A recent feedscrew replacement has boosted rates by more than 33 percent for Davis-Standard customer Swan® Products, LLC. Swan Products, the leading North American manufacturer of water hoses for consumer and industrial markets, installed four new feedscrews on existing Davis-Standard extruders at one of its plants in Canada. From order to installation, the project took about two and a half months, saving the company time and money by providing a cost-efficient means to increase productivity.
“We were able to replace feedscrews on older machines and improve throughput by over 33 percent,” said Jose Rossi, Director of Manufacturing, North America for Swan Products. “We appreciate Davis-Standard’s lab facility at its headquarters in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, which enabled us to prove design concepts alongside feedscrew engineers with hands-on experience. They are very thorough in their management and delivery.”
The new high-throughput designs included one 2.5-inch (50mm) and three 4.5-inch (114mm) feedscrews. The trip to Davis-Standard’s lab in Pawcatuck proved valuable since Swan needed capabilities to process both PVC and TPV resins. During the trial, several designs were tested to determine the best options for outputs and stability specific to Swan’s process requirements. According to Jason Baird, the senior process engineer at Davis-Standard who conducted Swan’s trial, working with Rossi at the lab was essential to ensuring desired outcomes without worrying about hypotheticals.
“We have analytical capabilities at the lab that enable us to see what’s going on inside the extruder as we test different feedscrews. When you improve output rates, you also need to confirm stability to achieve uniform product,” explained Baird. “Swan supplies garden hoses to major big box stores, so quality and consistency are essential to their business. We were able to verify both outputs and stability while also evaluating every aspect of performance from melt temperature to torque. This gave Swan the validation they needed to achieve immediate results.”
Davis-Standard offers a complete menu of R&D, feedscrew replacement and rebuilding services. Feedscrews are available in sizes ranging from a 3/4-inch (20mm) to 12 inches (305mm) in diameter and with different L/D options. Feedscrews can be designed for any extruder brand and barrel. In addition to feedscrew replacement, Davis-Standard offers barrel measurement services to ensure dimensional fit and best performance. In most cases, quotes for new feedscrews are available within a day. Lab trials can be scheduled to accommodate customer timelines and processing requirements.
For more information about Swan Products, visit www.swanhose.com. For more information about Davis-Standard feedscrews and aftermarket capabilities, visit Parts and Upgrades on our website.