Lead times cut for heat exchanger manufacturing equipment

A global supplier of forming equipment for heat exchanger manufacturing has announced an improvement in its service for producers of HVAC equipment.

Emerson & Renwick (E+R) has said it will now generally guarantee to supply M2 carbide form rolls for heat exchanger production machines – whether these were made by itself or competitors – within six weeks of orders being placed. The new commitment represents a 66 per cent reduction on the company’s previous pledge of delivery inside 18 weeks.

Where a customised design is needed, E+R says the new standard lead period will be eight weeks.

“The significant cuts in lead times for delivering form rolls are due to changes we’ve made in our procurement and inventory policies, which involve us accepting a slightly higher level of commercial risk,” says Paul Walker, head of sales for E+R’s forming business unit.

Walker says the changes show E+R is reacting to clearly increased demand for shorter turnaround times from the HVAC equipment manufacturing market. He adds that the company is already working on further moves in this direction, which it will announce soon.

“Heat exchangers are highly complex parts that permit the flows of coolant and air needed to reduce temperatures in HVAC devices and systems, including radiators and air conditioning units,” says Walker.

“High-quality form rolls, each comprising literally dozens of flat disks, are essential in heat exchanger manufacture, as they’re fundamental to the critical task of developing robust fins. Moreover, if the form rolls are faulty, there’s little opportunity for their shortcomings to be remedied elsewhere in the production process.”

Walker says E+R is committed to providing the highest quality overall engineered tooling service to HVAC product manufacturers. Under the new arrangements, customers ordering form rolls will also receive standard JODON reports for component verification, before items are released for shipment.

“We’d now be delighted to receive form roll specifications from potential new customers in the HVAC sector, who want to take advantage of our service upgrade, so we can provide them with no-obligation cost estimates,” says Walker.

E+R’s range of forming machines includes its Tube Mill, Fin Mill, Fin Press, Core Assembly and Core Builder products. The company’s portfolio also includes high output assembly systems, for items such as radiators, heaters, evaporators, condensers, and oil coolers.

“Many of our forming machines feature within E+R’s Horizons range of low carbon roll-to-roll solutions for a wide array of manufacturing processes,” says Walker. “These products have been developed over more than a decade, including by the expert scientists in our in-house technology centre.”

In addition to the HVAC sector, E+R’s key markets for its heat exchanger production equipment include the automotive and aerospace industries.