In the Pipeline Magazine Q4 2016

Inthe pipeline Quarter 4 2016

Inthis Issue RocketScience

All theFunofthe Fair

BeyondtheCall of Duty

BeforetheMast

The fastest emergency hose replacement service there is

www.pirtek.eu

PirtekUK

Since the last time I wrote this column, the British electorate voted to leave the EU, David Cameron has moved out of Number 10 Downing Street, and InorOut seemingly remains up for grabs. With Theresa May apparently in no hurry to implement Article 50 thereby triggering Brexit, the repercussions of that momentous vote look set to continue well into the future. the Labour leadership

And we have invested in a new web store to provide customers with even more ready access to the huge range of products on offer from Pirtek. So, regardless of when Article 50 is triggered and what happens when it is, there is one thing you can be sure of. Pirtek will remain the UK’s go-to provider of fluid transfer solutions.

Yet here at Pirtek, very little has changed. Our customers still require emergency hose replacements to allow them to go about their business. They still require oils and fluids to keep the wheels (and tracks) turning. They still need spill kits to clean up after an oil leak. And they still expect a Pirtek MSST to be on site within an hour of an emergency call to one of our Centres. There is no question that our departure from the European Union will have far-reaching ramifications for businesses and private individuals. And at Pirtek, which is active in Ireland and across large swathes of Europe, those ramifications will be felt keenly. But while regulations and trading arrangements may change, our customers’ desire for swift, reliable and cost-effective emergency hose replacements remains undiminished. Which is why Pirtek continues to invest. We have invested in

Best regards Alistair Wiggins Managing Director (South) Paul Dunlop Manager Director (North)

additional mobile service vehicles to provide an even faster service. We are actively seeking to extend our Centre network still further to provide even faster turnaround times. We have invested in a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to allow us to pre-empt the needs of our customers. Published by Pirtek (UK) Limited Pirtek UK Ltd, 199 The Vale, Acton LondonW3 7QS Tel 0208 735 4408 Fax 0208 746 0256 E-mail [email protected]

In the pipeline Quarter 4 2016

BeyondtheCallofDuty

those that wanted to

At just after 4 pm on Tuesday 23 February, tragedy struck the UK demolition industry. At the Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire – at the time the UK’s largest demolition site – a boiler house collapsed. Immediate news reports suggested many casualties. And, as the dust settled on the 15,000 tonnes of mangled steel debris, those worst fears were realised. One man was confirmed dead, five were injured and in hospital, and three more were (and remain) missing. As a journalist specialising in the demolition industry, my phone started to ring off the hook. BBC TV, ITV and a whole host of local and national radio stations and newspapers wanted my take on what had happened, the likely cause and the likely outcome. One of them – Sky News – invited me to do a face- to-face interview on the outskirts of the Didcot Power Station site. I had been to the site several times before to report on the demolition activities at the vast site. I had even walked through the now-collapsed boiler house. But nothing could prepare me for the sight awaiting me when I arrived at around lunchtime on 24 February, just two days before my birthday. Beyond literally dozens of TV and radio trucks and the massed ranks of the UK’s media, the steel debris stood some 15 metres high and covered a vast area. Despite this, and despite the fact that we already knew that one man had died and three remained missing, the feeling that I left the site with was one of inspiration. While I was being interviewed at the very edge of the newly-enforced exclusion zone, I witnessed several local people arriving with packs of sandwiches, flasks of tea and cans of cold drinks that they were distributing among the teams of rescue workers and the emergency services. I left the site knowing that I had to do something. For several months, I had been working on a book; a collection of articles and essays called “A Site for Sore Eyes”. Its production had been stalled for the worst of reasons; my own inability to choose a suitable front cover. But all of that went out the window when I saw the Didcot wreckage for myself. I made a few phone calls to ensure that I wasn’t treading on anyone’s toes or acting too hastily and then announced that the proceeds from the sale of the book would go to the families of the man killed and the three men still missing. We logged the hashtag #Didcot4 and sent the book to the printer. At the same time, we called in a few favours to produce a t-shirt bearing the #Didcot4 logo and set up a JustGiving page for

Pirtek built its reputation on being responsive. But the company’s response to a tragedy that befell the UK demolition industry in February marks the company as something truly special, reports DemolitioNews editor Mark Anthony.

support the families of the Didcot4 but didn’t necessarily require either a book or a t-shirt.

