Denco Lubrication
A smooth transition for Denco Lubrication
Although Denco Lubrication Ltd has been an important player in the lubrication systems market for over 60 years, it is probably fair to say that the last four years have been amongst the most eventful in its history.
The company’s acquisition by the Bijur Delimon International Group (BDI) in December 2004 kicked off this process, and represented a significant development for the Hereford-based company.
This immediately provided the company with a far wider product offering, from light duty through to heavy industrial, including the Farval, Bijur, Delimon and Denco Lubrication Ltd product ranges, and a faster access to service operations. This marked an important step in attaining a global presence for the companies. With over 600 employees and sites throughout the world, the group has become an international leader in lubrication systems.
Less than a year later – in September 2005 – and there were more significant developments for the business when Denco Lubrication relocated its UK operations to a brand new site in Hereford. The grease products machining operations were merged with those of German-based Delimon GmbH whilst manufacturing of oil recirculating and water systems was enhanced in Hereford by the addition of a new larger fabrication, assembly and test shop for cooling water and oil recirculation systems. This facility, which was designed especially to meet the company’s requirements, has brought an array of benefits. These have included the consolidation of all departments under one roof, and the creation of an entirely new customer showroom, which allows customers and employees to view and be trained on the operation and maintenance of equipment.
The company’s sales director Philip Jones was delighted with the relocation process: “The move was planned and completed over two weekends and was a major project for the company. This included new state-of-the-art IT and communication systems. Thanks to the dedication of the workforce, disruption to the business was kept to a minimum during the move.”
An exciting aspect of the acquisition and subsequent move was the launch of the company’s new corporate identity as part of the BijurDelimon International Group. This included a new website for Denco Lubrication and the formation of Delimon Cooling for the cooling water and chiller systems.
The developments for the business continued in 2007, with the announcement that the organisation had acquired certain assets, stock and work in progress of London-based, Engineering & General Equipment Ltd. Delimon products are widely used throughout the UK and were previously distributed in the UK by Engineering & General Equipment under the brand name of Centralube.
The purchase of this London-based company from its administrator, Baker Tilly, was completed in November and further strengthened Denco Lubrication’s position in the market. After the acquisition of Engineering & General Equipment, relocation to a new modern office similar to those in Hereford was a priority. The London staff add experience to the existing Denco Lubrication products plus renewed focus on conveyor lubrication for automotive and food industries and API 614 Special Purpose Oil Recirculating Systems for the petro chemical industries. With the provision of a London office, Denco Lubrication is able to offer customers in the South East of the UK meeting rooms and access to engineers local to their business with local access to the major London airports. All customers throughout the UK have favourably received the acquisition as beneficial.
Today, as a result of these various changes, Denco Lubrication can offer improved service and support for centralised lubrication systems and service to the heavy-duty industrial market, as well as roll coolant systems, oil recirculation systems and cooling water systems.
In addition to ongoing new business, the last year has seen customers renewing original Denco Lubrication Oil recirculating systems that have given reliable service for 30 years with new 21st century systems. Two examples are a steel rolling mill and a cement manufacturer looking to improve production and energy savings by enhancing their existing plant. Contracts were turnkey projects where Denco Lubrication was involved at the concept stage of the oil system design to ensure the optimum selection of equipment. Parameters considered were what future expansion may be required, oil flows, cooling, pressures, energy efficient motors, plant availability, efficient use of space without impacting on maintainability and routing of pipe work to ensure mechanical protection whilst not hindering plant access and operation.
These contracts included design, manufacture, supply, installation, flushing and commissioning. The original 30 year trouble-free equipment operation was a major factor in the decision to use Denco Lubrication again for the new equipment.
Further advances have been made in Total Lubrication Management (TLM) whereby the company, in partnership with the client takes over the complete management of all lubrication maintenance and services for an entire plant. As ongoing evolution of TLM continues, a dedicated customer support manager has been appointed to develop new business for the company’s products and services. The managers brief is to ensure that the company recognises what the customer requires, tailor its offering to suit their needs and monitor what it is delivering.
An add-on to the TLM business is the supply of equipment reacting quickly to rectify problems such as contamination of lubricating oils and cooling of systems, all of which can cause issues with plant production. The equipment supplied such as centrifuge separator, oil filtration and chillers, will be accompanied by a qualified Denco Lubrication technician to ensure plant availability, until a permanent solution is engineered.
New TLM business continues to be placed; the most recent are annual contracts for the steel and cement industries for provision of onsite technicians to maintain and develop the customers’ lubrication and cooling systems.
The Cooling Water Systems business has also been buoyant. A recent cooling water system supplied to a cement manufacturer to cool the bearings of the cement mills was a turnkey installation. New stainless steel pipework, duty and standby pump skid mounted with a 350 Kw adiabatic cooler was supplied. Designed to deliver 1000 LPM of cooling water running 24 hours/seven days a week, the success of the installed system has resulted in an order for a larger 2000 kw cooling water system for kiln cooling at the same site.
Delimon Cooling has also been awarded a contract to provide a cooling system to a major UK compressor manufacturer on a UK chemical plant. The installation ensures a compressor is available during the major plant shut down without the expense of hiring in a compressor as was required previously. The cost of the turnkey installation equated to the cost of the one-month compressor hire.
Denco Lubrication continues to grow and evolve to support its customers’ requirements in the everchanging UK market.
Denco Lubrication
Products: Lubrication systems and cooling water systems
Sites: Hereford, London and Bridgend
Employees: 600 globally
www.delimon.co.uk