid Panels – Increased Production and Throughput
Customer Problem:
The customer had recently purchased and commissioned two new 8×24 4-deck Deister(R) screeners, configured with 1×2 rubber pin and leg panels from a well-known urethane and rubber modular screening manufacturer. This configuration only produced 40-50% of their anticipated hourly tonnage, which would have resulted in significant production shortfalls and lost sales revenue.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
After investigation, Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ determined that these pin and leg panels caused the production constraint by reducing open area and causing the material to peg in the screen openings.
The Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ determined that our Modular PFX Hybrid panels would be ideal for increasing the customer’s production. The customer installed Buffalo Wire Works’ Modular PFX Hybrid panels on the second half of the deck, leaving the rubber panels on the first half to absorb the impact but still maintain some throughput. Combining lower open area impact-resistant rubber panels and the self-cleaning Buffalo Wire Works’ Modular PFX Hybrid panels was the perfect solution for the action of the screens, allowing for greater production and reduced pegging.
Partnership Results:
Buffalo Wire Works’ Modular PFX Hybrid panels increased the customer’s production by 40% compared to a full deck of the competitor’s rubber panels. The Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ solution eliminated and removed the most significant bottleneck in the plant and helped allow the rest of the equipment to run at much greater efficiencies. As a result, the customer decided to convert both screeners’ complete machines from flat deck modular panels to a crowned deck system utilizing Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX self-cleaning hooked screen panels. This change enhanced the system’s productivity and reduced the overall screen costs. Since the first conversion was very successful, the customer used Buffalo Wire Works’ help to convert six additional screeners in the same pit, increasing their production volume.
Modular PFX Hybrid Panels – Increased Wear Life
Customer Problem:
The customer uses a 4-deck Deister(R) wash screener, producing 1800 TPH of 3” minus material, and operates twenty-four hours daily. The screener is outfitted with 1×2 modular hybrid self-cleaning Tema Isenmann WS85® screens from a well-known competitor in a diamond design.
The urethane on the panels wore out before the wires causing the wires to loosen and oversize materials to pass through. The customer needed to remove and replace the panels with an estimated 50% of wire life remaining, resulting in additional downtime and screen panel costs. The self-cleaning wires or screening element lost its integrity to hold specification, cutting the screens’ life in half and costing the customer unnecessary expenses.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
Buffalo Wire Works provided its patented Modular PFX Hybrid panel with our standard urethane compound and unique self-supporting HT wire configuration.
Partnership Results:
Phase One: The customer successfully tested Buffalo Wire Works Modular PFX Hybrid panels and the competitor’s panels side by side. Our Modular PFX Hybrid panels lasted twice as long as the competitor’s – twelve weeks versus the competitor’s six weeks. Buffalo Wire Works’ solution resulted in lower screen replacement costs and less maintenance downtime.
Phase Two: Due to the increased efficiency of the Buffalo Wire Works Modular PFX Hybrid panels and end product demand, the customer increased the tons per hour (TPH) produced on this machine and benefited from the increased production on an existing machine. The customer then challenged the Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ to achieve an even longer screen life to keep up with the increased production. The Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ kicked into high gear and designed a series of custom hybrid panels for the customer, resulting in longer screen life and exceeding our customer’s demands.
Process Optimization through Critical Screen Surveys
Customer Problem:
Buffalo Wire Works’ competitor sold the customer a stock screen solution for what should have been a custom application. As a result, the customer sacrificed production output and screen longevity, which incurred increased maintenance costs. As seen in the picture, the screens provided by a competing supplier only have four urethane strips and should have five to align with the screener support bars. Mismatching support bars resulted in inefficient production, increased downtime, less screen life, and unnecessary additional costs for the customer.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
The Buffalo Wire Works field team measured the support bar locations to align five poly strips on five support bars to establish peak performance. By doing so, the vibration and frequency of the screener are transmitted to the screen wires for optimal screening efficiency. Aligning the support bars also prevents premature wear on the screen panel and support bars.
Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ also recommended new channel rubber when performing a new installation for ideal crowning, screen protection, and proper tensioning, using urethane crown bar protectors to extend wear life.
Partnership Results:
Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ provided customized solutions and products that optimized the customer’s application’s fit, form, and function for the screener. As a result of the increased open area and screen life, the customer reduced its total cost of ownership and increased profitability.
