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Roadtec Paves The Way With Rebuilt 3600 ATC
Roadtec’s products offer the latest in paving technology. Roadtec offers three types of products for the paving industry: Mills, Pavers (spreaders), and Shuttle Buggies. Mills remove existing asphalt from the road and convey the removed asphalt to a dump truck (90 percent of all removed asphalt is recycled). Pavers, with standard electric screeds, take asphalt mix and lay it on the roadbed to form the newly paved road surface. Shuttle Buggies, a Roadtec innovation, are material transfer vehicles that bring the asphalt mix from dump trucks to the pavers. Shuttle Buggies convey the asphalt mix to the paver without touching it. This keeps bumps and humps from being formed and allows the paver to work continuously at its rated speed without stopping. A patented antisegregation design of the Shuttle Buggy remixes asphalt material with a consistent size and temperature. Roadtec positions itself in the market by offering unmatched customer service. According to Joe Cline, vice president of manufacturing, “We don’t just sell the equipment. We actually go out and support our customers, help them do their jobs, and support them with their jobs. “Every company should have the same philosophy as we do. Our customers are the reason we have jobs tomorrow. Somebody calls, and no matter who takes the call, we take care of that customer. Stop what you’re doing no matter what. That’s what we do.” Every employee understands this mission, and makes satisfying customers the number one priority. This mission takes us to Roadtec’s Riverside plant in Chattanooga, a facility devoted to after-sale support of Roadtec’s equipment. In 1998, Roadtec purchased the Riverside plant to manufacture and distribute repair parts, and to rebuild used mobile asphalt equipment. Today, this facility not only produces parts for Roadtec equipment, but also parts for competitive equipment. Ninety-eight percent of all orders are filled on the same day whether for Roadtec or competitive machines. This requires a stockroom of parts (over 9,000 different parts) and a mindset to produce parts quickly. When the required delivery of a repair part is “ASAP”, Roadtec satisfies that order within 24 hours. When a customer’s product is down, Roadtec produces the part to get that machine running again in only eight hours. To accomplish this, Roadtec requires machinery that is flexible enough to react to immediate production changes. Roadtec’s rebuild program is also housed at the Riverside facility. Roadtec takes used mobile asphalt equipment in on trade, refurbishes and re-sells the machines for a fraction of the price of new. Based on the original year of manufacture, the rebuild price can be as much as 50 percent of a new machine. Rebuilding equipment is a low-margin business according to Cline, and therefore this start-up facility was cost restrained from the beginning. There were not enough funds available to purchase new equipment, so Roadtec surveyed the market to see what high quality used equipment was available. Because of their past success with Whitney products at their main manufacturing facility, Roadtec turned to Whitney, and Whitney’s distributor, Green & Associates in Chattanooga, to find a good used punch/plasma machine. Just as Roadtec rebuilds paving equipment in Chattanooga, Whitney rebuilds punch/plasma machines in Rockford, IL. Whitney took Roadtec’s needs and matched them with a newly rebuilt 3600 ATC. This machine, originally built in 1990, was retrofitted with a new Windows™ NT based CNC control, a new TRUECut™ plasma cutting system, and at Roadtec’s request, a new pneumatic tapping attachment. Did this eleven year old machine meet Roadtec’s expectations? According to Cline, “It looked good and surprised a lot of people. Everything looked like it had been taken apart and cleaned, or replaced.” Roadtec uses the 3600 ATC to process materials from 14 gauge through 3/4" thick. It processes mild steel, high strength steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. In all, over 5,000 different parts are programmed and planned for this machine. Since it is a repair and rebuild facility, lot sizes are generally small — averaging about 12 pieces. Raw material is stored outside in racks, and moved into the facility immediately prior to running. Roadtec fabricates parts out of full sheets of material or remnants (partially used plates). If the job does not require a full sheet, the remainder is either sent back to storage as a remnant, or used to make “free” parts — common repair items from material which otherwise would be tossed away. David Donohoe operates the 3600 ATC. Donohoe ran Roadtec’s first Whitney machine, a 3500 ATC purchased in 1995 for the main plant, and moved to the Riverside plant when it added the 3600 ATC. He takes ownership of this machine, performing regular preventive maintenance such as a daily wipe down, weekly fluids and punch condition check, and monthly greasing. “This machine does everything. We don’t have to drill or tap separately. We use the prick punch for layout and bending.” According to Cline, the tapping attachment makes the tapping essentially free since the part does not need to be handled a second time. And the part quality? “Certainly very good,” says Cline. “Those things are ready to go!” While reliability and response time are important, so is holding the line on costs. Roadtec‘s tooling inventory is sparse. Tooling is stocked at Green & Associates for immediate delivery to Roadtec’s facility as needed. Each of the 36 tooling stations is tracked and stocked by Green’s office to make ordering easy. “Roadtec calls and simply requests a punch for station 205, and I know exactly which tool they need,” says Herman Green, owner of Green & Associates. Roadtec purchased its first Whitney punch/plasma machine, a Model 3500 ATC, in 1995, and another 3500 ATC in 1997. These machines fabricate a high percentage of Roadtec’s parts. For example, 693 of the 1616 parts for a Roadtec Shuttle Buggy are produced on one of the 3500 ATCs. Cline notes that it is ironic that such small machines produce parts for such large pieces of equipment. When it comes to plate fabricating, Whitney punch/plasma equipment supports many of Astec’s divisions. Other Whitney machines within the organization are operated at Astec (across town), Telsmith, Kolberg-Pioneer, and Carlson Paving Products. (Used with permission from Whitney Metal Fabrication News, March 2002) Home | All Applications | Legacy Equipment | Legacy Equipment Applications |
