Grundfos’ maintenance department

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RIVAL moves even faster when required

RIVAL moves even faster, when the customer requires it. This was recently the case with Grundfos, when an acute need arose to repair a tool in their die-casting.

Maintenance technician Jens Erik Lysdahl has collaborated with production technician Benny Sørensen and RIVAL for many years. “For us, RIVAL’s not just a subcontractor,” says Jens Erik Lysdahl. “They’re competent partners, and we want to continue to develop our collaboration with them. They know what’s required, for example when a tool in production breaks, and it costs many thousands of kroner in time, when a machine stands idle. The work needs to be done quickly, and there has to be close dialogue between us and RIVAL. The
people at RIVAL are good at doing both.”

Focus on the value chain
Pump manufacturer Grundfos is one of Denmark’s biggest companies, employing over 18,000 people around the world. At Grundfos, there is constant focus on optimizing the entire value chain, to make the company more and more attractive for customers. “This means that, among other things, we in the maintenance department get shorter and shorter delivery times for our services, since the production set-up may not stand idle for longer periods of time,” says Jens Erik Lysdahl. “To achieve the best solutions, both we and our partners have to be sharp every day.”

Large components
Grundfos’ collaboration with RIVAL usually relates to the machining of large components. “One of the big advantages with collaborating with RIVAL, is that they have production equipment that can machine tool components that are up to three metres, without us having to take the tool apart,” says Jens Erik Lysdahl. “It saves us a lot of time before and after the machining.” Most recently, when Grundfos had an acute need for the repair of a tool for their die-casting, it was a terrific advantage that RIVAL could receive and machine the component in one piece. “RIVAL were finished with their part of the work within 24 hours, which meant we in the maintenance department could comply with our agreement with production at Grundfos despite the unforeseen problems,” says Jens Erik Lysdahl.

Fast response
As always, Benny Sørensen of RIVAL acted quickly after Jens Erik Lysdahl had called him on the phone. “I immediately contacted our production manager Heino Pedersen, to get confirmation that we could take in the component from Grundfos as soon as it reached RIVAL. The answer was the usual one – we could of course deal with it,” says Benny Sørensen. “It’s very reassuring to know that my colleagues in production are ready to step in, and that our internal planning is so good that we can immediately see how we can make space for the customer’s urgent tasks.

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Grundfos, Serbia

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Close Partnership with Grundfos

RIVAL’s competencies in processing aluminium materials, creative mind-set, honest manner and practical experience have been major factors for the development, product maturing and introduction of Grundfos’ new pump production in Serbia.

The employees of RIVAL have worked closely together with Grundfos’ technology centre for a long period of time. The work concerns development and product maturing of a new pump house, which is going to be produced in Grundfos’ factory in Serbia and sold globally, particularly in USA. RIVAL has the responsibility for educating staff in Serbia and implementing the production. “We have decided to collaborate with RIVAL about this task because the company possess certain competencies, which we don’t do ourselves at Grundfos,” says technology expert Erik Jæger Thomsen from Grundfos.

“We have built a very close partnership in which both parts have listened to and learned from each other, which has been very valuable for the result.”

Complete trust
Grundfos trusted RIVAL during the working process and has known for certain that the job would be solved. “We knew from the start that RIVAL was in possession of the competencies, which we were looking for,” says Erik Jæger Thomsen.

“Their processing experience combined with their desire to enter into a joined development project are very unique factors. The foreman Glenn Scharling, in particular, has offered alternative ways to handle things, which has been valuable for the process. Glenn says things straight, which works very well in the daily collaboration.”

Furthermore, RIVAL generally works with the same programs and measuring equipment (the Zeiss measurement machine) as they do at Grundfos, which makes it easier to transfer things between the two companies. i

Passing on knowledge and competencies
RIVAL has the full responsibility for introducing the machines, tools and programmes, which will be used in the Serbian production. During the process, the Serbs, who will be in charge of the pump production, have payed RIVAL a visit.

RIVAL’s employees have passed on knowledge to the Serbian staff. “In Serbia they are rather green in terms of this kind of production. Therefore, the knowledge transfer from employee to employee is important for their future work,” says Erik.

RIVAL’s staff participates at the actual introduction of the machines and production in Serbia. In September, the machine worker Frederik Petersen and either Glenn or sales director Christian Aarup travel to the factory outside Beograd and they stay for a couple of weeks.

