M A G A Z I N E
“The tube manipulator has also helped us to expand into forestry, chemical plants and more,” says Greg. “We took a leap of faith with the marine work because we have the expertise and the experience in house.” “We worked on Winthrop engineering’s installation of a biomass burner for GlaxoSmithKline. They were delighted with our service, particularly the ability to do it on site. “We did the power pack and hose and steel tube installation on a £7m biomass plant for GP Wood, a major forestry timber exporter. We were only able to take that on because we had the tube manipulator,” Greg concludes. “Once you’ve done the installation, you are more likely to tie in a maintenance contract,” says Bob. People and skills “The pipe bender is a simple enough machine to work,” says Bob, “as long as you have the technical knowledge to get the bends in the right place, and there are formulas to do that. “Take a compressor pipe on a truck. It might have a 90-degree angle followed by a 45-degree angle followed by a thirty-degree angle in another direction. It may
would have a knowledge of pipe bending,” he says. “My expertise meant we could expand that part of the business. “Previously we only had one MSST able to use the bending machine. Since Dennis and Dwayne, who are both ex plumbers, joined the team we have the skills in-house to go out on site, making my life much easier. on-site work. We’ve put pipework onto a number of ships for cranes and we’ve been able to work much more easily on site because we can send two guys with the machine to do it.” “Because of this, we’ve been able to do more
Trade Counter Business is expanding, says Bob. “It’s only a small part of the business but it’s building up. “Once people know you can do something, word gets round. People start to say ‘Take it to Pirtek, they can do that.’ In the past couple of years we’ve got a lot more trade counter work. “People come in with, say, a compressor line off the underside of a truck. They give you a four metre length of 15mm tube with nine or 10 bends and say ‘Can you make this up?’ “Previously we would have had to have said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that but I can do it in a hose.’ Now we simply say, ‘No problem.’”
Bob believes there are always transferable skills and always something to learn from others. “We’ve got the two plumbers, a mechanical fitter and an agricultural contractor as MSSTs and they all bring
different skills and knowledge that’s useful to the business. “Alan, who has just started as a depot assistant, is a trained heavy goods mechanic and brings something from that to Pirtek
‘We took a leap of faith with the marine work’
look complicated but you basically just start from one end and work your way through.”
Bob has been with the franchise for around five years and having had a variety of roles earlier in his career, brings a range of skills.
Cork. It makes us a stronger team. Our combined knowledge is far greater than the sum of the parts, and everyone is happy to share their particular skills and experiences.”
“I had a background in plumbing and mechanical installations and as such
“Pipe bending is just a part of our 24/7 hydraulic service”
UK 0800 38 24 38 ROI 1800 74 78 35 www.pirtek.eu
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