Fasteners offer a breath of fresh air
An
Alcoa Fastening Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Oct 12, 2005
A leading maker of air conditioning units is reaping the benefits after only a year of becoming the first company in the UK to introduce a new fastening solution to its product line.
A leading maker of air conditioning units is reaping the benefits after only a year of becoming the first company in the UK to introduce a new fastening solution to its product line.
York International manufactures and supplies heating, ventilation, commercial and industrial air conditioning and refrigeration equipment to a worldwide market.
Although operating from 22 offices throughout the UK, the HQ and European parts centre - Europe accounts for 60% of sales - is in Basildon, Essex.
Alcoa Fastening Systems (AFS) with Huck fasteners as a key brand engineers high-quality high-performance fastening systems serving a variety of applications predominantly in the truck, trailer, commercial vehicle body builder, auto and railcar markets.
The company has a well established sales network throughout the UK, in this instance represented by Harpenden based distributor Amfast.
Confronted by issues of consistency, health and safety and the cost of sending engineers overseas to service air conditioning unit chassis secured with nuts and bolts, Mike Bacon, Engineering Manager at York International was interested when approached by UK customer manager at AFS Dean Bradley and Cliff Myers, Director at Amfast, with a fastening solution using Huck-Spin.
He said: "We had problems with bolts loosening in transit and whilst this didn't affect the performance of the air conditioning unit it meant we encountered unnecessary costs".
"We tried using a spring washer and then a Nyloc and bolt but not only did these take time to install, there were health and safety issues around the weight, noise and vibration for workers using impact wrenches".
"In addition, the torque tolerance range was in the region of 20 to 30% as opposed to 5% with Huck-Spin".
Bacon, with 23 years experience of engineering design at York International, was initially sceptical of Huck-Spin, especially as his was the first company in the UK to consider using the product.
However, after 12 months of testing, redesign, training of staff on Huck installation tools and generally ensuring a smooth integration could take place over the four models within their range, he is now happy with the outcome.
He continued: "We have consistency and quality of product whilst saving a significant amount of time on the production line - some 400 hours per year, equivalent to a 38% cost reduction on the previous process".
Dean Bradley, UK Customer Manager for AFS, said: "This is a very positive application story highlighting the reasons for switching from nut and bolt assembly to Huck-Spin".
"Our solutions are not deemed as cheap in the short term but over a period of time, the quality endures and in actual fact in the long run costs are reduced due to quality and reliability".
"On the basis of specifying Huck-Spin, Huck product suitable for other areas of the manufacturing process at York has also been identified".
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Contact Alcoa Fastening Systems
Tel +44 1952 290011
Other Alcoa Fastening Systems stories
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Volvo uses same fastener for ten years
Huck Fasteners has recently passed a major milestone in working with one of Europe's biggest names. -
Fasteners are fit for solar power development
A fastener developed from experience gained in the Mojave Desert is being used in the construction of a major solar power plant in Egypt. -
Turret nuts resist vibration
Steel double-slotted nuts are ideal for use wherever there is a continual or intermittent vibration that may potentially lead to a fastener loosening. -
Expanded thread repair system provides new options
The Recoil thread repair kit is used to repair damaged threads or create strong new screw threads. -
Fastener secures railway crossing
The Huck C50L Lockbolt was installed at a part-welded rail crossing because it would require virtually no maintenance afterwards.
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