Self-Cleaning PFX Screens – Increased Production and Throughput
Customer Problem:
During a technical site visit, the Buffalo Wire Works territory manager identified an opportunity to improve the efficiency and productivity of their current operation. Historically, the customer was using standard woven wire for screening abrasive limestone. The customer wasn’t utilizing highly engineered solutions that would improve throughput and wear life.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
Buffalo Wire Works’ solution was to replace the standard woven wire screens with our patented self-cleaning PFX™ screens to increase throughput and wear life and reduce plant downtime. Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens allow less carry-over, longer life, and increased hourly production while improving safety.
Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens are engineered to reduce the mass of wire from .192” to .162”, resulting in longer life, lighter screens, and significantly improved production.
Partnership Results:
The customer noticed immediate improvements in screen efficiency, less carryover, and fewer fines resulting in a cleaner finished product.
The customer experienced improved wear life (2.5 months to 6 months) by transitioning to Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens, significantly improving their downtime and screen changeouts. Since downtime costs the customer $12,000/hour, Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens have more than paid for themselves.
The customer also noted increased safety factors. Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens are designed to be lighter with no sharp edges, making them easier and safer to handle and install. Due to the longer wear life of Buffalo Wire Works’ PFX™ screens, the number of screen changeouts is reduced, resulting in fewer lockouts and fewer opportunities for injuries.
Gator Wire Woven Screens – Increased Wear Life
Customer Problem:
A crushed granite customer was experiencing excessive downtime due to screen changes and higher costs from purchasing too many screens. The cost to the customer for downtime is approximately $4,000.00 per hour, and screen changes take approximately 4 hours every two weeks.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
To find a solution, the customer agreed to conduct a side-by-side test of our competitors’ 3/4” space .312 diameter woven wire screens with Buffalo Wire Works’ 3/4” space .312 diameter Gator Wire™ screens.
Partnership Results:
The conclusion of the side-by-side test showed that Buffalo Wire Works’ Gator Wire™ screens increased the customers’ screen life by 300% from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. The customer saved approximately $20,000 annually from purchasing nine sets of Buffalo Wire Works’ Gator Wire™ screens compared to 26 sets from the competitor.
The customer gained an estimated 68 hours in reduced downtime, equivalent to $272,000 in additional revenue.
Magnetic Liners – Superior Wear Protection
Customer Problem:
The customer was using our competitor’s chute and urethane magnetic liners but these liners were not lasting the customer’s entire production season. The customer was experiencing costly downtime with the more frequent replacement of the competitor’s magnetic liners.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ reviewed all options for the customer’s specific application and performed a detailed abrasion and wear rate analysis before suggesting the best magnetic liner for the customer’s needs.
Partnership Results:
The customer adopted Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad’s™ solution and reached their goal of running a full production season without needing to stop production to changeout the wear liners. They have since installed our magnetic wear liners for all their chutes and many torque and eccentric shafts. The customer told us that they are extremely satisfied with the results of our partnership and are especially pleased with Buffalo Wire Works’ magnetic liner product line’s quality and ease of installation.
Custom Designed Rubber Hooked Screens
Customer Problem:
The customer was using standard woven wire screens in CV8. The customer was frustrated with the downtime from multiple screen changes and also wanted to prevent product contamination due to catastrophic failure and breakage of the standard woven wire screens.
Buffalo Wire Works Solution:
The customer met with the Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ to determine the best products and materials for this application given numerous factors, including the impact on the screen, the shape and abrasiveness of the material rock, the tons per hour run, the humidity, and other local environmental factors. After a complete analysis and comparison to past installations, Buffalo Wire Works Tech Squad™ recommended implementation of hooked rubber screens with a steel backing.
Partnership Results:
The customer achieved all their objectives by using Buffalo Wire Works’ high-quality rubber screens with the product. Buffalo Wire Works’ solution improved worker safety by reducing noise during operation. The hooked rubber screens also substantially reduced unscheduled downtime, because the rubber screens require fewer screen changes and have little to no maintenance costs. The reduction in downtime resulted in more production hours and more operating time, thus resulting in greater revenue and lower costs for the customer.
Direct Quote from the Customer:
“In Buffalo, we found a strategic ally to optimize our operation with innovative products.”
