Following the recent announcement of new ownership for the Pyroban Group, the company has confirmed its strong commitment to the materials handling sector and reports growth plans globally of up to 30% over the next three years.
Following almost 40 years of private ownership, Pyroban Group Ltd joined the Caterpillar Group on 31st August 2011. Pyroban and its subsidiaries continue to operate as normal with no change to the core safety and environmental products and services offered worldwide.
“We are committed to building on Pyroban’s long history” says Ian Ratcliff, Managing Director of the Pyroban Group, who has been with Pyroban for over ten years. “Pyroban will remain a strong global brand and operate as an independent business unit.”
The Pyroban Group supplies a broad range of environmental and hazardous area equipment and services to the oil and gas, mining, marine and industrial markets across Europe, Asia and the US. The company’s commitment to working with a wide range of equipment manufacturers and suppliers remains unchanged particularly in the materials handling sector.
“We will continue to work with all our customers and their brands with the same trust, integrity, confidentiality and impartiality that we have always had” confirms Ian.
Pyroban converts any brand of forklift truck or mobile equipment so that it is safe for use when operating in a potentially explosive atmosphere. This means that forklift users can work with their usual materials handling supplier and receive almost all of the performance benefits of the most up to date forklift models, with full ATEX 94/9/EC* compliance or local equivalent.
Pyroban provides solutions for Zone 1 and Zone 2 hazardous areas where gas or vapour is the hazard and also solutions for Zone 21 and Zone 22 where powder and dust is the hazard. Conversions take place at the company’s factories in the UK, Europe, China and Singapore. Solutions for areas that are not formally classified but where there may still be some risk are also offered. Gascheka, for example, is a Pyroban product that has been widely adopted on vehicles used in refineries and by third party logistic companies.
Typical hazardous area applications include production and storage operations in a wide range of sectors including food and drink, cosmetics, logistics, chemical, oil and gas, paints and inks, automotive, pharmaceutical, waste and military. Zone 2 is the most common hazardous area which is typically where flammable material is stored in sealed containers such as IBCs or drums.
In Europe, Pyroban’s most popular solution for the conversion of both diesel and electric equipment for use in Zone 2 is system6000, which was launched in 2011 at CeMAT. Pyroban’s system6000 combines gas detection with various explosion protection methods such as restricted breathing enclosures, stainless steel cladding of forks and surface temperature cooling to ensure the engine, motors, brakes, electrics and other components remain below the auto-ignition temperatures of flammable materials.
The system complements the latest technologies seen in engine and battery electric truck design including energy performance and ergonomics, and is suitable for all types of materials handling equipment such as VNA, pallet, picking, counterbalance and reach truck designs.
Equipment fitted with turbo charged engines and increasingly complex electronic truck management and control systems can all be converted and the system has IECEx certification to IEC 60079 standards with an ambient limit of 50°C. system6000 explosion proof conversions usually refer to EU standard EN1755:2000+A1:2009 or local standards such as GB19854-2005 in China, and uniquely incorporate gas detection (infrared or pellistor) to continuously monitor the direct environment around the protected equipment and to automatically shut down the equipment before a flammable atmosphere is present.
To ensure continued and correct maintenance of Pyroban equipment in the field, Pyroban provides service engineer training for customers, a full parts and technical support service, annual audit programme and specialist field service engineers as backup support.
Pyroban has grown significantly in the last decade and expects to accelerate growth plans as the company reaches new geographies and further develops its product and service offering.
“We plan for 30% growth over the next three years as we increase our global footprint in Asia and Europe and bring market specific solutions to customers in each region according to local legislation and customer needs” says Mark Towell, Director of Markets and Business Development.
Pyroban has recently announced the acquisition of Adex Zonex in Singapore helping to support materials handling customers in the area. Pyroban has also just opened a new technical centre in the Guangzhou in the South of China, supported by its factory in Suzhou. In the UK, Pyroban recently announced the acquisition of Broadland Radiators in Norwich and due to recent growth, members of the management team at the Shoreham by Sea factory have moved to new offices in Horsham to allow for increased capacity at the West Sussex factory.
Pyroban
Tel: 01273 466200
Email: info@pyroban.com
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