THE PIRTEK MAGAZINE JULY 2018
INTHE PIPELINE M A G A Z I N E
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
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M A G A Z I N E
Pirtek goes above and beyond
They say the British are obsessed with the weather. It’s our default conversation opener. Well in the first half of 2018, we could perhaps be forgiven for talking about it. The ‘beast from the east’ bathed the UK with snow and bitter easterly winds in February. The icy conditions affected the whole country but those in the countryside were hit hardest. Nevertheless, Pirtek’s commitment to the whole country remained. Pirtek can be relied upon to get things done. Nowhere is this more relevant than in Scotland, where Pirtek is the only company in the hydraulic hose business that can truly claim national coverage. We have details of jobs covered in Scotland on pages 38 to 41. At the time of writing, the country is basking in a heatwave, as well as World Cup fever – though there is no guarantee that the optimistic mood will endure on either front.
‘Whatever the weather, Pirtek’s commitment remains’
What does endure in Pirtek’s 30th year in the UK is its commitment to customer service and innovation. On pages six to nine, we celebrate the 30th anniversary conference and awards, recognising outstanding franchises and individuals. Continuing from the last edition’s story
about Total Hydraulic Management at Pirtek Tyne and Wear, this quarter we feature Pirtek Birmingham, where the centre has been working on hydraulic systems for a number of years. Tottenham Hotspurs’ ground-breaking (literally) new stadium, serviced by Pirtek Leyton, is featured on pages 22 to 23 and Pirtek Luton is a sponsor at the Kenilworth Road ground of newly promoted Luton Town. Pirtek is not just a hose maintenance company. Also in its repertoire is design and build of hydraulic
systems in sensitive, high tolerance machines. Pirtek Plymouth shows off its skills on pages 24 to 29. After 30 successful years of Pirtek UK and several weeks of good weather, all I can say is, long may it continue. c
Chris Stuckey Managing Director
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ABERDEEN Tel: 01224 225 588 ASHFORD Tel: 01233 502 090 BASILDON Tel: 01268 522 633 BELFAST Tel: 02890 369 522 BIRMINGHAM Tel: 0121 327 8678 BRADFORD Tel: 01274 739 300 BRISTOL Tel: 01179 820 056 BURTON UPON TRENT Tel: 01283 545 666 CAMBRIDGE Tel: 01223 835 222 CLEVELAND Tel: 01642 611 111 CORK Tel: 00353 21421 0990 COVENTRY Tel: 02476 633 797 CRAWLEY Tel: 01293 571 707 CUMBRIA Tel: 01768 210 055 DERBY Tel: 01332 205 000 DOCKLANDS Tel: 020 7474 8197 DONCASTER Tel: 01302 881 115 DUBLIN Tel: 00353 1456 4822 DUNDEE Tel: 01382 819 988 EDINBURGH Tel: 0131 554 1445 ELLESMERE PORT Tel: 0151 357 3574 GALWAY Tel: 00353 91 730 530 GLASGOW Tel: 0141 641 4422 GLOUCESTER Tel: 01452 881 861 GREENWICH Tel: 020 7237 8230 GUILDFORD Tel: 01483 454 546 HARLOW Tel: 01279 427 300 HULL Tel: 01482 217 222 IPSWICH Tel: 01473 688 288 ISLEWORTH Tel: 020 8847 5095 ISLE OF WIGHT Tel: 01983 528 000 KIDDERMINSTER Tel: 01562 753 770 KILMARNOCK Tel: 01563 521 166 KINGS CROSS Tel: 020 7700 1819 KINROSS Tel: 01577 865 855 LEEDS Tel: 0113 244 2700 LEICESTER Tel: 01162 547 745 LEYTON Tel: 020 8556 9500 LIMERICK Tel: 061 305569 LINCOLN Tel: 01522 697 698 LIVERPOOL Tel: 0151 933 9000 LUTON Tel: 01582 597 050 MANCHESTER EAST Tel: 0161 785 9100 MANCHESTER Tel: 0161 877 0000 MANSFIELD Tel: 01623 555 500 MEDWAY Tel: 01634 297 080 MILTON KEYNES Tel: 01908 565 500 MITCHAM Tel: 020 8640 6565 NEWPORT Tel: 01633 868 655 NORTHAMPTON Tel: 01604 499 644 NORWICH Tel: 01603 744 544 ERITH Tel: 01322 350 400 EXETER Tel: 01392 499 030 FALKIRK Tel: 01324 611 444
Inverness
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Cleveland
Belfast
York
Bradford
Leeds
Preston
Hull
Wakefield
Oldham
Manchester
Liverpool
Doncaster
Galway
Wigan
Lincoln
EllsemerePort
Sheffield
Dublin
Nottingham Mansfield
Stoke
Norwich
Derby
Leicester
Limerick
Shropshire
Burton-upon-Trent
Peterborough
Wolverhampton
Coventry
Birmingham
Waterford
Oldbury
Cambridge
Rugby
Northampton
Redditch
Cork
Worcester Kidderminster
Ipswich
MiltonKeynes
Luton
M25
Harlow
Gloucester
Slough/Heathrow Oxford
Basildon
Swansea
Newport
Cardiff
Watford
Reading
Medway
Swindon
Leyton
Thurrock
Westbury
Bristol
Guildford
Ashford
KingsCross
ParkRoyal
Crawley
Docklands
Erith
Portsmouth
Greenwich
Ferndown
Isleworth
Exeter
Southampton
Poole
Mitcham
Plymouth
IsleofWight
NOTTINGHAM Tel: 01159 850 081 OLDBURY Tel: 0121 552 3355 OXFORD Tel: 01865 711 323 PAISLEY Tel: 0141 849 0404 PARK ROYAL Tel: 020 8961 0333 PERTH Tel: 01738 635 555 PETERBOROUGH Tel: 01733 893 466 PLYMOUTH Tel: 01752 511 010 POOLE Tel: 01202 681 681 PORTSMOUTH Tel: 02392 382 221 PRESTON Tel: 01772 620 111 READING Tel: 01189 584 458 REDDITCH Tel: 01527 521 933 SHEFFIELD Tel: 01142 493 666 SHROPSHIRE Tel: 01952 200 678 SLOUGH Tel: 01753 550 077
