Flowflex

FLOWFLEX COMPONENTS

THE TOP BRASS OF PLUMBING

THE TOP BRASS OF

PLUMBING

Plumbing systems are the hidden lifeblood of every building. The water and gas delivery systems that weave their way into every facet of our lives are the unsung heroes that make modern life possible. Increasingly, buildings around the world are integrated with plumbing solutions designed and manufactured by the UK’s Flowflex Components. Richard Hagan spoke to Dave Bowers, Operations Director, and Richard Wilcock, Finance Director, to find out how this family-owned business remains at the leading edge of its market.

Specialist British plumbing supplier

Flowflex Components manufactures and sells a range of high-quality fittings into the plumbing and heating market Its portfolio consists of the complete range of compression fittings, solder ring and end fed copper fittings, along with valves and innovation products.

Product supply

While the business supplies all markets including independent merchants and specialist OEM customers, it also is the UK market leader supplying volume

to large national merchants and networks with white label and Flowflex brands from Buxton as the principal UK manufacturer of these product ranges. Being based in Buxton, Derbyshire gives Flowflex Components a central location for supply to its UK customers, and via UK ports to its European customers. This offers a distinct advantage compared to the volatility and supply demands that come with Asian sourcing. Flowflex products are incorporated into significant commercial, domestic and DIY projects across Europe and the Middle East.

The business also sees innovation as an important part of its operations and commercial offering. Inventors with promising ideas for new products use Flowflex for both manufacture and distribution to make emerging technology available to the market.

For all customers Flowflex Components prioritises quality, service and cost efficiency.

Decades of family ownership

The company is proud of its family ownership, having been established by the current owner’s father in 1954 and whose son is now working in the business, being the third generation of ownership and advancement by the same family.

Flowflex Components originally manufactured fuel lines for motorcycles and

outboard motors, but later pivoted into metallurgy and metals manufacturing, and from there it transitioned into its current specialty – manufacturing brass plumbing fittings.

The business’ location grew and moved with its product offering, from its original site in Manchester to its current site in Buxton. Its facility spans 1.4 hectares, comprising its factory, a new warehouse and offices. In total Flowflex employs 90 people spread across mechanical engineering roles, distribution, sales and administration activities.

Automation on tap

Flowflex Components’ capabilities are extremely impressive. Its production lines boast sophisticated, bespoke machinery

procured from leading Italian and Swiss machinery manufacturers.

Operations Director Dave Bowers high lighted the company’s high level of automation within its production: “In addition to our Kawasaki and Staubli robots, we’ve worked with Italian manufacturers to develop a complete automated assembly system for our compression fittings products . This brings together all the compo nents for assembly within a fully automated robot cell.

This eight-stage robotic process is one of the first that this manufacturer has made and delivered to the UK.

“That’s a big step forward for us because it’s a process that we were never able to automate before – it has always been semi-automatic and labour intensive,” said Mr Bowers. “Fully automating it has been quite a success story for us.”

Flowflex Components’ use of robotic processes extends to the decision to

insource its tooling needs, revealed Finance Director, Richard Wilcock.

“We installed a 5-axis miller in early 2020 and it’s been a key milestone in our development,” he said. “It allows us to produce a lot of our own tooling for our own machines and for customers as well, making us self-sufficient in some areas.”

Mr Bowers agreed: “Our engineering team has been empowered to use this system to put parts directly into production, sidestepping the costs and other hurdles that would normally have been involved with those processes when we were outsourcing it,” he noted. “That’s

another benefit of being a family business as it allows us to invest in this sort of machinery and conduct those processes without all of the red tape involved within big corporations.”

A key part of automation is data management built off a good ERP system. This has been provided by K3 Syspro, specialists in installation and development, as well as providing on-going support which is critical to managing and processing data to run the business efficiently.

In addition, Flowflex’s in-house IT team has used its skills to build bespoke management and reporting systems to control operations.

A pipeline in Dubai

Outside the UK, Flowflex Components has found particular success in the Middle East, centred on Dubai, UAE.

“In the early 2000s, we reached a critical level of business from the Middle East in which the volume and the complexity of the work we were doing there justified us setting up a distribution facility in Dubai,” explained Mr Wilcock. “From that centre, we’re also able to reach into several other countries in the region.”

The Dubai facility also has a dedicated sales team attached to it to ensure all clients in the region are fully supported. “The product ranges we sell into the Middle East are slightly different, so it requires a specialist approach to doing business there,” he continued.

“Our sales team in Dubai is very active and successful. They visit customers and provide a proactive presence to keep us ahead of the game. That personal presence and those relationships are critical to our success.”

Genuinely sustainable Flowflex Components has made sustainability a core focus in all aspects of its business and, as Mr Wilcock noted, that starts with its actual product range and manufacturing methods.

“Our products are inherently sustainable because, being brass, they are both fully reusable and recyclable,” he highlighted. “Also, all of the waste material – known as swarf – generated from our manufacturing process, is returned to our raw material suppliers where it is recycled into new raw material, ready to be used again.”

Another highlight is the company’s 376KWp solar PV installation recently installed on the factory, warehouse and office roofs. “Our solar panel installation produces around 15% of our annua l

elec tricity needs, saving us a substantial amount annually in electricity costs, and eliminating around 65 tonnes of CO 2 ,” Mr Wilcock added.

Flowflex Components is also actively reviewing all of its processes that utilise gas or electricity, finding and converting opportunities to reduce consumption which is critical given the current energy markets.

“We’re going through every internal process to establish how much energy we’re using and re-assessing how that process can be adapted or eliminated. We expect to achieve significant savings in energy consumption,” he revealed.

In closing, both men highlighted the quality of Flowflex Components products, the company’s heritage in the market, and the team’s product knowledge as major advantages in such a busy sector.

“Our strength is in our quality,” Mr Bowers emphasised. “We stand out for our quality. Added to that is our vast knowledge of this sector.” n