Geberit FlowFit Industrial Case Study

The first improvement was the installation of a new CARDEV CCS recycling plant, along with a Smart Mix, to filter, clean and adjust the old coolant into “like new” coolant ready for re-distribution. This has helped to dramatically reduce Senior Aerospace Weston’s consumption of “neat” oil and resulting costs. The second part involved re-designing the coolant supply system so that it would flow around the factory and back to the new recycling tank, whilst upgrading the pipework of the aging system. At this point, Senior Aerospace Weston consulted the expertise of Pipekit. Pipekit visited the Lancashire site and the Geberit Flowfit pipework system was selected to best suit the needs of the project and its long-term requirements. The main benefit of the Geberit Flowfit system is the simplicity and ease of installation it offers installers. As the team at Senior Aerospace Weston were undertaking the refurbishment programme internally, they were looking for a quick and simple installation solution but also one that could dramatically reduce the costly maintenance delays of the incumbent system long term. They were attracted to Geberit Flowfit’s pressing tool design, which allowed the team to break into the pipework where needed and simply press a pipe fitting in place in a matter of seconds, without the costly impact of drying time or hot work requirements. Geberit Flowfit also doesn’t have to be fully enclosed during the pressing process – the tool only having to be applied in the lateral position – which also helped in restricted spaces onsite, and the lightweight design of the pressing tool was particularly useful when working overhead in the factory’s roof space.

Geberit’s Flowfit is designed with a flexible aluminium structure, which was also beneficial for the Senior Aerospace Weston team as they could easily bend the pipe to whatever shape was required, which was essential for the challenging 500 metre pipework design requirement of the factory setting, at the same time as reducing the need for joints and or elbow fittings. This in turn helps reduce long term leak risk, which was particularly prevalent for helping reduce the life cycle costings of the factory.Throughout the process, Pipekit was on hand to impart its industry knowledge and expertise and worked alongside the Senior Aerospace Weston team to ensure the specification, installation and after care requirements were met by the pipework solutions selected. This included providing a full report on the suitability of the Geberit Flowfit pipework material. Senior Aerospace Weston had concerns about the long term effects the coolant would have on the internal makeup of the Geberit Flowfit system. As a result, Pipework liaised with Geberit direct, to produce a full report detailing Geberit Flowfit’s performance and compatibility levels, which helped to offer the customer peace of mind prior to purchasing. Commenting on the high level of expertise and customer service demonstrated by Pipekit during the process, Kyle Allum from Senior Aerospace Weston said: “From the initial sales contact through to the supply and fit process, Pipekit has impressed us with their hands on approach. A sales visit to start helped us cement our options but it was the regular and speedy way in which they responded to any of our enquiries. Be that creating a material suitability report or coming to site to demonstrate the product rather than rely on emails and/or brochures”. He continues: “We also had the opportunity to test the Geberit Flowfit and other variants of the Geberit family, before we purchased, and this offered us peace of mind in both the system and the supplier that we had chosen the right combined solution”.

The upgrade project officially started in May this year and will run across the summer months. The aim is to have each machine with its own dedicated supply of coolant and connected to the recycling plant.This will be with a traditional trigger coolant gun or with a “smart” auto top-up unit, which monitors the capacity of the tanks and auto-fills when required. This allows Senior Aerospace Weston to run “lights out” on its automation machines and ultimately improve the day-to-day production and management of the system.

Summing up the project, Jamie McQueen, Sales Director, Pipekit said: “It’s been great to work alongside Senior Aerospace Weston and be able to support the delivery of a bespoke system, designed by the client, that will dramatically improve the efficiency and production of the industrial factory setting whilst offering significant cost savings in the maintenance of the system. We will continue to be on hand to support the installation and after care process and look forward to working with the customer for all future needs”.