The Timken Co., North Canton, Ohio, has opened a new 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art gear drive manufacturing facility in Houston. An integral part of the Timken Power Systems group, the new plant will significantly improve production efficiencies in the manufacture of Philadelphia Gear brand high-speed drives. To meet growing demand, Timken Power Systems equipped the facility with two 5-axis machines that employ gear milling technology instead of the traditional hobbing process.
These machines can carry out up to six different operations for producing helical gears, shafts, and pinions from raw material, with the potential to reduce the OE production cycle by weeks.
“The gear milling process, for example, can reduce pure machine time of a standard-sized gear from 110 hours to 25 hours,” said Boyd Swearingen, general manager of the new facility, as well as Timken Power Systems’ business in the Gulf Coast, Latin American and Middle East regions. The milled gear teeth are finish ground on a traditional Hofler form grinder to achieve the required AGMA 14 quality level of Philadelphia Gear drives. Before shipment, each gearbox then undergoes a full-speed no-load spin test that measures sound levels, temperatures and vibration.
“This investment represents our commitment to meet the growing demands of our energy-market customers,” said Carl Rapp, vice president of Timken Power Systems. “The new facility will be able to supply customers in the power generation, oil and gas, refining and pumping industries with reliable, high-speed gearboxes to keep their pumps, compressors and generators running in some of the most challenging operating environments in the world. While low oil prices represent a near-term challenge to the industry, we expect sales for our new high-speed gear drives to continue to grow over the coming years.”
Mr. Swearingen noted that in addition to the state-of-the-art equipment, the Houston facility is unique for a gear shop and incorporates ergonomic safeguards in the assembly area. “It’s a very clean plant, not what you typically think of as a gear shop,” Swearingen said. “In addition to the machinery being totally enclosed and EPA-compliant, all the electrical and plumbing are buried within the foundation to remove hazards and enhance the aesthetics of the facility.”
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