01/08/08
Heavy engineering boost for Kirklees reports CloseUP for business
Economiser manufacturing returns to UK with Anglo-Swedish joint venture
As the tide of low cost fabrication continues to flow towards the Indian subcontinent and Far East, two European specialist manufacturers are combining their expertise to provide a much needed, quality engineered, manufacturing service in the UK and Europe.
In a joint venture, UK engineering company A&J Fabtech and Swedish economiser manufacturer Ekstroms have created a new company specialising in the design and manufacture of economisers, pressure vessels and superheaters for the energy and process plant industries.
The A&J Ekstroms joint venture resources include over 200 people across two sites comprising drawing and design offices plus a total of 33,000 square feet of manufacturing facilities in Sweden and at a £3m purpose-built fabrication and assembly facility in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Both companies remain privately-owned, family businesses and have reached their current, industry leading status through continual re-investment of profits in engineering expertise and manufacturing technology. Ekstroms now position themselves as Europe’s market leader in economiser engineering and have the largest tube-finning capacity and most modern finning machinery in the world, plus a significant investment in stock that will provide a stable pricing base and reduced delivery times for the new company.
A&J Fabtech managing director Shaun Daniels explains the thinking behind the joint venture; “The unfortunate demise of Greens in 2005 left a huge void in the UK leaving no local specialists at all for the design and manufacture of utility economisers and associated equipment. We seized the opportunity to fill this gap and built a well-connected team at A&J with over 100 years combined experience in economiser design and manufacture.
The team, much of it assembled from the ashes of Greens Economisers, brought project management and manufacturing of economisers under one roof. All the important aspects such as welding quality, the accuracy of tube alignment and the quality of component materials being controlled in-house.
What was still required however, was a conceptual design capability and highly reliable source of premier quality finned tubes. This is where our association with Ekstroms began. Since the middle of 2005 our two companies have won every major UK utility economiser contract and this success led us into making a major commitment to the future of the UK and European market through the joint venture.
We believe we now offer exactly what the market needs, providing in-house expertise at every stage of utility economiser projects, from conceptual design through manufacturing to installation and commissioning; and all on the customers’ doorstep
With ISO 9000 2001 certification across all processes at both the Swedish and UK sites, A&J Ekstroms will have the capacity for total, in-house, project management incorporating evaluation, design, manufacture, testing, installation and commissioning. The joint capacity of the two locations will allow large contracts and multiple contracts to be processed concurrently.
Although basic economiser technology is now over 150 years old, the power generation industry is being subjected to higher demands and more onerous operating conditions plus new fuels are being introduced, all of which requires existing technology to be re-thought. With tougher emissions legislation looming over the horizon, the pressure is on for generators, who urgently need to find solutions that will allow them to maintain their position. Those behind the new A&J Ekstroms company see their combined expertise and experience as the key to providing the required solutions.
“In bringing A&J and Ekstroms together we are effectively creating a European Centre of Excellence for the design and construction of economisers and associated equipment,” explains Gerald Wareham of Ekstroms.
“With the new increased demand for power we are seeing that the critical measure for customers is in maintaining generating availability. The interest is in quality and reliability – key factors that we can readily guarantee through European sourced components and materials and our highly experienced, specialist workforce. Additionally, we believe it is important for customers to have convenient access to our production and design facilities. With our locations being no more than a two hour journey from virtually anywhere in the UK or Europe this will be an integral part of our project management process.”
With a new 3 acre manufacturing site due to open in October of this year and an opening order book worth over £6m, A&J Ekstroms looks set to buck current industrial trends in a big way as it continues to develop key heavy engineering knowledge and manufacturing capability within the UK.
