A food and beverage customer was experiencing high leakage and contamination in their process fluid on the single pass flow through system they were operating.
More Industry Related Content
Related Products Pages
By Peter Rouleau
Is AESSEAL a strong presence within the US food and beverage industry?
I would estimate that we have about 30% of the US food sector. The beverage sector is dominated by three major companies: Inbev (Anheuser-Busch), Miller Coors, and Constellation, and we are still trying to break into that area. In food processing we are very strong, with our list of customers including the likes of ADM, Cargill, Ingredion and Tate and Lyle.
How did the contact with this particular customer originate?
This was a contract customer with multiple sites and this particular site was initially not open to working with AESSEAL. They had agreements with two seal companies at the time and they had chosen to go with the competition.
How did the contact with this particular customer originate?
It was difficult to convince them not least due to fact they did not want to meet with us. This is a long story, but the information on water consumption of existing seals came from a training session we conducted. Using this data, I put a business case together and took it to the company’s senior management to show them what we could do. When they saw the report, they saw for themselves the superiority of the AESSEAL product.
All credit then to the company head office for listening to the evidence and taking action. How did it go with the management and engineers on the site? We all know that industry can be quite resistant to change - the old mantra 'if it's not broken, why fix it?' applies.
Convincing the local management team was more difficult, but over time and over the course of several meetings, they came to accept our technology.
If the decision had been left solely to the site management team, we would probably not have won the order. They have come around, because we have been able to deliver a good working arrangement where they see us as a company that solves problems, and I think they do appreciate the environmental benefits as well as the increased reliability.
Do you stay in regular contact with the company?
Our team still walks this site every month. Since the start of the project, and following changes in the site management team, the company now uses AESSEAL for 100% of its sealing requirements and has made us their preferred supplier across all their plants.
They have now become our biggest global customer, not just because of the quality of our products, but also over because we have provided them with many years of world class service.
Has the relationship with this company continued to develop so they are using other AESSEAL technology?
Very much so. This project helped to open the door. When we started working with them the AESSEAL® EasyClean™ system was not yet available.
This company is now using more of these. The vessel is the latest technology in water and oil API Plan 53a barrier fluid management systems, aimed at environments which require a higher level of hygiene. For example, it can be disassembled for inspection and cleaning. By using a clamp, the bottom section of the vessel can be removed when required and the internal cavity can be checked for deposits. This is a big step forward in both water management and hygiene.
