Success Story: Custom Augers for New and Existing Mixing Equipment
Whether developing new equipment or extending the life of existing machinery, manufacturers need reliable components that meet their specific production requirements. At Falcon Industries, we help customers overcome these problems with custom auger solutions designed for their applications.
Two recent projects—one involving a next-generation concrete mixer and another focused on restoring aging pharmaceutical mixers—demonstrate how our custom manufacturing capabilities help customers improve equipment performance while controlling costs.
The Challenge: Unique Mixing Auger Requirements
Concrete Equipment OEM: Prototyping Variable-Pitch Augers
A large OEM in the concrete equipment industry contacted Falcon while developing a new machine that could mix and dispense larger volumes of bagged concrete. The auger was critical to mixing dry concrete with water and discharging the finished material at the proper speed.
Increasing production capacity required more than simply enlarging the existing auger. The manufacturer needed to test several custom variable-pitch designs, but its overseas supplier required orders of hundreds of feet of flighting for each variation, making prototyping expensive.
Pharmaceutical Facility: Replacing Worn Mixing Screws
In a separate project, an equipment design firm needed to rebuild five 60-year-old mixers at a pharmaceutical facility. Although the mixers remained in good condition, their worn mixing screws could no longer meet production demands.
With the original maker out of business, replacing the mixers would have disrupted production and required recertification of the validated manufacturing process, potentially taking years and costing millions of dollars.
Falcon’s Solution: Custom Prototype and Replacement Augers
Concrete Equipment OEM
For the concrete equipment manufacturer, we produced several prototype augers using our CNC-controlled winding equipment, which provides precise, repeatable pitch dimensions. We manufactured both left-hand and right-hand configurations with consistent pitch transitions, producing as few as two units of each variation for testing.
Once the customer finalized two designs, we manufactured precise replacements. We delivered the finished components within two weeks, allowing the manufacturer to showcase its new equipment at a major concrete industry trade show.
Pharmaceutical Facility
For the pharmaceutical facility, we manufactured custom double-lead, ribbon-style mixing augers to replace the worn components. Our team also improved the design by adding integral spokes directly into the flighting instead of using welded supports. This approach decreased assembly costs and eliminated potential weak points at the welds, producing a more robust design.
The Results: Improved Performance Without Unnecessary Costs
Although the applications differed, both customers benefited from custom auger solutions adapted to their equipment and production needs.
For the concrete equipment manufacturer, small-batch prototyping reduced development costs and let the company test and refine the design before committing to production. Precise manufacturing and quick turnaround also helped keep the product launch on schedule.
For the pharmaceutical facility, custom replacement augers provided a workable alternative to replacing five mixers, helping avoid expensive equipment upgrades, lengthy recertification, and extended production interruptions.
Need Custom or Replacement Mixing Augers?
From new equipment development to rebuilding existing machinery, our team can design and manufacture custom auger flighting for specialized applications.
Contact Falcon Industries today to discuss your equipment needs and learn how our custom auger solutions can help improve performance, reduce costs, and prolong equipment life.