SOUTHAMPTON Tel: 023 8033 7737 STOKE Tel: 01782 206 206 SWANSEA Tel: 01792 310 031 SWINDON Tel: 01793 512 500 THURROCK Tel: 01708 869 696 TYNE & WEAR Tel: 0191 487 9996 WAKEFIELD Tel: 01924 365 300 WATERFORD Tel: 00353 5137 4000 WATFORD Tel: 01923 256 733 WESTBURY Tel: 01373 822 073 WIGAN Tel: 01942 230 111 WOLVERHAMPTON Tel: 01902 862 000 WORCESTER Tel: 01905 757 111 YORK Tel: 01904 693 866
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Contents
Three Decades at the Top Pirtek at 30
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16
20
Meet the Team Network Support
Birmingham Healthy Systems Verified
Docklands Digging Deep
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24
30
Leyton Breaking Ground
Plymouth Functional and Final Test Machine
Greenwich Power Project
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38
42
Luton Raising the Game
Scotland Nationwide
Cleveland Neoangels Fundraiser
44
45
46
Belfast Making a Move
Peterborough Onwards and Upwards
Pirtek Racing The Challenge
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Since the franchise-model emergency hose repair business entered the UK market in 1988, Pirtek has grown to become the dominant force in the sector
Having opened the door of its pilot hose centre towards the end of 1988, Pirtek is celebrating its 30th anniversary; a three decade period of growth, network expansion and product and service innovation. The concept of Pirtek UK – 30 years at the top
iteration of its business model in the Irish Republic. Pirtek then turned its attention to continental Europe, quickly establishing a footing in Germany and the Benelux countries in 1996. The following year proved similarly significant in Pirtek’s history as
companies were seeking to outsource what had previously been conducted in-house.” Pirtek UK clocked up 60 centres within its first 10 years. “By 1998 we had around 200 mobile workshops on the road and were already seen as the benchmark for the emergency hose replacement sector,” Dunlop continues. “We continued to innovate, adding new products and services to our portfolio, leading to further expansion of the network. Now after 30 years in the British market, Pirtek UK has 85 centres and more than 350 mobile workshops.” At the turn of the millennium, Pirtek UK was nominated for the BFA’s Franchise of the Year award again and following its ongoing growth across Europe, the International Franchise of the Year. Remarkably, the company netted the double, collecting both awards. With so many achievements to its name, it would be easy for Pirtek to rest on its laurels as UK number one. But
Pirtek – a network of independently owned but closely linked hose centres supported by fully-equipped mobile workshops – was brought to this country by Pirtek UK founders and franchising veterans, Peter Brennan and Forbes
‘We had a superb range of products and services’
the company netted the coveted British Franchise Association (BFA) Franchise of the Year award. “We had the right
product and quality service in the right place at the right time,” says Pirtek’s Paul Dunlop, who has been with the company for 25 years. “We had a superb range of products and services and we were offering them at a time when the growth in self-employment had made franchising desirable and when many industrial
Petrie, following a fact-finding mission to Australia, where the Pirtek business model was established. Having acquired the master licence, the pair set up the UK’s first dedicated hose centre in London’s Park Royal; a facility that would double as the home of Pirtek UK for the next five years. Within 18 months, the network had doubled in size with the sale of the first real franchise, Pirtek Greenwich. Just five years later, the network comprised more than 20 centres and Pirtek had outgrown its Park Royal home. Pirtek Park Royal was sold and the head office operation moved to its current home in Acton, west London. The network continued to grow in the UK and with the opening of the Dublin centre in 1994, Pirtek began a similarly fruitful
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M A G A Z I N E
The company has made use of information technology to coordinate jobs, communicate and to regulate stock for many years. All jobs are recorded on iPads and stock is managed via a bespoke system. However, the passion to grow and improve doesn’t stop there as Pirtek is in the process of rolling out a new, improved IT system. “The company has undergone some radical changes in the past three decades and I don’t think any of us could have predicted the growth we have enjoyed,” concludes Paul Dunlop. “The one thing that remains unchanged is a commitment to innovation and constant improvement in customer service. “Those were the foundations of the business started by Forbes Petrie and Peter Brennan in 1988 and they are the driving force behind our business today.”
