Superior Air Parts Improves Push Rod Seal Design And Manufacturing

Call it a simple 'fix' for a persistent problem. Superior Air Parts' Product Integrity Team (PIT), a group of employees representing all facets of the company and responsible for identifying and solving product performance and quality problems have recently developed a new push rod seal that would provide a much better solution to the issue of bad seating and fluid leaks.

"We had heard comments from some customers that our push rod seals didn't install very well," explained Keith Blockus, Superior's Sr. Director of Engineering and Product Development. "They were hard to get seated and would sometimes leak."

"Our PIT Crew traced it to inconsistencies in the manufacturing process," he continued. "We had a meeting with the part's supplier and he understood the problem and was very proactive in finding a solution."

Blockus said the solution was to switch manufacturing processes away from the inconsistencies of machining the seals from a piece of frozen rubber to a state-of-the-art injection molding system that created a perfect circle every time. "The vendor produced some samples of the injection molded part and we sent it along to our customers for their review," he continued. "They thought it was fantastic. It met all their needs perfectly."

"The PIT Crew led the entire year-long process from design changes to manufacturing samples to customer testing and onto final production," Blockus continued. "They even specified a new color so there would be no confusion in the field. The old parts were white, and the new ones are 'Superior Blue."

FMI: www.superiorairparts.com