We quickly got the support of the Institute of Demolition Engineers in the UK, the European Demolition Association in Europe and the National Demolition Association in the US. Dozens of the UK’s leading demolition contractors pledged their support as did major equipment manufacturers such as JCB and Komatsu. Within a week, that #Didcot4 hashtag had reached more than 1.4 million people across the world. Today, that figure stands at over four million and it’s still climbing. But what amazed us most was the support shown by Pirtek UK and the wider Pirtek network. “Obviously, Pirtek has very close connections with the UK demolition industry and is the sector’s preferred supplier of emergency on-site hose replacements,” Mark Anthony explains. “But they didn’t have to support the Didcot4 campaign. But they didn’t just support it – They the UK. “We had orders and donations from right across the Pirtek UK network. In fact, it was a pledge from one of the centres that pushed our JustGiving campaign past the £2,000 target we originally set ourselves,” Anthony continues. “They bought t-shirts and books, pledged money and just generally went above and beyond the call of duty. I realise that Pirtek specialises in emergency response but this was different and really marks the company as something truly special. I cannot thank the Pirtek team enough for all they have done for the families of the Didcot4.” Although the JustGiving target has been reached and the t-shirts have sold out, it is still possible to buy a copy of the Site For Sore Eyes book. To helped push it forward.” Anthony reports that an initial pledge came in from Pirtek UK marketing manager Tammie Argent- Peters who also then circulated a message to each of the 90+ dedicated hose centres up and down

order your copy, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/h2km6oz.”

www.pirtek.eu

Bristol

RocketScience

The BLOODHOUND Project is a global Engineering Adventure, using a 1,000 mph world land speed record attempt to inspire the next generation to enjoy, explore and get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Sitting in a pristine industrial unit just around the corner from Pirtek Bristol is Bloodhound, not so much a rocket powered car, more like fighter jet minus its wings. It is a thing of beauty, something that makes you smile when you look at it, something that makes you want to touch it to make sure it is real. Its connection with Pirtek Bristol is almost surreal, and started with one of Bloodhound's engineers - Lee – walking into the trade counter at the Centre with a fitting, three years ago, and asking if they had one of these but in stainless steel. It happened to be part of the rocket fuel pipeline. It had to stainless steel because the rocket fuel was highly corrosive. It was the start of a very productive relationship with Pirtek supplying a huge range of parts and fittings. The Bloodhound supersonic car that is designed not only to go faster than the speed of sound but to over 1,000mph (1,600km/h). It will cover a mile in just 3.6 seconds. At 13.4 metre long and weighing 7.5 tonnes, the design is a mix of car and aircraft technology, with the front section being a carbon fibre monocoque and the back portion being a metallic framework and panels made from aluminium, titanium. The Car will be powered by a jet engine and a rocket, which together will

In the pipeline Quarter 4 2016

provide a thrust of 30kN (6,000 lbs). This will be combined with the thrust from the EJ200 jet to generate about 212kN (47,700lbs). Just to put it into perspective, all that power will enable Bloodhound to cover four and a half football pitches in 1 second, that's 150 metres in the blink of an eye, considerably faster than a bullet fired from a Magnum 357 and cover its own car length in less than three hundredths of a second. Although Pirtek Bristol has worked directly on the project it has led to spin off work with London University though the fuel lines. The Bloodhound project has connections with 5,000 schools and is hoping to inspire potential engineers in the future. It has provided work for many specialist engineering companies as well as utilising the skills at CFD, Swansea University who did most of the computer design and UE in Bristol who helped design the individual parts. The project is already breaking boundaries and will benefit British industry for years. The project is estimated to cost £19 million but it has a huge rage of sponsors, Rolls Royce, Rolex, Castrol, Parkers, Bott. If you wish to help sponsor the Bloodhound, then visit www.bloodhoundssc.com/donate- join/bloodhound-donators, you could even have your name on the fin for £10. And Pirtek Bristol's contribution? Apart from all the parts and help, they have ensured everything is done as cheaply as possible for the project.

produce more than 135,000 horsepower: Over 110 man years of effort have already been invested in the design, build and manufacture. Bloodhound SSC is, without doubt, the most complicated car ever built. When finished, it will comprise over 3,500 parts (and 22,500 rivets), of which many have been designed and manufactured uniquely for this car. Approximately half the thrust of Bloodhound SSC is provided by a EUROJET EJ200, a highly sophisticated military turbofan normally found in the engine bay of a Eurofighter Typhoon. This uses a Jaguar V8 to start the fuel pump on the 1,000 litre HTP tank. In order to accelerate the car to 1,000mph, each Nammo hybrid rocket will

4 www.pirtek.eu

Swindon

BeforetheMast

With 40 years experience and customers from Inverness to the Channel Islands, Stacatruc says it offers the best and most cost-effective forklift customer service possible.

