Akron Clutch Manufacturer’s Quick Turnaround Saves the Day for Gulf Oil Rig Operator

When GMP Friction Products (formerly General Metals Powder Company) receives an order for their custom-designed clutch plates, they quickly and efficiently fill the order to keep their customers up and running. But their response time on a recent order from industrial clutch manufacturer The Carlson Company was truly impressive.

The Carlson Company supplies custom-designed industrial clutches for a variety of heavy industrial applications. One of the four clutches in use on a customer’s oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico had malfunctioned, leaking hydraulic fluid and warping the clutch plates until they were non-functional. To keep the rig in operation, the replacement parts needed to be on the rig within two weeks. Unfortunately, replacement parts were unavailable, so The Carlson Company relied on GMP Friction Products to quickly produce new parts.

“We needed the components for the new clutch immediately,” said Rodney Bruntz, Chief Engineer at The Carlson Company. “GMP Friction really saved the day with their rapid parts delivery.”

The original GMP Friction Products parts order had taken two weeks to manufacture and ship to The Carlson Company. When the GMP Friction Products staff received the replacement parts order, they were able to turn it around over a weekend, receiving the order on Friday and shipping the parts out on Monday. Thanks to GMP Friction Products’ rapid response time, the oil rig was back up and running in a week and a half, saving hours of labor and significant costs related to productivity.

For more than 78 years, GMP Friction Products has designed and manufactured brake pads and clutch plates for use in a variety of industrial and automotive applications. As a leader in sintered metallic friction materials, GMP Friction Products specialize in working with clients to engineer and create customized parts in a range of materials for controlling, stopping, or transmitting power. For more information, call 330-633-1226 or visit their website at www.gmpfriction.com.