Great satisfaction
“In every sense, we are very happy about the collaboration with RIVAL regarding this job. The company has been the partner and competency supplier, which we were looking for. In many ways, it has felt like, we have been a part of the same company,” says Erik. “The fact that RIVAL does not compromise on quality has been very important to us. We will definitely benefit from continuing the partnership with RIVAL in the future.”

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Components with Complete Documentation to NOV

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Components with Complete Documentation to National Oilwell Varco

 

Close collaboration regarding the production, quality control tests and documentation are crucial elements of RIVAL’s successful multi-year partnership with National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) Norwegian division.

During the last couple of months, RIVAL has produced top-site equipment to pipe management on oil drilling rigs, completed function and pressure tests of all components before shipment to Norway and devised complete documentation.

Close collaboration with the quality responsible
The work has been accomplished in collaboration with NOV’s quality responsible, who has paid RIVAL several visits. “NOV’s demands on quality and documentation are severe,” says production manager Søren Djursland, who has been in charge of the daily communication with NOV. “When we handle components, which are critical and costly, and which are going to be mounted onto the oil drilling rigs, there is no room for mistakes. When the components are delivered, everything must be in perfect order.”

Complete documentation
The demands on documentation are severe, for which reason every component to the oil drilling rig includes 500 pages of documentation. “Contrary to expectations, if a mistake occurs, it is crucial that the people in charge of the rig can find details on the produced component quickly,” says Søren. For that matter, Søren Djursland has devised and prepared 500 pages to each of the 10 components.

“The job has been very interesting, but demanding,” says Søren. “I have made more than one version to every component as a result of some very specific detail demands to the material from NOV, which were not fulfilled at first. However, at this moment we have lots of experience with meeting these demands, for which reason we are very suited for the following jobs.”

”Det har været et meget interessant og krævende arbejde,” siger Søren. ”Jeg har lavet mere end én version til hvert emne, da der i første omgang var nogle helt specifikke detailkrav til materialet fra NOV, som ikke var opfyldt. Vi har nu fået opbygget rigtig gode erfaringer med netop at følge disse og er klædt rigtigt godt på til de kommende opgaver.”

Onsite test
Som en del af aftalen med NOV har RIVAL også gennemført onsite test af alle emnerne inden afsendelsen til Norge. ”For at kunne gennemføre både funktions- og tryktest opbyggede vi en specifik testinstallation til netop disse emner,” siger Søren. ”Det krævede eksempelvis, at vi måtte leje en generator, da vi ikke have strøm nok på fabrikken til at kunne gennemføre testene.”

NOV’s kvalitetsansvarlige var med til alle test og kunne derefter sige ok til, at emnerne kunne sendes til Norge. ”Det giver stor tryghed for begge parter, at vi sammen har gennemført testene,” siger Søren. ”Dermed har vi også en fælles forståelse at bygge videre på.”

Klar til næste projekt
Hos RIVAL har man nu gennem flere år udviklet og udbygget samarbejdet med NOV. ”Vi har gennem årene bevist, at vi kan håndtere de ordrer, de kommer med,” siger salgschef Christian Aarup fra RIVAL. ”Det betyder også, at vi nu får lov til at byde ind på mere krævende opgaver. Vi ser frem til kommende udfordrende projekter både for dem og andre kunder i olie- og gasindustrien.”

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Wärtsilä supply boat, Norway

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RIVAL ind på det norske marked

The Norwegian engine supplier Wartsila increasingly demand RIVAL’s skills in machining operations. This is primarily due to the creativity, skills and efficiency of RIVAL’s staff. A supply ship runs into a pier and has to dock at the Polish port of Szczecin.

Norway is notified and Wartsila’s office has to locate a new spare part as quickly as possible. Shortly after, an e-mail arrives in Benny Soerensen’s inbox at RIVAL with an order for a piston rod. “It had to be done in no time. It costs a lot of money to have a supply ship lying idle. At the same time as they sent the e-mail with the drawings, they shipped the raw material from Norway.
We received that on Tuesday,” says Mr Soerensen, who is the sales manager at RIVAL with responsibility for “difficult” tasks. Staff at RIVAL completed the job in 72 hours. On Friday morning, a special transport service could ship the spare part to Poland, where it was fitted to allow the ship back at sea.