that’s not how Pirtek operates. As the company celebrates the 30th anniversary of its entry into the UK market, it is continuously innovating and evolving. Pirtek established Total Hose Management, a holistic data-driven
work to single figures (see full story in Q1 edition). Pirtek has also addressed one of the major dangers of working with high pressure systems – fluid injection injuries. The company’s Fluid Power Glove is unique in resisting jets
system whereby Pirtek centres record, service and maintain hose systems, replacing parts at an optimal time, reducing hose failure. The success of this system is now being carried over into Total
‘Pirtek will continue to be ahead of the curve’
of oil at the highest pressures found in regular hydraulic
systems. This protects from certain injury and the need for surgery. The company prides itself on its quality. As a result, it has ISO 9001
Hydraulic Management, covering entire hydraulic systems. Pirtek Tyne and Wear has established an ongoing relationship with Banks Mining, with scheduled maintenance of its heavy plant pre- empting failure, thus reducing unplanned maintenance as a percentage of all
accreditation to meet customer service objectives; ISO 14001 to measure and improve its environmental impact; and OHSA18001 to protect its workforce. These are ongoing commitments and Pirtek will continue to be ahead of the curve on the issues.
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Pirtek UK – Celebrating success
RECOGNITION: (left to right) Andy Williams, Franchisee Pirtek Park Royal, Watford, Kings Cross, Leyton and Slough; Garry Samroo, Centre Manager Pirtek Park Royal; and Paul Dunlop - Sales and Operations Director – Pirtek UK
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SERVICE: (left to right) Paul Dunlop; Cathy Doyle Sales Manager and David Adams Franchisee of Pirtek Belfast; and Chris Stuckey, Managing Director Pirtek UK
Pirtek celebrated 30 years of its operations in the UK years by holding its annual conference at the Trump Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire. The Edwardian hotel sits on the dramatic west coast of Scotland, looking directly out towards the Kintyre peninsular. The event took place over three days, starting with a supplier showcase on the Friday evening, in which businesses that regularly equip Pirtek were invited to show off their wares. As well as providing an opportunity for franchisees to meet relevant suppliers and see their equipment, the companies each ran a raffle with prizes including days at the races, meals at top restaurants and spa days out. Speaking about the conference, Pirtek UK managing director Chris Stuckey said, “It was a great opportunity to celebrate the success that each of our franchisees has achieved over the last 30 years.
They have taken Pirtek from two vans in Park Royal in 1988 to the premier hydraulic service
“Our success is rooted in the loyalty and dedication of the whole team and I
couldn’t be more proud of them. We are delighted to receive this award and want to thank both the team at Belfast and our fantastic customer base for continuing to support us.” Best team effort –
‘I couldn’t be any prouder of the effort from both teams’
partner to UK industry, with over 350 mobile workshops. Knowing
our history allows us all to focus on
continuing to develop on this heritage in the expanding hydraulic market.”
Pirtek Tyne and Wear: Kevin Monaghan of Pirtek Tyne and Wear said, “We received the Best Team Effort award following an incredible year’s growth and expansion in our team and service offering. Having delivered several hydraulic projects and enlarged our on- site service team, we were delighted to accept the award on behalf of our hard- working staff. “Everyone from the trade counter, on site, in hydraulics, office administration
The awards recognising outstanding franchises and individuals were as follows: Customer Service Award – Pirtek Belfast David Adams accepted the award, saying, “Pirtek Belfast has been providing excellent customer service for more than 13 years and it really is at the heart of what we do.
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to the management and directors pushed the whole team forward. We go into 2018/19 with an even greater appetite for growth, continuing to build a solid team around the business.” Centre Manager of the Year – Garry Samroo of Pirtek Park Royal: Garry said, “I was surprised and humbled to win this award. It’s nice to be recognised and I really didn’t see it coming. I’ve been doing this a long time so any praise is welcome. The plaque now takes pride of place on my office wall. Sales Manager of the Year – John Laffan of Pirtek Waterford and Cork: John, who has been with the company for eighteen years said, “I’m delighted to have won the award but I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t in Scotland myself, so my boss accepted it on my behalf and the award is now taking pride of place on the wall of the new centre in Waterford.”
TEAMWORK: (left to right) Paul Dunlop; Kevin Monaghan, Operations Director Pirtek Tyne and Wear; Alan Maidwell, Managing Director Pirtek Tyne and Wear; and Chris Stuckey
Dave Sage Award – Pirtek Preston/Penrith
award was a nice surprise. It shows that Pirtek UK notices how hard you work and appreciates the level of dedication required to run two depots. “Pirtek Preston and Cumbria have had their fair share of success as well as hard times but even though they are separate businesses, Mark and I ensure the same support and empathy throughout. This can be as simple as making a cup of coffee in the morning or spending two days under a swimming pool ride with an MSST. “We have a plan which we discuss as a team, we stick to it and we set out to achieve the best we can. I believe this makes us a formidable team, which leaves our customers happy and the people who look after them are happy too. I couldn’t be any prouder of the effort both teams have put in over the last 14 months and I would like to think that is down to leading by example.”