In the pipeline Quarter 4 2016

As an independent company, Stacatruc is not tied to one manufacturer; rather it can focus on looking for the best solutions for its customers. Their CFTS-accredited field service engineers manage get to a breakdown with an average 4- hour response time for emergency calls. They operate a next day parts service, with an engineer on site the same day to fit the parts, and they are happy to service any forklift, existing customer or not. If you think that is impressive, then you should you visit the company’s workshops in Thatcham. Here forklifts of every size and make are serviced, refurbished and prepared for either re- entering the hire market or are resold. This includes machines from the company’s extensive fleet as well as customer machines. Nothing too impressive in that, but the speed with which the machines are stripped down, repaired, repainted and any suspect part replaced, is truly a work of art. All very well, but holding hydraulic parts for such a diverse fleet would be a nightmare if it wasn't for Pirtek Swindon. CONSIDERATE THINKING MSSTMike Pridding is a frequent visitor at the Stacatruc workshop and will testify as the fast turnover. “I've serviced this company for the past five years and know how they work. They admitted they have tried the opposition, but I'm pleased to say they returned to the Pirtek fold because of the service we give them. Take today for instance, I have three machines to be repaired. “ He smiled and continued, “Tight, but they have made life easier on one, a Doosan PRO5 30, by removing the mast to replace the bushes, but leaving the mast suspended so I could replace the two 7m 3/8" 175 bar/2537psi side shift hoses on the mast, much easier than if it was still part of the forklift. This shows a lot of considerate thinking by the customer,” he says. “I've already repaired one electric 2 tonne Clark GTX 20 forklift with x2 two metre hoses this afternoon, the Doosan makes two, and I'm just about to tackle the final machine, a much larger 4 tonne Clarke CMP40D which again needs the main mast hoses replacing. I get on very well with engineers, as you will have gathered by the banter. They are a very efficient company and their workshops turn over 3-4 machines every day. That is a lot of work and I've seen them completely rebuild parts that customers have damaged or destroyed. Always good to feel you are part of the team here, and that I can help them with the restoration of their forklifts.”

www.pirtek.eu

Newport

UpperCrust

AFI-Uplift is an established Powered Access supplier with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry. The company’s modern national mobile elevated work platform fleet of over 5,000 machines is available to satisfy any working at height solution.

In the pipeline Quarter 4 2016

The AFI-Uplift fleet consists of machines that range from small 3.6 metre platforms to giant 53 metre MEWPS. The Caldicote depot - one of 20 in the UK - is serviced and supported by Pirtek Newport MSST, Andy Hunt. Hunt says he was “thrown in at the deep end” after he had finished his Pirtek training. “They thought I was capable of handling AFI and that I should look at developing a better and more comprehensive service for the client.” Seems they were right. “Of course we have tried other companies. We'd be remiss not to compare service and prices. However, since we've had Andy on site I can do nothing but sing Pirtek's praises. We get a better turn round with Pirtek, which means we have more kit available to our

We have 230 electric and diesel machines here, so that is a lot of hydraulic spares for a very diverse fleet. Pirtek always seem to have the parts in stock and Andy will arrive on site with the right parts. We get very good service from Pirtek, which other companies haven't been able to match. Ram repairs used to take two weeks, we get them back in two days now.’ He continueed, ‘ We have called Andy in to replace the 21m hoses on a JLG J125AJP platform today. These are heavy hoses to manhandle through the platform, but I know he will have the job done by the end of play. That is real service and the platform will be back in service with the minimum downtime.”

customers, a benefit all round,” said senior AFI engineer Andy Titbull. “We'd used Pirtek for a small amount of work before, but when Andy began working with us, he showed us the benefits of working with Pirtek. They now supply all our hydraulic oil, all our consumables and have recently taken on the repair of all the rams, rotators and rods. And that is on top of all the regular hydraulic hose work. And why? Service, well the opposition would often take 5 hours to respond, Pirtek take 1 hour.

www.pirtek.eu

Swansea

All theFunoftheFair

Oakwood Leisure Ltd was owned and developed by the McNamara family until March 2008. The first stage, completed in 1987, cost approximately £1 million to build and invest in new rides, infrastructure and staff training. As a result, Oakwood is now classed as one of Wales' top tourist attractions and one of the Top Ten Theme Parks in the UK. Following an increase in visitor numbers after the arrival of Snake River Falls water coaster in 1994, management decided to pursue the

Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire opened in the late 1980s as a small family park with BMX bikes, a wooden fort, a 3D cinema and go karts. The Park now has five world class spectacular rides including a wooden roller coaster rated number three in the world.

development of the park into a more 'thrilling' theme park. On April 30, 1996, Megafobia opened. It cost £1.7 million to build, but allowed the park to reach 500,000 visitors in one season for the first time.. In1997 the Vertigo Sky Coaster was added. 1999 saw The Bounce Tower added. 2002 and Hydro (now Drenched) becomes the biggest ride to arrive since Megafobia six years earlier. In 2006, Speed Euro-Fighter was installed, at the time of opening it was the UK's only

rollercoaster to have a beyond vertical drop. In 2012, the park celebrated its 25th

birthday. “Over the past two years we have invested well in excess of £5m in developing new areas of the

park and providing visitors with a series of quality new attractions," according to Clare Stansfield, Oakwood's new Head of Marketing.

