Sometimes using standard items out of the product catalog makes life complicated. For example, a ChemTec customer wanted to install an excess flow valve (EFV) in a system with 2” diameter piping. The problem was, the EFV meeting the performance requirements had 3/4” diameter ports. This left them with two choices: reduce their pipework to the required diameter, or request a custom EFV with the performance of the standard unit but 2” ports.
Faced with this kind of problem, most engineers assume the custom valve will take too long to make, be too expensive, or both. Fortunately for this customer though, they were talking to ChemTec. Unlike most in the flow valve industry, we’ve kept design and manufacturing in-house and in the United States. That gives us complete control over the whole concept-to-realization process and three advantages when proposing a custom solution.
- Lead time – competitors typically quote 10 to 16 weeks but we can turnaround a request in less than four. That means less chance of delaying a project or missing a deadline.
- Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs – whereas competitors almost always hit their customers with steep charges that make the custom solution unattractive, for us NRE costs are the exception rather than the norm.
- When you work with ChemTec on a custom solution you talk directly with the design engineer. Once requirements are documented he’ll produce a 3D CAD model that makes it easy to verify the fit. Any changes needed can be quickly incorporated into the model and checked again before being sent to manufacturing. This tight integration ensures the item that’s delivered does the job, with no modification or rework necessary.
Any time you’re faced with a pipe or valve problem that a standard product won’t solve it’s natural to assume a custom solution will be expensive and take months. If you’re not dealing with ChemTec that’s almost certainly true: valve companies with little to no control over design and manufacturing are at the mercy of others, resulting in extended lead times and spiraling costs. But because we own the concept-to-realization process we are faster, and a cost-effective alternative to making expensive modifications to suit the standard valve.
