Goodyear Tire & Rubber

The Client

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers and distributors. CEI Crane & Rigging, Inc. (CEI) provided service at Goodyear’s manufacturing plant in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The Customer Need

Goodyear’s Lawton plant needed a new calender roll for the upcoming year. Rubber calendaring equipment is essential to the operation of the facility. It processes the rubber, allowing for precise product thickness, along with finishing textures and coatings.

Tasked with completing the calendar roll change during a four-day plant shutdown, Goodyear needed an expert millwright team to handle the job quickly and correctly.

Solution Summary

  • Millwright services for onsite construction
  • Project coordination between multiple parties

“CEI Crane & Rigging completed the project within the time frame and even gave us time to trouble shoot for any problems.”

Case Study

Ask any manufacturer and they’ll tell you: time is money. Plant shutdowns—both planned and unexpected—cost production time, so it’s critical to get equipment up and running again.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Lawton plant schedules an annual shutdown to perform routine maintenance on existing machines and install new machines to prepare for the next year of work.

During this annual shutdown, efficiency and accuracy are key. If a machine were to break during the production period of the year, it could potentially cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Due to the intense time crunch and the importance of these machines, Goodyear only brings on the best contractors to complete their work.

For this year’s calendar roll change, the company turned to CEI for help.

“Goodyear doesn’t allow a major piece of their equipment to be torn down unless you have previous experience or a recommendation,” said CEI Millwright Foreman George Garren. “They don’t want your average Joe tearing a machine apart and not being able to get it back up and running.”

A 10-person crew, comprised of foremen, millwrights, operators and riggers, traveled to the plant. The project required CEI to move fast.

“The time frame that they were asking for this to be done was virtually impossible,” said Garren. “But our team was up to the challenge.”

A two-pass calendar roll change would typically require six days to complete; however, Goodyear needed the work finished within four days — CEI had it done in two and half days.

“Our record turnaround time on this project was really a testament to the crew that was working on it,” said Garren. “They did an exceptional job.”

Fernando Valencia, a mechanical engineer and project manager of calendars at Goodyear, said the fast turnaround gave his team extra time to test for quality assurance.

“CEI Crane & Rigging completed the project within the time frame and even gave us time to trouble shoot for any problems” said Valencia.

He described CEI’s job performance as “phenomenal.”

“[CEI] even opened my eyes about how to do things in a different way,” said Valencia. “I would absolutely recommend them to others.”

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