The Timken Company has announced that renovations are complete and new services operational at the Philadelphia Gear Southeast Regional gear repair facility in Birmingham, Ala. The project includes an isolated assembly bay, the addition of a retractable paint booth and a large industrial parts washer, all designed to facilitate a “clean assembly” environment.
 
“We evaluated our operation from the ground up,” said Jay Alexander, manager of the Philadelphia Gear manufacturing and service center. “Our renovated facility is streamlined to simplify production and improve efficiency, and more importantly, expand our service offering.”

The newly renovated assembly bay features 3,500 square feet of isolated assembly space, new floors and a crane system capable of handling up to 5-tons. The portable, retractable paint booth includes an integrated air filtration system that can expand to 400 square feet to accommodate all sizes of gearboxes. The paint booth addition is an  environmental and quality improvement in the painting process.

 
The other major investment was a large industrial parts washer that can hold gearboxes and components up to 7,000 lbs. It features a 72-inch turntable, 150 psi of washing pressure and 180 degree washing temperature. This unit will reduce cleaning time by four hours per gearbox over manual methods, and eliminate the need for outsourced sand or bead blasting.
 
“We’re excited about the improvements in our Birmingham location,” said Alexander. “This upgrade will fill a niche in the paper mill industry and provide even better, “cleaner” services for customers across all markets. We are committed to our goal of becoming the trusted, full-service advisor for gearbox repair and service in the Southeast.”