Tomoe Tritec

TOMOE TRITEC ARE SEATING SNUGLY TO SEAL PRODUCTION TARGETS

Tomoe Tritec is a renowned manufacturer of triple offset, metal seated butterfly valves for use in the oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries. Their products are used in a variety of demanding applications, including seawater and cryogenics. This rapidly growing company is a model for balancing technology with investment to provide world-leading products.

Tomoe’s Newport operation specialises in the design and production of triple offset, metal seated butterfly valves, producing valves from 2 up to 60 inches in diameter. The sealing components, which are elliptical in shape, have to be produced consistently and precisely.

In an attempt to achieve a ‘right first time’ process, Tomoe’s management identified the need to improve the capability of its measurement process. Traditional methods were found to be not capable of supplying data to facilitate consistent batch production.

“We were looking for a measurement system that would give us accurate repeatable data” says Jon Powell, Operations Director at the plant, “time was being wasted because we couldn’t rely on the information being collected and this affected our products’ performance and consequently the growth demands of the company”. He goes on “we were having to reset our final assemblies to meet the valves performance criteria”.

Tomoe evaluated a number of different machines but selected the OGP SmartScope Flash 700. “We were impressed with the SmartScopes versatility, accuracy and ease of use” adds Jon, “we expected to have to purchase two machines to meet our requirements, but the SmartScopes multi-probe capability meant we could get both probe technologies on one machine, saving money on the capital purchase and in the cost of ownership”.

Tomoe uses a number of different materials in component manufacture. These include stainless steel, aluminum bronze, titanium, graphite and super duplex.
Vision measurement is used for speed on the majority of components but in some cases the inbuilt probe facility is used where three dimensional results are required, such as the measurement of the elliptical seating face on the seal side wall. A special table-top fixture, marked out for the various components, was provided by OGP and serves to accommodate rings of up to 640mm in diameter, though larger components can be measured in two parts using OGP's standard software.

The SmartScope is also used for machine setup, its intuitive software prints out offset coordinates that can be programmed into the machining operations. In general, Tomoe check ‘first-offs’ and then every fifth part to maximize product confidence. This places a great reliance on the SmartScope and its speed of operation has impressed.

"Moving to an automated measurement process can cause problems," continues Jon Powell, "but the OGP machine is very quick so we can get important information without delaying production. This gives us the assurance that components are within tolerance before any expensive rejects are produced and means the valve passes performance testing without engineering attention”.

Tomoe’s staff have been impressed by OGP’s support services, "We knew the SmartScope would meet our requirements” concludes Powell, but we had to be sure the backup and support was equally reliable, “OGP have always met our expectations, their support services are first class."