Offshore oil drilling and production operations depend on reliable hoisting and drawworks systems to manage the enormous mechanical loads involved in deep water drilling, pipe handling, and production equipment deployment. The transmissions that power these hoist and drawworks systems are among the most mechanically demanding components on any offshore rig, and the wet friction parts within those transmissions, including sintered friction components, paper friction gears, and their corresponding steel plates, must perform consistently and reliably in an environment where equipment failure carries serious operational and safety consequences. Maintaining a dependable supply chain for these critical components is not a secondary concern for transmission manufacturers serving the offshore industry. It is a fundamental requirement of keeping their customers’ operations running.
A world-class manufacturer of transmissions for hoist and drawworks systems used in offshore oil drilling and production rigs found themselves in a difficult supply chain position when multiple existing suppliers proved unable to provide compatible sintered and paper friction gears along with corresponding steel plates in a timely fashion. For a manufacturer serving the offshore oil and gas industry, supply disruptions of this nature are not simply inconvenient. They can cascade into production delays, missed delivery commitments, and costly downtime for rig operators whose daily operating costs run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The manufacturer needed a solution that would consolidate their friction parts sourcing, restore supply chain reliability, and do so without any compromise in the tier-one quality standards their transmissions demanded. They contacted ProTec.
