Trantec deliver bespoke Augers to Canada in just 7 days
Trantec Solids Handling Limited is a leading supplier of Powder Dosing and Metering equipment to the worldwide Solids Handling industry. With over 20 years of experience designing augers for our Metering Feeder equipment, we decided to take on the challenge of manufacturing our own Augers in-house.
Traditionally, auger manufacturing techniques were more of an art than a science. Production was slow and in the hands of very few highly skilled craftsmen. Trantec have worked hard to develop modern methods of auger-screw production, opting instead for Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) as our method of production and to cut costs.
Adopting “aerospace” methods of manufacture produces a superior product. Quality and reproducibility is inherent to our production process. Fractions of a millimetre in accuracy are typical and can be maintained across batches. Trantec’s advanced manufacturing techniques save costs and our methods are not labour intensive. Once the design is finalised, production can begin with minimal human intervention. These cost savings are then passed onto our customers, producing a quality product at a sensible price.
Augers are widely used in many types of industrial machinery and are often subjected to adverse conditions, which ultimately cause them to need replacing. Often the replacement part has to come from the original equipment manufacturer, who charges a premium for such a bespoke component.
Trantec now offer a bespoke auger manufacturing service and specialise in supplying replacement parts for existing auger-screw based machinery such as Bulk Solids Filling or Dosing equipment.
Although Trantec produce auger-screws for use across industries such as food, pharmaceutical, chemical and plastics, our enhanced manufacturing techniques can be adapted to produce augers for even the most unusual applications and occasionally we are presented with a new auger manufacturing challenge.
In July 2017, Trantec, based in Clayton-le-Moors in Lancashire, were approached by Wild Flag Studios in Montreal, who were looking to purchase 2 auger-screws for a design project they were working on. Their task was to design and build a kinetic sculpture/machine for a famous cosmetics brand, to be filmed for a 60 second video advert to promote their facial cream.
The machine was designed to be clean and beautiful, while still maintaining aspects of a highly accurate science aesthetic. The augers would be shown feeding glass beads through clear Perspex tubes, enabling he process to be visible to the audience. It was therefore important that Trantec produced 2 auger-screws with a smooth, clinical finish, giving that clean, sharp, beautiful look that was required.
The target for production was to manufacture and deliver to Canada in just one week. Short deadlines can easily deter suppliers, however at Trantec, we adopt a ‘can-do’ attitude, however large or small an enquiry. We were therefore happy to take on the challenge, with no hesitation.
We manufactured our client’s augers from 316 stainless steel bar which was selected due to its excellent machinability. As this was a highly visible application, the appearance of the stainless steel was a critical design element and with the wrong finish, the desired effect would not be achieved. With this in mind, Trantec took the decision to polish our augers to a 240 grit finish, in order to achieve the desired effect. Once completed, we were ready to ship our augers’.
Gareth Harrison, Director at Trantec, said: “Meeting the demands of this project was extremely challenging. With our knowledge and expertise, together with our state-of-the-art facilities, we were able to deliver our augers to Canada on time, with no complications”.
David Gardener at Wild Flag Studios, said: “We were very happy with how the film turned out, and the Augers were especially beautiful and well made, hopefully we can work together again.”
www.wildflagstudios.com/project/hyaluron-mechanical-sculpture/
