A True Story

Here’s a true story to demonstrate cost savings. A maintenance supervisor chose the least expensive roll grinding service from a short stack of bids. Upper management was pleased, but only for a little while. Within 6 months, the roll caused chaos in the production line, producing chatter, barring, profile variations and unplanned maintenance. The roll was sent for another roll grind.
Suddenly, the least expensive roll grinder proved to be anything but a bargain. Instead of yet another sub-par grind, the mill called PRG, who reground the roll - to better results!
This incident happened at a large paper mill, but the scenario is common across any roll in any industry: When companies choose the proposal with the lowest price tag, the hidden cost is often quite expensive in terms of roll life alone, not to mention wasted time and materials. In this paper mill’s case, the total cost of their “savings” at the end of 15 months totaled more than double the cost of a single PRG roll grind. The “savings” cost even more due to the regrinds.
Ask yourself: Would you rather stop production to regrind every six months or keep it simple – with a regrind every 15 months?
 
No Secret Here

Precision Roll Grinders produce better results than Original Equipment Manufacturers or other grinding services. Our technicians provide rolls that:

• Are significantly rounder
• Deliver tighter tolerances
• Run longer, often at higher speeds
• Produce better product for longer periods of time

 
The Value of Tight Tolerances

To understand fully, look at the chart, detailing the actual results of the paper mill’s experience – first using a typical roll grinder, then ultimately, PRG:


Precision Roll Grinders’ technicians grind rolls to a tolerance up to 0.0002”. The competitor ground the roll to a tolerance of 0.0008”. It doesn’t sound like a huge difference, does it? However, the lack of roundness required a regrind after six months! The result? Not only product defects, but also loss in profit margins!
 
The Value of PRG

The real value of Precision Roll Grinding becomes clear after an extended period of use. In the case of this paper mill, it took 12 months for PRG’s roll to reach a tolerance of 0.0008” – the same tolerance as the other roll grinder’s starting point!
Then, PRG’s roll grind outperformed the other roll grinder by an additional 3 months – for a total of 15 months of run-time to the other roll grinder’s 6 months.
While different rolls and applications in other industries may experience slightly different run-times, clients frequently report significantly better results with PRG.

The value is clear. PRG’s tighter tolerances keep rolls running at their best for longer periods of time.
 
A Helpful Tool!

In our next blog, we’ll talk about the actual dollars saved over time with PRG. We’ll also discuss a helpful tool you’ll be able to use to estimate potential savings associated with PRG’s roll grinding services.
 
Free Consultations

If you’re already intrigued, talk to us. We’ll send a representative to your business to discuss value-added services that will save time, lower operating costs, reduce waste, and keep your plant producing better product for longer.