Bowe Machine, Wendt host open house event

Bowe Machine Co., Bettendorf Iowa, hosted an open house event in late September 2016 in cooperation with its partner to the auto shredding market, Wendt Corp. of Buffalo, New York. 

Cooperating with Bowe and Wendt to host the event were other companies with which they cooperate to design and supply auto shredding plants, including: metalworking and machining firm Scot Forge, Spring Grove, Illinois; Germany-based bearings maker SKF; and regional representatives of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal.

“We presented and demonstrated our relationship with Bowe as our strategic partner and the close relationships that we have with our suppliers,” says Valerie Andrews, Wendt Corp.’s marketing coordinator.

Andrews adds, “We showcased Bowe’s new facility and its investment in the equipment to support the manufacturing of a high tolerance, robust rotor. We also provided the instructional value of bearing installation, tie rod tensioning and the disc interference installation fit to the main rotor shaft.”

Among the attendees was Brian Sackett, the national shredder director in the United States for multi-national scrap firm Sims Metal Management (SMM), who comments, “The level of detail in design and capability provided by Wendt, Bowe, ArcelorMittal and Scot Forge was impressive and informative.”

Sackett adds, “The hands-on training and demonstration of rotor disc installation, tie rod and tension nut installation, and rotor bearing installation and removal by SKF were key visuals for our managers. The value added for SMM made it easy to justify sending key supervisors and managers to this event.”

Another attendee, Ron Pritchard of Cincinnati-based The David J. Joseph Co., says the event was “well-organized and definitely worthwhile. It seems that Bowe and Wendt have taken rotor design and assembly to the next level through their finite element analysis (FEA) studies and experience.”

Wendt Corp. says it uses FEA “to ensure critical design features” in the components and parts it designs, engineers, manufactures and installs for auto shredding plants and systems. FEA is a computerized method designed to predict how a product will react to vibration, heat, erosion and other forces. Its objective is to reveal in the design stage whether a product will endure harsh conditions in an operating environment such as auto shredding.