SEW-EURODRIVE Engineering Supercharges Logan Aluminum

Challenge:

When Legacy Equipment Limits Production, You Innovate—or Fall Behind.

At its state-of-the-art rolling mill, Logan Aluminum processes massive aluminum ingots into rolled sheet. But one key bottleneck stood in the way of achieving quicker cycle times at each Pusher Furnace: The drive equipment on their shoe return systems. The original setup, featuring an older SEW-EURODRIVE R87 gear unit, couldn’t support the speed or duty cycle required to meet Logan’s performance goals.

The facility needed a solution that would deliver a 5 times increase in cycle time, within the same footprint, and with minimal capital investment. Simply replacing the gear unit would not be enough. This called for a complete rethinking of the drive strategy.

SEW-EURODRIVE proposed a supercharged R87 gear unit paired with a modern DRN premium efficient motor.

Every motor and gear unit has thermal capacity: The amount of work it can perform before overheating. In traditional setups, systems are often oversized to avoid exceeding this limit. Supercharging flips that thinking:

Instead of oversizing, SEW-EURODRIVE calculates the exact thermal limits based on your real application cycle (on/off times, load, duty cycle, ambient temperature, etc.).

The system is then “supercharged” by configuring the drive software and motor selection to run at higher torque, more often, for longer durations, without exceeding safe operating temperatures.

Working with Doug Harris, Logan’s electrical engineer responsible for the Pusher Furnaces, SEW-EURODRIVE’s Vincent Saulnier:

• Reviewed system demands and ran detailed application sizing
• Proposed a supercharged R87 gear unit paired with a modern DRN motor
• Validated the thermal and mechanical performance using SEW’s engineering tools and application knowledge
• Delivered a drop-in upgrade that enabled Logan to dramatically increase throughput without upsizing the mechanical layout

The project was executed with full confidence and technical clarity—and the results were exactly as predicted.

SEW-EURODRIVE Advantage:

Throughput Doesn’t Always Require Bigger Equipment—Just Smarter Engineering

SEW-EURODRIVE’s supercharging technology allows customers to get more out of existing space, with optimized duty cycles, extended speed ranges, and engineered thermal capacity—all verified by calculation and validated in the field. For Logan Aluminum, the result was not just more production—it was total confidence in a solution backed by real-world results.

With SEW‑EURODRIVE, manufacturers don’t just replace equipment—they elevate performance. Supercharging is just one of the many ways SEW helps customers achieve more with less.

Application Summary:

Results:

• 5X faster cycle time—critical to meeting new production goals
• No structural or layout changes required
• Improved energy efficiency with optimized motor performance
• Proven performance validated through engineering modeling
• Established Logan’s trust in SEW as a partner for future plant-wide improvements