John Osborne of Pirtek Preston and Penrith said, “Winning the Dave Sage
ABOVE AND BEYOND: (left to right) Paul Dunlop; Mark Barnes, Franchisee of Pirtek Preston; and Chris Stuckey
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Franchisee of the Year – Andy Williams of Kings Cross, Leyton, Park Royal, Slough and Watford Andy said, “I was delighted to receive the award, given the high standards in the Pirtek network. It’s a huge compliment to me and my team. “I have developed my businesses by building a longstanding management team across the five Pirtek sites under my control. Each of our managers has progressed through various roles and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of our industry
and the Pirtek model. It’s not easy turning up every day and consistently delivering a best-in-the-industry service. “To be successful in business,
key customers based upon our thirty-year track record of keeping promises and we all have a strong work ethic. “My wife Angela runs the finances
you need to have a positive attitude
very efficiently and the combined efforts of the team come together to make for a winning combination. “I’m would like to stress just how grateful I am to every member of my Pirtek family for all of their hard work.”
‘It’s not easy consistently delivering best- in-the-industry service’
and the ability to keep up the
momentum when things don’t go to plan and to push harder when they do. We have forged longstanding relationships with
SALES: (left to right) Paul Dunlop; Pirtek Waterford Franchisees Greg Cummins and Mike Cairney; and Chris Stuckey
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Pirtek HQ – Network support
an enormous amount of interaction with franchises and the Milton Keynes 3PL depot. Led by Jon Oswald (above left), the team currently has four members. As well as managing and coordinating all the stock that leaves the dedicated logistics facility, the network support team sources non-standard stock items known as “special products”; arranges the supply of products for special projects; provides technical support to all 84 Pirtek centres throughout the UK and Ireland; and deals with strategic
pricing and carriage management for the network. Jon Oswald has worked for Pirtek for a total of 12 years and led the network support team since September 2016. He has also worked for Europower Hydraulics and JCB. Jon says of his team, “We have a hardworking team who are always prepared to go the extra mile.” Tony Spencer, (second left) is a network support coordinator with 21 years’ experience at Pirtek, around 10 of them
At the heart of Pirtek’s UK operation is the headquarters in Acton Vale, west London. And central to enabling franchises to do their job is the network support team, familiar to all those who manage centres and their logistics. When products are required, it’s to them that the centre managers and franchisees turn. The network support team is a dedicated group of people who manage
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in Network Support in Acton. A man of few words, he is characterised as an elder statesman by the team. “Tony’s the dad, he looks out for everybody... he’s the grumpy old man.” Tony gives the long view. “A lot has changed in the time I’ve been here. Things have really moved forward; the company has grown enormously. “We’ve even done orders for Singapore and the States. “I started picking in the warehouse [which was then] opposite, became
a supervisor and then managed the warehouse before coming into the office and network support.” Tony gets great satisfaction from delivering help to franchises when they need it. “If the centres need special parts, we source them and send them over. If there’s a shortfall, we get them direct.” Attention to detail is important, he says. “We send an email to our logistics facility to make sure they cut the hose to the correct length – we don’t want to get
a call the next day saying they’ve sent a hose in two pieces.” Centres appreciate the support the team provides, he says. “There’ve been a few times when centres have phoned up at half five saying ‘I need this for tomorrow morning.’ We speak to the supplier, get the part to the franchise the next day and they contact us later and say ‘You’ve really got me out of a hole.’” Kevin Geary (right) is a more recent addition and has now been at Pirtek for two years.
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“We have our own allocated centres,” he says. “Some are very chatty and you can crack a joke with them. Others just want you to do your job, help them out, solve the problem and get on with it. “If someone needs a non-standard part, we’ll source it for them, speak to suppliers, get a quote to the centre and tell them the lead times.” Previously Kevin worked in plumbing “still pipes, but not hydraulics”, he says. “Sometimes I get asked a lot of technical stuff – but the support is there.” Inventory controller, Rajan Gurang, started with Pirtek in November 2016. Before coming over to the company, he was a materials planner for Monster Energy (drinks) – buying the raw materials.
“My job is quite different from the other guys. I manage the stock levels in the warehouse, dealing with the warehouse people and the suppliers. My first task of the day is to make sure the stock is reconciled, matching the warehouse quantities. While other members of the team are in close contact with the centres, Rajan has a wider audience. “Mostly I communicate with our logistics facility or the national and international suppliers,” he says. “Some of the suppliers are national, others international” he says, “and we have to manage a complete season’s demand of products through a complex supply chain.”
