TPi September 2017

business & market news

MSA wins Queen’s Award for Innovation MSA Engineering Systems Ltd has won its second Queen’s Award for Enterprise Innovation. The award was announced in April, on the birthday of Her Majesty The Queen.

The electrofusion technique is used when water and gas pipes require joining to other pipes and to other accessories. An electrofusion fitting has an embedded heating coil of wire, which is placed over two thermoplastic pipes (as a sleeve) and is energised to melt the plastic of the pipes and corresponding fitting, fusing them together. The traditional electrofusion fitting manufacturing process is complex and can have quality issues, according to MSA Engineering Systems. The company has created a wire-laying system for installing heating wires into curved surfaces for the production of electrofusion saddle fittings, overcoming the limitations of traditional manufacturing methods. The same electrofusion wire-laying principle can be applied in cylindrical parts to manufacture electrofusion fittings for large diameter pipelines, or smaller specialist electrofusion fittings. The company states that the benefits to fitting producers include higher quality products, lower manufacturing costs and the ability to make special parts that previously were not possible. Downstream pipeline installers can benefit from reduced installation time,

MSA’s SWL saddle wire laying machine

MSA Engineering Systems Ltd – UK sales@msa-engineering.co.uk www.msa-engineering.co.uk

leading to improved continuity of gas and water supply for end users. For the company itself, turnover has increased by 92 per cent over the past two years – an increase that is almost entirely attributable to sales of the innovation. MSA won its first Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2006, and has continued to develop its product range since, pioneering wire-laying methods for the production of electrofusion fittings. For the latest award, two company representatives attended a winners’ reception held by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace in July.

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September 2017 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL