TPT July 2014

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Industry News
16 July 2014
OMS wins innovation award
OIL and gas pipe measurement
specialist Optical Metrology Services
(OMS) has won the 2014 Queen’s
Award for Enterprise in the Innovation
category for its SmartFit™ service, a
system for managing pipe preparation
and fit-up in readiness for welding prior
to pipe laying.
Used in the oil and gas industries,
SmartFit ensures accurate fitment of
pipes prior to welding and laying in
trenches, preventing environmentally
damaging leaks.
OMS also developed bespoke
laser measuring equipment and
methodologies with supporting software,
for optimising pipe fit-up. The service
reduces costs through faster pipe laying
and improves quality by eliminating
mismatched pipe ends.
Hugh Davies, client solutions director
at OMS, commented, “Everyone at
OMS is honoured to receive this award
because innovation has always been
a priority here and a cornerstone of
this company’s growth and financial
success over the years. Innovation is
something that the UK excels at and so
the competition for the Queen’s Award
must have been intense.”
In oil and gas pipeline projects, the
welding of fatigue-sensitive SCR (steel
catenary risers) and flowline pipes to
tight specifications is critical.
Counterboring the pipes might not
be a viable method of controlling pipe
geometry due to cost considerations
or to limitations on pipe wall thickness.
In order to prevent bottlenecks during
welding and to minimise project delays
and risks, oil industry owners, pipelay
contractors and welders need to
capture, record and analyse pipe end
geometry quickly and accurately. This
measurement data can help to ensure
that pipes delivered into the bead
stall will fit together within the welding
specification requirements.
Optical Metrology Services Ltd – UK
Email:
Website: OMS staff outside the company’s UK offices
Production running like clockwork
LMF Maschinenteile GmbH has ordered
the new HBE Dynamic bandsaw
model from saw specialist Behringer.
The experience gained by the gear
component supply company provides
an insight into the functionality of the
new machine in everyday industrial
application.
“I can’t afford my machine outfit
to leave me in the lurch. Production
outage would be a disaster, and I
would have a hard time explaining
delivery delays to my customers,” said
LMF chief executive Rudi Laber. He
equates the reliability of his production
facilities with his own reliability towards
LMS customers. “For a medium-sized
enterprise with just five employees,
reliability is everything. We supply
companies from wide ranging fields
– conveying technology, mechanical
engineering, packaging technology and
automatic parking systems – with gears
and sprockets, CNC turned parts and
timing belt pulleys.”
The company provides consistent
quality, from one-off units and
small production runs, to full series
manufacturing. In the raw material
machining production hall, there are two
bandsawing machines from Behringer:
a twelve-year-old HBP 360A, which
Mr Laber says has never
caused a single problem;
and the new HBE261 A
Dynamic with full enclosure.
LMF invested in the
new machine for two
reasons. The company was
experiencing increasing
demand for round material
offcuts in the diameter range
from 30 to 165mm, which
had to be sawn specifically
to order. “At the same time, any servicing
work being performed on the existing
machine meant that we were completely
without an alternative bandsaw, which is
unacceptable,” said Mr Laber.
Behringer GmbH – Germany
Fax: +49 7266 207 500
Email:
Website:
BE261A Dynamic