Although his work is different from the frontline team members, Rajan works in close coordination with them. “I have a good relationship with the rest of the team. If there is any shortage they shout over to me and say ‘Where is the stock? Can you get it for me?’ “The working culture is really good,” Rajan says. “My work is a little more solo than the others’ meaning I can manage my own time.” Simona Smitaite, the team’s administrator came over to Pirtek’s London head office in September 2017, having previously worked for DHL in Milton Keynes. “Jon approached me at DHL in Milton Keynes because he’d worked with me
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together. For the amount that we get tasked with on a daily basis, we don’t do too bad. “I think we’re punching above our weight. The key is that we talk the same language as the centres.” As for the future, he says, “We know we need more people – we need a bigger team but we’re not going to rush and hire the wrong person. Anyone interested in joining the network support team should call Jon on 020 8749 8444 or email jon.oswald@ pirtek.co.uk.
before,” she says. “I make sure all the orders are leaving, report to Jon, collect returns and coordinate with DHL.” Having worked on the other end of the distribution operation, Simona says it was strange at first but she quickly fitted in. I had been at DHL in Milton Keynes for four years so I was already familiar with the logistics process. Jon is clearly pleased with her work, saying “Simona’s been brilliant, in just a few months she has brought significant improvement in our process, keeping our customers stocked and happy.”
Chatting to the group together, they bounce off each other. “It is a good team – the loudest in the office,” says one. “We have to have the banter, the interaction to build trust,” says Jon. “They’ve threatened to put us in a glass box at the end of the office.” The team members characterise Jon as a good leader and Tony gives him a ringing endorsement. “Could be better,” he says. Everyone clearly knows how to take Tony’s wit. Jon says, “Everyone’s got their little quirks but as a team we work well
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Birmingham – Healthy systems verified
Having been servicing hydraulic systems on an ad hoc basis for a number of years, Pirtek Birmingham has now had a dedicated hydraulic engineer for a couple of years and in March this year Andy Connell, the franchisee, rebranded one of its vans as a dedicated Total Hydraulic Management vehicle. “It’s about changing the customers’ perception of what Pirtek does,” he says. “We do more than just coming out, replacing a hose and leaving. “Pirtek will always be known for hydraulic hoses, but nowadays we often go to customers and find they want the whole package – they just don’t realise we do it yet.” Information technology plays an important role in winning Pirtek repeat business. “Customers want a database of all the hoses put in, so at a later date they can
start having them renewed. We manage people’s hydraulics and reduce their downtime.” Hydraulic flushing is clearly paying dividends for Pirtek Birmingham. Ten to 15 per cent of the franchise’s business is in hydraulic flushing and management and they only see that figure rising. “It’s generating enough work for one person to do full time and we’ve had an employee dedicated to hydraulics for two years now.” Dedication The franchise’s specialist engineer and driving force behind the project is Ian Cochran, who is dedicated to developing his professional skills and the scope of the business. Pirtek Birmingham’s first foray into hydraulic systems came with a request from the Royal Shakespeare Company
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“After the initial enquiry, we subbed the work out for someone to do it for us and then we got talking to another customer who said ‘Yes, that’s something that we need.’ “They talked to one of their customers and it was something they required too. So we said we’d build the rig if they used us for the hose work and we’ve been doing their hose work for quite some time now.” Hydraulic flushing work is useful in drawing in further business, says Andy. “The hose flushing is a bespoke service that not many other hydraulic service companies can offer and without it we wouldn’t have the other hose business. “Our hose flushing work is mainly new installations so if a customer is building new power packs or ring mains, that’s where we’ll get involved. We’ll supply the hoses that are flushed and ready to go into a clean ring main.” Hydraulic flushing can mean significant business for the franchise, Andy says. “Our biggest installation to date was for EMR Midland Shredders last year. That was a complete hydraulic installation and flush of a metal shredder, which cuts up scrapped cars.
to design, install and flush the ring main that operates stage props at its Stratford theatre. “The franchise had never undertaken such an operation before but after some deliberation, I talked Andy into doing the job,” says Ian. “We rolled the dice, pulled it off on time and under budget and the customer was over the moon. Now we service their hydraulic system every three months.” Speaking of his career in broader started for me – it was the first ring main installation that we flushed. That three- month installation was us dipping our toe in the water. “I did all the installation and then we had an outside company build the power pack for us. Now we’d be building the power unit ourselves.” hydraulics, Ian says, “The Royal Shakespeare Company is where it
Training is ongoing, Ian says. “I’m booked on two courses this year and then I’m going to do an intense year’s course. We’re getting involved with the electronics now, which is going to mean more training – it never stops.” Andy fills in on more recent developments. “We’ve started to look at hydraulic service work, installation work, diagnostics and oil management, which is really starting to take off. “When we had an enquiry from a customer who needed a substantial amount of hoses flushing we couldn’t find a third party who could do it
in our time frame and on budget so I realised there was a gap in the market.
“We looked into it and bought our own rig, adapted it to suit our requirements and it’s gone from there. That was two years ago.
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“The machine batters the hydraulics to death,” Andy says. “We’re in there every day, replacing parts, repairing, sampling and maintaining oil.” “It’s the same for Simms Metals where we look after their plant – we keep their machines running.” Healthy systems verified “As the industry gains momentum, we want to stay in front,” Ian says. “We don’t want to supply a pump or a filter, we want to supply, monitor and service the whole system. I’m working on the electronics to make this work as we speak.” This takes the randomness out of planned maintenance. “We’re not just guessing, not just telling you your pump or filters are due to be replaced, we’re verifying what the machine’s doing,” he says. Andy interjects, “All the hoses are flushed, capped, tagged with a unique number and put on a hose database. This
data is sent to the customer and they have full traceability – when the hose was flushed, when it was made and when it’s due for replacement, based on a four-year lifespan. “There will be sensors to monitor pump performance, speed of the motors, the efficiency of the system, pressure drops, accumulator charge pressures, everything.” Ian continues, “We set parameters of what the machine should be doing. We watch the pumps, the systems, the valves; look for anomalies and if the algorithm output runs outside the parameters, we can tell the customer there’s a problem before it becomes apparent. “We’ve just received the data loggers for use on site, which I will be able to operate remotely from the van and I’m now in talks with various companies to supply the sensors and build a cloud- based system for us.
“With the iO-link system collating all the data and putting it into the cloud, we won’t even need to go to site, we’ll be able to see it from here in the office. “Both we and the customer can access the data remotely. Eventually, we will be able to make adjustments without even being on site. “A schematic CAD drawing of the machine will have all the live data on it and in due course the customer will be able to pull parts off the CAD drawing and order them.” Remote operation is a work in progress, however. “The challenge is finding a way of accessing the data in the cloud at all times,” Ian says. “Wherever we install this system there has to be a good internet connection. “For now, I can monitor the system from 100 metres away using Bluetooth. What I want to be able to do is monitor the system from my armchair 150 miles away.”
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Spreading the word The man responsible for selling the service is Phil Pace. “The main thing is to ask the customer what they do currently to monitor the condition of their oil and their systems. It’s key for us to emphasise financial and time savings. “Where you’d normally get to site and the customer would say ‘I want a pump’, we say, ‘Why did the pump fail?’ We want to be able to tell them why the component failed and what he needs to do to prevent that failure happening again. “We do a free survey, find out what equipment they’re using and whether it’s appropriate – are they using the correct oil and is it maintained at the level of cleanliness required by the system. Once we’ve done this, we offer solutions based on that information. “In the past, we’ve gone to customers and asked, ‘Who looks after
your hydraulic systems?’ They’ll say ‘such and such a company,’ but they don’t actually know what that company is doing or whether anything they’re doing is of benefit.” Ian and his team tailor their work to the customer’s needs, Phil says. “We contact their purchasing department to find out what they’re buying. We contact the maintenance team to find out how much downtime they have. We will improve on that. But we need to look at the system and the oil in depth first.” The customer might be changing a pump or valve every six months but that could be down to the lack of cleanliness of the oil. Ian is in no doubt about the benefits. “There is no doubt you’ll save money – without fail,” he says. “We can put someone in to do the survey in a couple of days. If something’s a show stopper, we’ll drop
everything and get there straight away. A machine that’s down is a higher priority than one that is working but hasn’t been looked at for 12 months.” Phil is positive about the future. “This is a land of opportunity for us to explore. It is the next thing and it is going to be our biggest growth for the next year. We want to demonstrate to other depots that there are potentially greater margins than in hoses.” “We’re passionate about what we do and we’re trying to make a difference,” Ian interjects. “I just need someone to ground me because I’m so enthusiastic. We go in on the back of hydraulic hose work we’ve done and expand upon that relationship. “Nobody else is doing the hoses and the hydraulics systems,” Phil concludes. “We can use that to benefit customers and ourselves.”
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Docklands – Digging deep
One hundred and fifty years after Joseph Bezalgette built London’s sewage network, the city is due an upgrade. Although the Victorian civil engineer’s work is still in good condition, it was built at a time when the capital had a population of two million. Bezalgette had the foresight to build in capacity for twice that number but with a population of eight million now, London has well and truly outgrown its 19th century sewage infrastructure. The Thames Tideway scheme begun in 2016 and due to be completed in 2023, is a multi-billion-pound project designed to cope with London’s waste and stormwater needs for at least the next 100 years. Phil Stride, head of Thames Tideway Tunnel, (above)
describes the project as “a 22nd century solution for London”. At present, overflows directly into the river occur roughly on a weekly basis, amounting to 40 million cubic metres per year. The Tideway project is projected to reduce this to a little over two million cubic metres of excess waste. Two years in, Tideway and its collaborators are working on 16 of the 24 sites, have shifted 15,000 tonnes of material by river and even raised £60,000 for charity. Alongside this, the project is also promoting education from primary- level through to work experience for post-16-year-olds. All this large-scale civil engineering takes some serious kit, which in turn needs serious support. Pirtek Docklands,
along with other franchises along the course of the Thames, is in place to provide this. For the time being, this means the excavators and similar equipment preparing the sites, but in due course, as the tunnel boring machines make their way downstream, Pirtek Docklands will be servicing the full range of machinery. As centre manager Grant Foster says, “It’s relatively quiet at the moment, but as the tunnel progresses, there will be plenty of work to be had.” This kind of major infrastructure project offers great opportunities for franchises. A willingness to take on jobs large
and small enables centres to build relationships that will lead to bigger contracts.
