TWO years after building a new manufacturing facility in the Borders, tanks firm Forbes Technologies is investing again.
The company’s main manufacturing plant is at Kelso and to cope with increasing demand for its range of thermoplastics tanks, a £1.7m investment has been made in technology for the automated production of tanks and towers up to four metres diameter.
The helix winding process is said to be the latest and most efficient process available and the production equipment is currently being manufactured at the Krah plant in Germany for commissioning early in 2013. Meanwhile, construction of the new facility is well under way on a 1.8-acre site adjacent to the existing production plant.
Managing director Melvyn Jupp said: “Although we constructed a new tank manufacturing facility two years ago we have been struggling to keep up with demand. With the increase in the markets, particularly in exports and the water utilities, we have fast tracked this development.”
The latest equipment means that high quality tanks will be available with capacities up to 100,000 litres. All will be designed to BS EN 12573 and the more stringent German standard DVS 2205. Construction material will include high density polyethylene (HDPE) and copolymer polypropylene.
Forbes currently manufactures tanks in dual laminate composites incorporating polypropylene and PVCu structurally reinforced with glass fibre laminates up to 200,000 litres. Recent installations have included around 25 tanks, the majority being over 150,000 litres capacity, for storing and processing sodium hypochlorite, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hydroxide. Exports have included tanks to Russia and scrubbing towers to China of 2.8 metres diameter and 30 metres high in E-CTFE composite materials.
“This latest exciting development is another major step forward in meeting the demands of our already well established markets,” said Jupp. “The company is in a fortunate position in being able to invest to increase output, particularly during a time of a depressed economy.”
Image – The Krah helix winding plant can produce tanks up to four metres in diameter
