Eastington-based weld overlay cladding and fabrication specialist Arc Energy Resources achieved a record turnover of £6.5 million, while investing £1 million in new equipment and a new building to house a sophisticated computerised robot.
New managing director Andrew Robinson says the company’s performance has been achieved against a sector background of falling oil prices, many thousands of redundancies announced by major industry leaders, and shorter working weeks.
Arc Energy Resources offers outstanding technical support in its main discipline of specialised weld overlay cladding, which is widely used in the oil and gas industries to protect huge valves, pumps and pipelines from corrosion.
“We have also increased office space, installed a highly-specialised robotic research and development facility, invested in a bi-cathode installation that will pre-qualify equipment and enable us to increase the capacity, accuracy, productivity and lead times of our weld overlay cladding output.” says Andrew.
Andrew also confirms that Arc Energy Resources has created a new 600 square metre manufacturing facility that will allow the company to increase its capacity to clad massive 30” globe valves that have become something of a speciality for its highly-trained welding teams. Additionally, the company’s previous investment in two rotating head welding machines continues to increase productivity and extend the size and scope of work the company can handle.
The company also boasts excellent management systems and an ongoing research and development programme as part of its investment, which topped £1 million across a wide range of projects.
Gloucestershire-based Advanced Insulation, a leading manufacturer of technical coatings, specialised passive fire protection systems and thermal insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry, has opened a major expansion to its Gloucester manufacturing facility on the Quedgeley West Business Park.
Following significant growth in recentyears, the recently refurbished 35,500square feet Unit L building will accommodate several new processes – including the company’s award-winning ContraFlame® MS400 deck protection system – that will contribute to the company’s future development.
A number of panel presses are being installed and commissioned at the new Gloucester facility and will help Advanced Insulation significantly increase the production of ContraFlame MS400 panels to meet the current and expected growth in international demand for this type of system.
Commenting, Advanced Insulation’s Production Manager Chris O’Leary says that the current building, occupied just four years ago, no longer has the capacity to cope with future demand for ContraFlame MS400 and other product lines coming through the order books.
“Additionally, production space within the new building includes an area to accommodate the application processes for Advanced Insulation’s ContraTherm® C25 silicon-based insulation, which has been ordered by a major new client for applications such as pipework, connectors and other oil & gas equipment.” says Chris.
Alterations to Unit L building started at the beginning of 2015, with the ContraFlame MS400 presses being commissioned in early June for panel production to commence in August.
Initially, Unit L will create approximately fifteen new jobs at the Quedgeley site and will also accommodate an office area for Advanced Insulation’s engineering and design department. The additional manufacturing space will also be used to produce other new products as they are introduced, as well as developing new ways to use existing core products.
Panel products such as MS400 are easier to install compared to alternative solutions. Additionally, with no restrictions on material shelf life, handling and storage issues are eliminated and using lightweight materials and products has the potential to save customers substantial amounts of money and weight.
As Chris explains, ContraFlame MS400 is currently one of the oil & gas industry’s optimum insulation materials and has already won a number of awards, including the National Smart Product Award at this year’s EEF/Aldermore Future Manufacturing Awards.
To find out more about Advanced Insulation’s products and services, visit the website: http://www.aisplc.com or email info@aisplc.com.