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Among these are Ainscough Crane Hire, one of the UK’s largest providers of heavy lifting equipment. This is mostly a hose supply contract, Grant explains. “They don’t have a lot of breakdowns. We supply their depots but they have their own engineers, so between us we must be doing a good job.” In the East End of London, another iconic customer is Billingsgate Market, the UK’s largest inland fish market, which Pirtek Docklands has been servicing for around eight years. The self-contained site covers 13 acres with 98 stands and 30 shops, including two cafes; a number of individual cold rooms; a 1,500 tonne freezer store; an ice making plant and 14 lock-up shops used by processors, catering suppliers and merchants. The contract provides a steady stream of work, Grant says. “We’re out there around once a week, sometimes more. It’s a good source of income. “We mainly work on their cleaning equipment, wash down hoses, fire hoses and hose reels. They also have a mini sweeper that washes down all in one.”
In general, the franchise does a mixture of one-off roadside breakdown jobs and ongoing maintenance contracts. “It’s about 50-50,” Grant says. Of the longer-term contracts, he details, “Most of our work is on regular hose jobs – when it breaks we fix it. There is a certain amount of ongoing maintenance, but basically once the job is done, it’s done.”
With Crossrail being one of the most significant construction ventures in London for many years, Pirtek Docklands was willing to supply specialist and non- specialist parts to contractors when called upon. “We used to supply whatever they wanted,” says Grant, “including completely unrelated stuff that they asked for simply because we could respond so quickly.” “It’s all part of the service,” says Grant. “Maintaining the relationship means we will get more work in the future.” The Docklands franchise has a number of ongoing service contracts related to the light industry and construction in its area.
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Leyton – Breaking ground
put in place, Pirtek has serviced lifting equipment, genies, scissor lifts and sky jacks. Pirtek also worked on the prototype for the innovative retractable pitch at
Tottenham’s training ground in Enfield a few years ago, as well as helping to fit it at the new stadium. Construction on the northern section of the project began in the summer
With Tottenham Hotspur due to play their first game in their state of the art new stadium this September, Pirtek is proud to have played its part in its development. The venue includes the world’s first dividing retractable, real turf pitch; allowing an NFL American Football field to lie beneath ready for use when the Premier League club is not playing football. Remarkably, the whole pitch can be withdrawn, in three sections, in only 25 minutes. In the early stages of the project, there was a lot of larger machinery involved, such as piling rigs and larger excavators. More recently, as the build stage came to an end and fixtures were being
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of 2015 while the final season was played at White Hart Lane. Immediately the season ended, work began on pulling down the old stadium. The MSST who carried out most of the work was Justin Bulmer. “I’ve been working on the project for around two years now. “We’ve worked on everything from large demolition equipment, to excavators and dump trucks... “It’s been a pretty regular job, every other day for a while. A very big budget project. Although the stadium is nearing completion I still get up there now and again.” Before working on the main job, Justin was involved at the football club’s Enfield training centre, where a prototype was built. “They made a miniature version of the pitch at Enfield as a test rig. I helped them to put all that together. “It was nice to finally see the real thing in action.” there were so many cherry pickers constantly on site.
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Plymouth – The functional and final test machine
FINE TUNING: (left to right) Lee Dommet, Pirtek MSST; and Mark Redsell, senior design engineer at Applied Automation
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Manufacturing industry depends on a supply chain of SMEs providing components as well as the machinery used to build and test their specific products. These secondary producers in turn require the services of companies such as Pirtek to construct aspects of their kit. As such, Pirtek Plymouth was called upon to design and integrate the hydraulic pipework and hose sets on a test machine designed and built by control and automation specialists Applied Automation, for a major primary producer in the automotive industry. Based in Plymouth, Applied Automation Ltd designs and manufactures bespoke solutions for automation and control in industrial solutions to a broad range of sectors including automotive, pharmaceutical, marine and transport as well as smart homes, supplying companies across the UK and around the world. The company employs more than 150 designers, engineers, project managers, sales engineers and professional specialists. “We’re in a creative game,” says Mark Redsell, senior design engineer at Applied Automation Ltd. “We spend our lives creating engineering solutions to automate mechanical assemblies and processes.” Applied Automation Ltd was asked by a major automotive manufacturer to design and supply a machine to run a set of accurate pressure and flow tests on an engine component. In addition, this part was to be secured by a mechanism to simulate the “in-vehicle” sealing assembly, with nine fixture points, each exerting up to one tonne of clamping force. A similar application had previously used a single hydraulic press exerting engineering. It has a wealth of experience providing innovative
the required clamping load evenly across the component. This may have been a simpler mechanism but due to space constraints, the need to more accurately simulate the in-vehicle loading and to provide easy access for both operator loading and future routine maintenance, a new design was required. So based on the customer’s brief, Applied Automation designed and built the bespoke Functional and Final Test Machine. As part of the clamping system, Applied Automation contracted Pirtek Plymouth to design and integrate the hydraulic pipework. As well as accuracy, ease of use comes into the design of both the machine itself and the hydraulic circuitry that make it work. Mark explains, “Ergonomics is an important part of a machine design. Access for the operator loading (heights and reach) are critical. You can’t have obstructions or sharp edges, etc.
