Poor wear protection costs UK bulk industries millions 25 November 2010

Wear protection, for plant and equipment such as cyclones, valves and pipework, is under-used and, as a result, UK industry is wasting money, in terms of maintenance and lost production.

That's the verdict from wear protection specialist Kingfisher, which believes that British bulk handling, extraction and recycling industries are spending millions of pounds unnecessarily.

Julian Brindley, sales and marketing director of Kingfisher, says that at the heart of this problem are plant managers' conflicting requirements to reduce capital spending on projects verses the needs and expectations of maintenance managers, who inherit the plant after the usual 12-month warranty has expired.

In many instances, he points out, the OEM has to achieve lowest installed price for new equipment, to comply with project costs, while the maintenance manager is looking for minimised whole life costs.

"Our field experience and calculations shows that it is far more profitable for companies in process industries to employ best practice from day one, rather than having to provide regular maintenance and repair of equipment at regular intervals due to problems associated with wear and erosion," says Brindley.

"Reduced maintenance means reduced risk, reduced cost and more production uptime over longer periods – all of which are critically important to improve the efficiencies of companies in competitive markets," he adds.

Indeed, he says that Kingfisher's calculations show that, on average, users of its wear protection systems benefit by a factor of five against their initial outlay, with many installations providing wear life of up to 20-years following appropriate wear treatment.

"If a process system is designed with wear protection from its inception, then overall equipment costs can often be reduced," comments Brindley, pointing out that as the wear protection system often eliminates the need to use heavier grades of material.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Kingfisher Industrial Ltd

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