What’s the Big Deal About the Quality of Your Fittings
Ever Wondered About the Quality of Your Fittings?
The quality of your fittings isn’t something you’ll be thinking about when you’re fixing a breakdown: Your concern is just to get the job done, get the flow back up and going again. It’s only when it comes to maintenance that you can afford to consider quality.
Depending on what your pipeline is transporting, the quality of your fittings is a big deal. This article isn’t just about whether you buy Chinese or European manufactured parts. It’s also about whether or not you have the skills to assess the quality of what you deploy.
This article explains why quality is important. It tells you how you can assess the quality of your components, and explains how to make sure you’re consistently getting the best from your supplier.
The Difference is in the Reinforcing and Testing!
A quality of your fittings mark is how often the manufacturers test the products. You might say, ‘Oh they’re all tested’, and you’d be right! But what is the testing program, in reality?
If you have a cheap manufactured fitting in your left hand, and a European-manufactured fitting in your right hand, they will initially look the same. The difference you feel at this point is that the European-manufactured fitting costs you significantly more.
The truth is, you can’t beat the prices on cheaper manufactured fittings. That’s just a fact!
But if you were to look closely, you’d notice that the European fitting has a lot more reinforcing than the other cheaper manufactured fitting. You can spot it by noticing that the cheaper manufactured fittings have very shallow reinforcing; it’s more like a pimple-effect on the surface.
The reinforcing matters; in some industries, particularly where your pipeline is carrying dangerous or hazardous substances, it’s critical.
The thing you can’t see is the testing.
It Only Takes One Failure to Put You out of Business
Stay with me for a moment; I’ll tell you a story.
One day I went to visit a customer of ours. While I was there, he took me through his warehouse and showed me the stock of his products (made by a cheaper manufacturer).
It looked ok. In fact, the product was probably sufficient for irrigation, and even some mining.
Picking one up, I asked him, ‘What happens now, if you use this to transport sulphuric acid, and it fails?’
He looked at me, unconcerned. ‘We wouldn’t do that very often.’
Putting the part down, I replied: ‘You only need it to happen once.’ The implication is that if you know that you can prevent splits in situations of hazardous substances, and you don’t, then the legal issues afterwards could be enough to shut your business down.
We have had cheaper fittings split—I’ve seen them personally. This is where the testing programs of the manufacturers become so critical.
Assess Quality Based on Testing and Recall
Your supplier will be able to explain to you how their manufacturers test – and, worst-case scenario, recall their products. But here’s a quick (and very general) overview.
Cheaper manufacturers will do some initial testing on their products. Their production is powered by volume. They don’t do regular batch testing because it slows down their manufacturing rate and increases the product’s price. You have no guarantee about how each batch performs.
European manufacturers, on the other hand, test every batch. Their production volume is slower, the product prices are higher, and you can guarantee each batch’s performance.
Here at Advanced Piping Solutions, we’ve had European manufacturers recall products that we had already received. In some cases, they have been so pedantic about the recall that they wouldn’t provide refunds until we gave them evidence that the products had been destroyed.
The fact that we have never received a recall from a cheaper manufacturer does mean that their product is better. It means that their testing is worse.
Work With Your Supplier to Better Understand the Quality of Your Fittings
Your supplier ought to be able to give you many more stories and examples of the differences in quality of your fittings, and should be able to teach you how to spot the quality yourself.
Ultimately, the quality of your fittings contributes to the safety and longevity of your pipeline.
Is that something you want to risk?
Get the Latest Information and Knowledge to Help You Maintain Your Pipeline
The effectiveness and safety of your pipeline relies not just on your maintenance program, but on the quality of the fittings used to maintain it. Make sure you are ahead of everyone else by staying educated about how your project may be impacted by the parts you use. Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page to get the latest updates.
When you need focused help fast, get it from a supplier whose success is keeping your plant moving. Call us today on 1300 792 879 or contact us via the website.
