Standard Machine
What began in 1967 as a one-man mining equipment repair shop, Standard Machine has grown into a prominent enterprise that machines and fabricates mechanical power transmission drives, open gearing, baseplates and associated components. The company delivers its products across North America, Asia, South America and Europe. In 1995, Standard Machine acquired Hamilton Gear Engineering.
Still targeting the mining industry, the company has expanded its industry reach into pulp and paper, chemical, steel mills, marine, transportation, military and aerospace applications. Standard Machine also is making headway into the oil and natural gas industries as well as the power generation arena. It manufactures a range of equipment including belt winches, feeder shafts, compactors and crushers, pulleys, flying shear arms and spindle couplings.
“We engineer custom solutions to help reduce our clients’ maintenance costs and downtime,” says Jason Young, vice president of sales. “We try to find out everything we can about the clients’ operation, from what problems they’re experiencing to their power generation needs.
“Standard Machine is unique in that it looks not only at the gears and gear components themselves,” Young asserts.
Problem Solvers
Standard Machine engineers perform reverse-engineering analysis of the clients’ equipment. “Our engineers pore over the information to determine the machine’s weak spots and figure out where the problems are arising,” Young notes. Engineers then will propose some solutions to troubleshoot the issues as well as offer ideas to increase the equipment’s longevity.
One steel mill client had a gear input in a right-angle drive gear box that was failing every two or three years. Standard Machine engineers altered the mounting arrangements, enhanced the bearings and changed the lubrication system. “It’s been three years now and it’s still running quite well,” Young says.
Another steel mill client had six gear boxes in service. “They had to service at least one gear box each year,” Young asserts. “Not only was this causing machine downtime, it was a maintenance headache.” Through its reverse-engineering assessment, engineers determined that reinforcing the gearing and altering the bearing styles would improve the equipment’s operation.
One way Standard Machine accomplishes this goal is through meticulous control of the parts-fabrication process. Its 110,000-square-foot Saskatoon facility enables the company to handle all processes in-house. The machine shop features CNC horizontal boring mills and lathes, manual lathes, sandblasting, shot peening and painting operations.
“We are a one-stop shop for cutting, grinding and milling gear teeth,” Young says. “We can also perform our own heat-treating operations, including carburizing and induction hardening.”
More recently, the company added equipment to expand its service offerings. A Niles vertical turret lathe can turn parts up to 24 feet in diameter. Also, a Hofler 800 gear grinder and CNC gear gasher are now in operation.
“We not only provide customer solutions – we provide fantastic products,” Young adds. “We feel that we cannot be a successful company if our customers aren’t successful.”