NEW TECHNOLOGY CENTRE BRINGS SUPERIOR TESTING TO SPIROFLOW

UK based Spiroflow Ltd, leading manufacturer of conveying and weighing systems for companies across the world, has celebrated the latest exciting stage of its expansion strategy with a launch event to mark the opening of its new state of the art Technology Centre. The Centre, which was officially opened by Cllr Michael Ranson, Mayor of Ribble Valley, houses a spacious machine demonstration area for the company’s conveying, weighing, bulk bag filling and discharge equipment, plus a unique powder characterisation and testing laboratory. The primary purpose of the Centre – as well as showcasing Spiroflow’s market-leading machinery – is to facilitate powder characterisation testing on sophisticated laboratory equipment, providing a fundamental insight into powder flow properties and helping to anticipate and thus prevent handling issues. The launch event was attended by customers, partners, local companies and trade associations, who were treated to tours of the Centre and an insight into Spiroflow’s history, its reputation for innovation and technical excellence and its expectations regarding the new facility. The Centre will provide major benefits to customers, not least the opportunity to conduct full scale system trials and significantly reduce the risk of expensive downtime in the handling process. The Technology Centre will operate under the watchful eyes of Dr Will Weston, Spiroflow’s specialist in materials science, and engineer Terry Mason. Together they provide a wealth of experience in solving materials handling challenges across a breadth of industries, processes and scales. Dr Weston explained: “Powders and granular materials are complex entities with vastly varied handling properties, so conveying solids is a much more complex task than it is for liquids. Testing in the material characterisation lab will allow us to fully understand each material in order to design the most efficient bespoke handling solution. The lab will also be invaluable for customers’ development projects to test the feasibility of introducing a new product into their process – particularly vital if a prospective additive has the potential to be cohesive, or has a high moisture or fat content that could affect the flow of the powder in conveying pipework, weigh vessels or valves. Preventive testing can ultimately save thousands in processing downtime.” The new Centre, based in the North of England, will also free up urgently needed space at the company’s existing site on the same industrial park, facilitating an increase in machine production to meet growing demand from international customers which currently account for around 50% of total sales. The expansion is also expected to result in the creation of a number of new jobs. This latest announcement comes hot on the heels of further expansion of the company’s USA operation through a new factory in North Carolina serving the North and South American and Far East markets. Spiroflow’s Chairman Michel Podevyn said: “Spiroflow already has a well-deserved reputation for technical excellence and commitment to customer satisfaction, supported by our rigorous testing programme that weeds out potential handling problems at a very early stage. Demand for our conveying and discharging systems is continually increasing in both domestic and global markets and we’re delighted about the combination of experience, scientific expertise and testing facilities that makes our new Technology Centre unique in the sector and enables us to meet this growing demand with renewed vigour and confidence.” Spiroflow designs powder handling systems, including specialised conveyors and bulk bag handling equipment for the food, chemical, minerals and other process industries. Spiroflow also manufactures bin activators, Aero Mechanical Conveyors, Tubular Cable and Chain Drag Conveyors, Vacuum Conveyors, Bulk Bag Fillers, Ingredients Handling and Weighing Systems. The company’s technical and engineering expertise has led to it developing an international reputation for an unrivalled range of products with state-of-the-art control systems. For more information on Spiroflow’s products and services visit www.spiroflow.com or call +44 (0)1200 422525.