On the Wednesday before Labor Day, a paper mill in Louisiana notified Jeff Penton, a supervisor in Conhagen’s machine shop, that their crane used for handling logs was down due to a failed bearing and bearing housing. It needed to be fixed ASAP in order to keep the mill from disrupting their normal production. The next morning, Conhagen dispatched their field machining supervisor, Alvin Lott, to the site to evaluate the situation and determine what had to be done to get the crane back in service.
Alvin decided best way to get the crane back in service quickly was to repair the bearing housing place. Even though the bearing housing was 120 feet in the air, that did not deter Conhagen or its crew. Alvin immediately mobilized Conhagen’s field machining equipment and crew including Alfred Serio, Byron Allemand, and Gregory Harris. A field boring machine was set up to machine the housing in place. Simultaneously, Conhagen’s shop in Kenner, LA started manufacturing a sleeve that would be shipped to field for continuation of the repair.
With little advance notice, the Conhagen crew in both the shop and field worked through the Labor Day weekend to complete the repair before Labor Day. The crane is back in service and the mill did not experience a disruption in production.
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