Think about the last time a consultant really went above and beyond to help you diagnose, repair, and maintain your gypsum pin mixer.
Did they fly across the country to help? Write an itemized report? If you asked for help with a competitor's product, would they even show up?
If this sounds far-fetched to you, Wayne Beveridge will happily prove you wrong. In his 40 years in the gypsum business, he’s flown all across North America to help drywall manufacturers with their equipment challenges. Here are 3 of his favorite stories.
That time we fixed a competitor’s product
One of our customers got in touch with Wayne over some trouble with their ball mills. Of the five ball mills they owned, ACS Mixers had sold them three, and they needed tech support with two in particular. He quoted the job, they sent back a purchase order, and Wayne flew down to their plant to help.
Once he arrived, Wayne asked to see the ball mills that were giving them trouble. The customer pointed out the two that were made by another manufacturer.
“Those aren’t ours,” Wayne remembers saying.
“I know,” said the customer, “but they wouldn’t come.”
Seeing as the other company had refused to provide tech support on their product, and since Wayne was already onsite, he agreed to take a look at the issue.
He was able to resolve the problem that day, then stayed an extra day to check on the fix he recommended. Both ball mills were back up and running properly that day. He wrote a report so the customer could reference the fix at any time.
“I told them what to do so it wouldn’t happen again. I did a full breakdown of temperatures and timing and everything about those ball mills, so they knew exactly how they were running — even to the point of checking on the flow of the water pump for cooling,” says Wayne. “Once the job was done, I made my way home.”
That time we wrote a report on a replica of our equipment
ACS is often imitated but never duplicated. One year, a plant contacted Wayne about their paper splicing equipment. ACS had made similar parts and equipment in the past, so Wayne was ready to help.
“Same as before, I went through the quote process, flew down, and went onsite. As soon as I got there, I realized the equipment wasn’t ours,” he says. “It was just a very, very close replica.”
But Wayne was already there to help, so he got to work regardless. He worked with the customer’s maintenance department to take apart the paper splicing equipment, measure all the parts, and look for any defects.
“I created a job plan with a condition report itemizing everything that needed to be done to bring them back to spec,” Wayne explains. “Later, they came back and said they’d been having really good success. That job became a yearly visit.”
The annual inspection was an onsite run-through involving remote video equipment called GoPros, which Wayne would use to capture and diagnose the condition and movement of the machinery. Within a week of the inspection, he would supply the customer with a written report, including photos and videos of the operation and any issues he observed, along with suggestions to improve the situation.
Wayne was also able to quickly diagnose some other issues that were causing them to have paper breaks, so he recommended bigger rollers to create less pressure in the process.
And all those other times we jumped on a plane to help
Sometimes you just need to be there in person to diagnose a gypsum mixer issue. Wayne once had his intuition kick in while a customer described a problem over the phone.
“Something’s not right,” he told the customer. “I’ll be there.”
So, Wayne booked a plane and was in their plant by 3:30 PM the next day. He stood beside the mixer, watching it run and listening to it, and eventually determined that the mixer was set up incorrectly. He explained what settings they needed to change and how to re-install some of the water inlets.
“You know when you need to be there,” Wayne says. “When I’m talking to a customer, they describe the issue, and I can tell they need somebody to actually go there and take a look to make sure we’re getting a proper diagnosis — and giving the right answers.”
When he does arrive onsite, each step is documented to ensure the customer knows how to fix the problem and how to prevent future issues.
Wayne explains, “I’m there as an advisor. I tell their team what they should be looking for, go through and document everything from sprockets and bearings and what sizes they were, the chain condition and how many links of chain were needed — all so they have a job plan when they’re done.”
The documented plan makes it easy for customers to order all the parts they need ahead of time. Then, when their next downtime rolls around, they have a report to reference as they replace all their old parts with new ones. No need for delays.
When in doubt, call a consultant
In some of these stories, plant operators were surprised to see our consultant show up when other companies wouldn’t bother. That’s just how we do business.
“You get a lot more for an ACS mixer,” says Wayne. “We always show up.”
If you’re not able to receive us onsite for any reason, we’re also able to do certain types of inspections and installations over a video call. We’re able to share detailed documents with step-by-step instructions, images, and measurements — we could even film video demonstrations by request.
Whatever issues you’re having in the wonderful world of gypsum, help is just a phone call away. Contact ACS Mixers to discuss the next steps.