ERIKS Hose Technology centre gets £35k upgrade

The Technology Centre is also recruiting to fulfill new business demand, enabled by the upgrade. The reconfiguration, within the original footprint of the building, has created more space for racking and therefore, EHT is in a far better position to support its expanding customer base.

EHT now holds more stock to support its direct and large strategic customers who typically have demands for same-day or next-day delivery for custom-flexible hose assemblies.

As Guy comments, “We can now manufacture just about any flexible hose assembly imaginable. Our capabilities have evolved from just metallic and hydraulic hoses, and now include a comprehensive industrial hose solution. Phase 2 of the development, planned for 2024, will see further enhancements to our technical capabilities and product offering, which will include offices, meeting rooms, a viewing area for customers, two batch production lines and a semi-clean room environment.”

As a result of the increased capacity, EHT is looking to recruit more staff. “Firstly, we need to recruit more welders and assemblers to join our existing team and we will also be looking to recruit another hose tester and Applications Engineer” says Guy, “We also have our first ever engineering apprentice joining us this year, and she’s going to getexperience of all aspects of the business when she joins. We recruited her at our first engineering apprentice open day, plus we were fortunate enough to identify another outstanding candidate who subsequently joined the team as a hose tester.”

One of the original motivations for the reorganisation was to improve health and safety and to separate man from machines or more specifically man from forklifts. The reorganisation means that EHT now has a distinct warehousing section and a distinct production section whereas previously they were intermixed.

This meant that previously forklifts and people were in close proximity and there was lots of crossing traffic. The new layout removes these potential problem areas and results in a faster, slicker operation.

As well as working with many quality hose manufacturers ERIKS also has three ‘own’ brands – FLEXION, LMC, and Goodall.

EHT in Northampton is nine years old and its primary strength is metallic hoses. “As far as hoses go, they are about as sexy as you can get.” says Guy, “Despite the fact that hoses are seen as a simple commodity in reality they are a critical product, and each order is a bespoke one.” Metallic hose currently represents about two-thirds of EHT’s business through both direct servicing of OEMs and through the ERIKS branch network.

The EHT also has design capability and works with hydraulic hose and industrial hose. Industrial hose is a highly skilled area and the EHT is now moving into more specialized areas with PTFE type hoses, focusing on hygienic applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food sectors.

Reflecting on the project and looking to the future Guy Boomer says, “Because of this upgrade to the facility we have set the groundwork for growth. We focus on an optimised engineered solution and work with our customers to offer them the benefit of our expertise and experience. This ensures that their systems operate as reliably as possible and that the solution we give them is fit for purpose.”