MASSIVE MAINTENANCE Those attractions include, Speed, which reaches 59 mph on a 600 metre long track and a height of 35 metres with two inversions (a 97° drop including a vertical loop, heartline roll); Megafobia, the traditional wooden roller coaster, reaches a speed of 48 mph on a 900 metre long track and a height of 25 metres ith a 55°drop. Other attractions include Bounce, a 50 metre tall launch tower; and SkyCoaster a free fall type ride.

Drenched is one of the biggest Giant Flumes in the world, currently the tallest water ride in Europe with a 36 metre drop and a speed of 88 mph, plus Vertigo, a 50 metre, 80 mph skycoaster. However, the rides require a massive amount of

In the pipeline Quarter 4 2016

maintenance, the hydraulic side of which now falls to Pirtek Swansea. In 2013, Pirtek Swansea was asked to quote on the refurbishment of Megafobia that included the pipework Edwards looked at the job, said what we needed, why we needed it, when it could be done, how long it would take and how much it would cost. He provided a for the train transfer system. “We chose Pirtek because Nick

mm, 180 bar steel pipe on Megafobia that operates the train transfer. On top of that they replaced 120 metres of nylon pipe for the braking system and provided a further 30 metres spare to be kept on site for our own engineers. They replaced all the 12 mm push fittings to the brake actuators and all the hoses to the rams, plus fitting the H&S tec sleeves in case of a leak. The existing steel pipes were replaced with flexible hoses to avoid cracking. And two engineers took just two days to complete the work.” COMPLEX JOB Pirtek has now instigated a Total Hose Management system for Oakwood and has provided a plan of action for the Park. “The work on Megafobia was comparatively easy compared to Bounce, as work was all at ground level. With Bounce you are dealing with 56 metre high ride that takes 24 levels of scaffold to service. Pirtek replaced all the 2" air hoses which charge the main cylinders that keep the brakes off when the ride is operating. A complex job that took two MSSTs 10 days to complete, and was leak free when tested. Pirtek said it would take 2-3 years to completely refurbish the hydraulics in the Park

complete plan of works, something no other company could do. In fact they couldn't even get close. We liked that, a one-strike response. Better still they were very quick. And as they have completed projects, our relationship has got better and better. One of the most effective and time saving things they have done is to catalogue and list all the new hoses so, if we have a failure, a new one can be ordered over the phone and be installed in hours,” explains Oakwood's Engineering manager Mark Mitchinson. “I don't think people understand how much maintenance work is need on the rides. For example, Pirtek replaced 80 metres of 10

Swansea

www.pirtek.eu

All theFunoftheFair (continued)

and already Drench, The Airplane Ride and the Pirate Ship have been earmarked for immediate hose replacement,” Mitchinson continues. “All of the rides are foreign manufactured, so that means we often have huge lead times for parts, which is why some rides have to be put out of action during the season. Bounce has to be reprogrammed after servicing, and we have to call in an engineer from Huss in Germany to do that. The Megafobia carriage wheel bearings cost £230+VAT and there are 24 units in each running wheel. They are made in America and are made just one a year by Timkinsons - we buy the entire years stock. We also purchased £3,500 of track bolts for the ride, which we walk and inspect every day. The American rides also have imperial fittings - these have all been changed to metric by Pirtek to avoid the 2 week lead time. We have 30 rides all to be serviced in just 3 months, at a cost of £1/4m per ride, plus we have a new ride, as yet to be installed, which Pirtek will provide all the hydraulics to. I'm sorry if rides don't work to schedule but safety is all important, and I'm pleased to say we have a good partner in Pirtek to ensure that happens.”

Bristol

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2016

SweetasSugar Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is something sadly lacking in many companies and a

KellianneGreyworks as a CRMmanager at Bristol and is acutely aware that things gowrong: there are misunderstandings; favouritisms; misinformation; and amyriad of problems that plague the smooth running of any business. Her first taskwas to update all the existing customer >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20

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