Amatek

Moving trolleys on rails around manufacturing areas

Fine Tubes Ltd, part of Amatek, are specialist tube manufacturers based in Plymouth, UK.

Manufacturing plants are busy environments, and it’s no different at Fine Tubes. It’s also challenging, with their high-quality precision tubes used in some of the world’s most demanding applications by customers from aerospace, oil and gas, and medical industries, with zero room for error. Their many tube types are all produced from steel, making for extremely heavy objects that their staff cannot carry manually. Instead, they rely on trolleys sitting on rails to move them around the facility.

Fine Tubes contacted our team in search of a towing device to help them move the trolleys and equipment through their manufacturing plant. After a detailed discussion, and based on the weight and application, our team proposed the V-Move XL electric tow tug from Verhagen Leiden.

The customer agreed to our offer of a site visit and demonstration. They were extremely keen on the unit and its pulling capacity of up to 3,500kg. They wanted to proceed initially with a trial, which we were happy to facilitate to allow them more time to see the unit in action.

The evaluation wasn’t without its challenges. Their trolleys already had A-frames welded to the back to attach them to the tug. Yet, in operation, it quickly became clear these attachments were insufficient for the job and resulted in the trolleys pulling and pushing against the rails, preventing their smooth movement. This would eventually cause too much damage to the rails for them to work at all.

We recommended developing heavy-duty A-frames to replace their existing ones, to make the trolleys sturdier when in motion and more efficient on the rails. The customer felt this would work and purchased replacement A-frames and the tow tug; we provided the latter at a reduced cost based on it being a demo unit. Once delivered, we trained their team to use the unit and its attachments properly to avoid damage.

Since then, our team has completed two machine services and a few minor repairs. It continues to operate effectively, put through its paces daily to help the team safely transport their heavy steel tubes without any damage. Fine Tubes is another happy customer, thanks to a towing tug that goes the distance to keep their factory up and running.