Scots Bearings Ltd, Scotland’s largest independent supplier of bearing and power transmission products we called by their long standing customer Chivas Glenallachie to assist with a gearbox  application issue. Glenallachie Distillery had planned a four-week shutdown of their malt distillery for maintenance work on their gear units but when their Highfield Mash Tun unit was dismantled the wheel was so old and worn that it disintegrated. In such a short timeframe the only option was to build and fit a new geared unit in just 12 working days.

The challenge - Glenallachie is a Speyside malt whisky distillery in Aberlour founded in 1967 and owned by Chivas Brothers. Nationwide the company operates 12 malt distilleries and owns 32 UK sites employing 1600 people. The distillery had scheduled a four-week shut-down for maintenance work on their units and had expected that bearings and seals would be the only parts needing replaced, but when Scots Bearings Gearbox Division dismantled an existing Highfield unit it quickly became clear that refurbishing it in a short time period would not be possible as the wheel was so worn it disintegrated.  The time remaining in shutdown at this stage was now only 3 weeks and spares would not be readily available.

The solution - It was decided that alternatives should be looked at in the Radicon range and the chosen unit was a G1840R mash tun gearbox with 160/1 ratio. After the distillery received calculated proof from Scots Bearings and Radicon application engineers on the unit match they gave the go ahead to have the unit produced. This complete unit had to be built and delivered in 12 working days to enable whisky production to recommence without unplanned stoppages. Scots Bearings and Radicon met the tight targets meaning there was no costly unscheduled downtime to affect production.

Quote - “When we realised the full extent of the damage within the old worm unit, we faced a race against time to get our Mash Tun back up and running. Fortunately, Scots Bearings and Radicon were able to provide a solution within 10 working days and we met our target. The level of customer support was superb.” Neil Reid - Maintenance Manager - Chivas

For further information on the products and services listed please contact your local Scots Bearings Branch who shall gladly arrange a site visit to discuss in more detail.