In Steven Covey’s book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, he talks about a paradigm shift. Or getting a far different perspective than you previously experienced.

One of the examples he uses is when you first become a parent, everything in your outlook is altered forever. You now are responsible for an infant that is not able to take care of itself. It makes you think differently, and make different choices than in the past.

My biggest paradigm shift came by understanding the difference between effort and real world results.

At the time I was the sales and marketing manager for a small privately held company in a different industry. Within two years, the business...

When your toughest wear application is so challenging it destroys even the best chrome carbide overlay in 2 years; what do you select to improve?

The customer was pleased when Chromeweld 600 CCO delivered 2 years of wear life, and set a new wear resistant performance standard.

After several cycles, when this became their new normal wear life, they wanted an even longer lasting solution.

While this CCO plate held up in most areas, the main loading & impact zone (outlined in soapstone) took 2 years to wear to this point. Due to the difficult location, the customer was looking to maximize production time before having to replace it again.

In a steel mill, the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) system del...

If you are still getting Ho-Hum results from your wear resistant steel, isn't it time to focus on the cause of the problem?

When you eliminate the cause, your annoying symptoms go away.

Find strategies, formulas and apply methods to create deliberate plans. Then go deeper with them until they produce the results you desire.

If you have tried different AR400 or AR450 or AR500 wear plates in your applications and still get Ho-Hum Results, it is time to recognize it is not your strategies letting you down. The products you are using have failed to meet your wear life expectations.

When you always choose inexpensive wear plate, you are guaranteed Ho-Hum results.

You can already start to plan on rep...

Is Your Equipment Wear Plate To Blame For Your Excess Scrap Levels?

People outside the glass industry are not aware how rapidly cullet can destroy steel wear plate.

You production equipment wear zones fight a continuous battle against abrasion:
• Handling soda ash and other raw materials
• Cullet handling
• Floor liners
• Side Liners
• Batch mixer paddles
• Feeder liners
• Discharge chutes

Cullet continuously falling onto this feed screw has destroyed the equipment. You can plainly see how this abrasion removes steel. When your AR500 wear plate contains higher Nickel levels, you are unknowingly increasing your scrap levels due to Nickel contamination.

Why Is Nickel...

Most People Suffer From Wear Plate Confusion

Many people who work with wear resistant steel in their equipment, are still uncertain how to evaluate which wear plate is the best choice compared to every other option.

The real issue is, most people Don’t Know, What They Don’t Know.

How can you tell which factors to compare when making their material decision?

When your equipment fails, your anxiety goes into overdrive.

As soon as it gets patched back together and is running again, you start to worry about when a future breakdown will occur.

Stress raises its ugly head when people who have not yet learned how to evaluate which wear resistant steel is best for their challenging worst app...

In last week’s post we discussed how most excavator buckets are made of A514 or T-1 steel.

This week we are providing additional information because most data on several steel websites are not only inaccurate, a few are outright misleading.

Here is information on A514 steel:

A514 is an ASTM / AISI standard steel grade. Anyone can make and sell A514 steel, as long as they meet the standard minimum requirements.

A514 is a conventional quenched and tempered alloy steel plate designed for structural applications.

Nearly every piece of aggregate equipment uses A514 or T-1 for the main structural framework.

You will see this sticker on many semi-trailer frames. This is because the A514 or T-1 st...

When you buy used excavating equipment, you don’t have many options. You are limited to what came with the machine.

Many times a used excavator is traded in for a newer model after it has been beat-up for years.

Often the owner of the used machine asks, “Is it worth repairing my existing bucket or am I better off buying a new bucket?”

You usually hear three answers from this question:

1. The dealership will happily quote you a new bucket. OEM buckets are usually made from A514 steel, often called a generic version of T-1. Look for more information on T-1 and A514 in next week’s Wear Plate Wednesday blog post.

2. Bucket fabrication shops will quote you a replacement bucket...

If you evaluate your wear resistant steel applications and focus on the causes, not just the symptoms; you will obtain the critical information to allow you to engineer your problems away.

It is easy to do if you take the time to do it.

However it is VERY EASY to get caught up in the multitude of day to day or minute to minute tasks, issues, challenges and emergencies of life.

Having the main bark feed screw snap creates major problems for paper mill woodyards. Critical items like this application require advance planning and careful consideration to avoid dramatic breakdowns.

When life happens, you set aside your wear challenges until it breaks down and production comes to a screeching halt....

"To achieve the next level of success, you must utilize next level thinking."

This is a common saying among many of the world's most successful people to help others break out of their traditional mindset and adopt a RESULTS mindset.

It's not just about thinking differently...

It's about surrounding yourself with the right partners, proper tools and the correct methods proven to take people to their next level of growth and success.

Shift Your Focus With A Unique Approach To Evaluating Your Improvements

Answer this question honestly: Do you do the very best things you can when repairing or upgrading your production equipment and processes?

The point is to never repeat something in your applicatio...

As businesses slowly begin to return to more “normal” practices, it is essential for everyone to plan our joint appointments for maximum effectiveness.

In 2020 companies have been limiting vendor sales calls only for specific project issues.

The ‘old school’ sales visit methods of “just checking to see if you needed anything” are history.

Businesses do not have the time and sales professionals must deliver value to the customer and their employer.

Time is our most precious commodity. We each get the same amount, yet we never seem to have enough.

When you have a project to discuss with a JADCO sales representative, we each need to plan up front:

“What outc...