Competitive Denmark
RIVAL is well on the way to conquer the Norwegian offshore market, which is short of companies offering machining operations. Danish companies are known for being flexible and innovative. The relocation of many manufacturing operations to countries with lower costs has forced Danish companies to do things differently.

“Our employees are very conscious of looking for the easiest way to solve a task. This allows us to compete on both time and price.
We have been forced to hange the way we operate because demand has changed. We tell our staff that it is all about the end – not the means – and that we count on our people to achieve the optimum result,” says Mr Soerensen, who has often experienced that Norwegian companies send the special material required for the manufacture of specific items to Denmark, whereupon RIVAL manufactures the item and returns it.

The shipping costs are high, but it shows how great the eed is. “In future, we will probably consider stocking the special stainless steel materials for the offshore industry so we can become even more competitive.”

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Effective Serial Production to RIVAL’s Defence Customers

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RIVAL has valuable collaborations with many companies in the defence industry, who appreciate RIVAL’s competencies within production of critical and costly components as well as serial production of system supplies.

RIVAL’s production runs around the clock and our robots work closely together with the advanced multi-processing centres. RIVAL’s employees are planning the working process in details and they make sure to follow the customer’s demands on tolerances and documentation.

To-sided production strategy
The customers in the defence industry are interested in RIVAL’s to-sided production strategy. The strategy focuses on producing other components, than those typically produced, by increasing the number of employees, who work at night.

Favourable overall economy
“An effective production, which runs according to the plan is crucial to the customers. At the same time, they value our technical insight and our ability to work in many different materials as well as accommodating the customers communication-wise,” says sales director Christian Aarup. “They appreciate the fact that we offer all of the element in the RIVAL package, which is always adjusted to each customer’s requirements. This results in our customers having a very favourable overall economy and high-quality components.”

Se flere nyheder

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Close dialogue behind valuable collaboration on components for Scania lorries

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Quality control is comprehensive and everything must work smoothly right from the start when Vald. Birn manufactures brake components for Scania lorries. RIVAL has been chosen as a subcontractor for the machining of components because of its high quality, reliability of delivery and excellent communication.

Vald. Birn (BIRN) manufactures over 20,000 brake components for Scania lorries with drum brakes every year. The company is fully responsible for product maturation, casting, machining and surface treatment of the components. Everything must comply with TS 16949, which is the automobile industry’s extended version of ISO certification.

The machining of the many thousands of components in the coming period will be done at RIVAL because BIRN requires extra capacity.

Trial task was crucial
The collaboration between BIRN and RIVAL started a year ago, when BIRN had some prototypes manufactured at RIVAL. “With regard to the task, it confirmed for us that RIVAL can meet our quality and reliability of delivery requirements, and that there is really good chemistry and communication between our people,” says Method Department Manager Henrik Telling from BIRN. “This has been crucial in our decision to invite RIVAL to be part of this job, which is very comprehensive and will run for the year.”

High quality requirements
Scania and BIRN’s other customers in the automobile industry have high quality requirements, which covers for example, hardness measurement, x-ray examinations and ultrasound scanning of pre-machined components. In addition, a production test sample is prepared, where among other things, statistical process control of the dimension tolerances is carried out. The test sample is sent to Scania, as documentation that the stipulated components meet the stipulated requirements.

RIVAL approved by Scania
It also means that the subcontractors that BIRN uses must meet stringent requirements. Scania has also visited RIVAL’s premises and has approved them as a subcontractor. “The optimum is of course that RIVAL also becomes TS 16949 certified. But they are well on the way because of their ISO certification and because they have shown that they can meet the more stringent requirements,” says Henrik Telling.

Quality and delivery in place
”The first 700 components are now machined at RIVAL, and we’re very satisfied with both the quality and delivery of these components. Now we will continue like this with the next many thousands of components,” says Henrik Telling.

Good communication is a prerequisite
It has been crucial for BIRN that there has been good chemistry and communication with the people at RIVAL right from the start. “We’ve built up a small matrix organisation on this project, which ensures that there is rapid clarification of questions or uncertainties, says Henrik Telling. “That we have good dialogue at all levels is a crucial parameter in our collaboration. Things must go smoothly during the daily work when we have to meet such tight deadlines. It functions really well here together with RIVAL.”

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