The same considerations apply from Pirtek’s point of view. “It wasn’t just a case of supplying the hydraulic pressure lines,” says Lee
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Dommet, Pirtek’s MSST. “It was also routing it correctly, keeping within the restrictions, keeping the powerpack
within the footprint etc. Factory floorspace is at a premium.”
The design of the machine meant there were only so many ways for Pirtek’s man to run the hoses. Mark explains, “We’ve got moving tooling, cameras and sensors all over the machine. The cameras can’t have pipework in their way, so Lee had to go around those, while also making the pipework integration aesthetic and functional. “I am a great believer that if someone has to stand next a machine all day, every day, if you can make that machine ergonomically pleasing in design, it makes their life easier and happier.” The Functional and Final Test Machine has two sets of change tooling, with the hydraulics split into two supply circuits. Mark elaborates, “We decided to route it from the back and round the sides to keep it out of the way of the operator and allow a more natural loading into the test bed. “The huge benefit of our new concept – in this case, replacing the single circuit press with nine individual rotational hydraulic clamps – is that it takes all the tooling away from the line of sight of the operator. The clamps are smaller, with more localised guarding, so it’s safer too. “I gave the brief to Lee – quick release couplings at the rear, with the piping to enter through the machine in two circuits, either side of each tooling set. Then I let him get on with it. You saw what he ended up with – it’s like a work of art really.” Pirtek’s MSST waxes lyrical about the job. “It certainly tested a few years of experience. I’ve never done the same machine design twice, so every day you get up and you’re answering new questions.
“If you tighten the radius of the curve it can affect the test results. The machine needs to run a set of incredibly sensitive tests.” The two sets of quick-change tooling are fitted onto removable beds, so that they can be easily uncoupled and removed from the machine.
“You get guys on the shop floor saying, ‘I’ve got a problem with this, how do I route this?’ As the technician, you’ve got to adapt to that.” The machine involves complex shapes with narrow paths and tight angles. Mark says, “We have to get pipework into various areas within a three- dimensional space. Because you’re doing high accuracy flow testing, you don’t want too many right angles in the pipes as it creates ‘K-values’ – denoting restrictions in the flow of the air (both from pressure and vacuum sources), through the pipes. “In an ideal world you’d want all the pipes to be straight, but in the real world we have to get all these complex pipes into an enclosed space. With regards to the flow test circuits, we decided to also route them in hydraulic hose, as it will not expand under the flow pressures being run and you also naturally get smooth bends and arcs because of its rigidity.
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“The sets of tools get pulled out of the back and you bring two more sets in,” explains Mark. “Each toolset weighs up to half a tonne. “Everything is quick release,” he says, “with the hydraulic quick release couplings at the rear.” Pirtek Plymouth’s MSST obviously enjoyed the project. “The whole job has been quite a challenge. It’s the type of job that I like doing, where you can get stuck in.” “With Lee’s work the most important thing is the ergonomics,” says Mark. “He designed circuits that were clean, tidy and out of the way.” Mark and Applied Automation are clearly very happy with Lee’s work and with the MSST’s attitude, it’s not hard to see why. “You have to take pride in your work,” Lee says. “You put your name to it. This is what we do! If you have a good relationship with your customer, you’ll relationship building. “We like to think we build up long term relationships with our customers and suppliers. If I want a similar job done, why would I talk to anyone else? “It’s twofold – they know their industry better than we do. My opposite number on site might say, ‘We have a machine that does something similar and this is how we do it.’ You then share and develop ideas. From what we’re doing here, the customer may sometimes comment, ‘Actually that’s a neat way of doing that.’ “Sometimes you get an idea from people who aren’t mechanically minded – it can even be an advantage! Finding a solution can be as simple as turning a process upside down – gravity’s free. “You’re learning all the time. We’re not arrogant enough to think we always know the best way.” certainly get more business.” Mark shares Lee’s attitude to
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Lee interjects. “It’s about the buzz you get when you find a solution to a problem – job satisfaction. If you don’t get that, you’re in the wrong job.” “It’s the hard projects that you remember and have pride in,” says Mark, “The easy ones generally get forgotten. We always solve the problem, we always get there, it’s just that sometimes there’s a bit more trouble on the way.”
Mark continues, “There’s no creative person who hasn’t failed yet. If you’re someone who’s never failed or never had a design not go quite right, you haven’t pushed the boundaries. We get quite hard skinned about that. That’s how we accumulate knowledge. It’s a kind of engineering evolution really. “You build up that experience over time. What we also tend to do here is
have a very open shop floor approach. We don’t close the door to the customer and say, ‘You’re not welcome until the machine’s finished’. We encourage them to visit and understand the process and machine build with us. The customer handover is always more seamless then.” Mark explains a little more about the process.
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