Background
BackgroundI am the General Manager for the generator repairs division at our Turbine-Generator Repair Facility in St. Louis, MO. My entire service career has been with MD&A, and I am responsible for developing new strategies, adding resources, and developing new product lines to support the generator business. Prior to my current position, I spent ten years as the operations manager for the generator division.
You have been at MD&A for a long time. What was it like back then and how did it evolve?
I have been with MD&A for 34 years. At that time, I was one of 11 people working for the company. In 1994, I was promoted to shop foreman over four full-time shop employees supporting the generator repairs group. We manufactured tooling, equipment, insulation, and materials for rewind fields and remanufactured high voltage bushings for the power industry. It was a significant effort to complete as a very small company against the giant OEMs, but, over time, we have become one of the largest non-OEM providers in the world.
What aspect do you enjoy most about your new role at MD&A?
I enjoy any task that has a lot of challenges. It keeps my job interesting. I also enjoy seeing the company grow and succeed.
What has been your favorite project at MD&A?
The most interesting job I have worked on was replacing a stub shaft of a generator rotor after a collector ring flash over destroyed the collector rings and the collector end shaft. It’s very impressive to see our team salvage something and return it to service after others condemn it. Read our case study.
What is the biggest problem you have encountered with refurbishing High Voltage Bushings? How did you solve it?
The most significant issue I have encountered when refurbishing high voltage bushings involved disassembling Westinghouse liquid-cooled units. During the removal process, the top hats would not release as expected, which led to damage of the copper bellows brazed to the top hat assembly.
This failure created a major setback, as the copper bellows are a critical and specialized component. Sourcing replacement material took over 14 months, followed by an additional two weeks required to manufacture and form the new bellows. The extended lead time significantly impacted project turnaround and highlighted the challenges associated with legacy equipment and hard-to-source components.
The customer was very patient and understanding, recognizing that we were doing everything possible to return their product as quickly as we could.
To resolve this issue, we identified a vendor capable of meeting our material specifications, required tolerances, and replicating the geometry of the existing component. We then removed all the deteriorated material from the top hat assembly and replaced it with newly manufactured bellows designed to match the original part.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my very little spare time, I enjoy heading to the farm with my boys and hunting. This time is priceless to me.
