Recently, a large dairy plant experienced the nightmare scenario of a catastrophic failure when the bowl cracked on one of their plant’s MSD300 centrifuges.
But within four hours, Separators had a new motor quote in their hands — and within 24 hours of failure had a rental bowl installed and running.
We sat down with Kevin Burns, National Accounts Manager at Separators, to hear how our emergency response team got the plant back online in record time.
You must have had your hands full when the plant’s centrifuge went down recently. What exactly were they up against?
It was an emergency, for sure. One of their plants unexpectedly had a centrifuge bowl crack. And when it rains, it pours because, at the same time, one of their centrifuge motors had gone out.
Mind you, this plant was up to date on its centrifuge maintenance—it was just bad luck. Their whole production line would have taken a massive hit if we hadn’t been there for our scheduled major service to catch the bowl crack. They likely would have experienced a catastrophic failure within weeks.
I can imagine they were pretty concerned when they called. What was that conversation like?
Absolutely. Downtime is a nightmare scenario that costs these plants huge amounts of money. The plant needed a fast and reliable solution to avoid losing product and revenue, so they were definitely feeling the pressure.
While their busted motor required shop service, getting them a spare bowl was something we could take care of quickly.
How quickly were you able to turn that situation around for them?
We didn’t waste any time. We already had a tech on-site for regular maintenance when we discovered that the bowl had cracked.
The plant requested a rental bowl quote by the end of the day. We did them one better by getting them the quote by 9 a.m. so they could approve it, and we could get the replacement bowl out to them ASAP.
It truly was being in the right place at the right time. As soon as we identified the issue, our team kicked into high gear. I’m talking less than 24 hours later, we had a replacement bowl installed and their centrifuge was operational again.
Less than 24 hours is crazy fast. Did you have to do any special repairs or unique work to make that happen?
Since the bowl top cracked, we just did a full bowl swap. We have an inventory of rental bowls specifically for this reason.
Our shop team pulled a replacement from our shelves and shipped it to our technician. From there, it was just a matter of removing the damaged bowl and dropping in the replacement. Having replacements on hand like this is a huge advantage we offer our clients. And having someone on-site to complete the bowl replacement the moment it arrived was just the cherry on top.
It definitely sounds like you threw everything you had at getting the plant back online as soon as possible. How did you prioritize and coordinate that kind of rapid response?
We have an entire team dedicated to monitoring situations like this 24/7. The second that call came through, they sprung into action—lining up the replacement bowl, coordinating with the technician on site, and immediately getting the backup bowl on a truck. Because of our size and focus on centrifuges, we can mobilize all our resources toward critical jobs like this without skipping a beat.
So, what is the fate of the bad bowl?
We were able to get them a three-option plan in seven days. The bad bowl needs a lot of work, including a new lock ring, bowl top, and sliding piston.
As a result, we have also presented them with the option to purchase a whole new bowl assembly or to invest in a completely remanufactured unit that is like new and will fit into their assembly line identically to their current machine.
That’s really impressive service. I'm sure the plant was blown away to have that huge issue resolved so quickly. Where does the relationship stand with them now?
Under these circumstances, I think any plant would be thrilled to get back up and running in under a day. Experiences like this prove why companies choose Separators: We can adapt quickly.
We’re now in conversations with the plant about taking on more work going forward.
What do you think is the biggest takeaway from this specific story?
There’s a lot to take away. But specifically, I think it’s easy to look at Separators and pass on our services because we’re a “small fish” compared to OEMs. But our size — and our specific focus on centrifuges — is what allows us to pull off these kinds of quick emergency service turnarounds.
We’re incredibly nimble, work as a team, and share a passion for making our clients’ lives easier. You just can’t get these kinds of results with other service providers.
Curious what you an expect when you work with Separators?
