Posted to News on 24th Jun 2013, 00:00
Drive hire service set to take off
Control and automation specialist SoftStart UK has built a fleet of variable speed drive control cabinets that it is making available for hire, to address a growing need across many sectors of industry.
>Managing director Stuart Harvey says that in recent times there has been an increasing demand for prompt solutions to immediate situations. "We have always been able to respond quickly to technical enquiries, but during a recent bout of extreme weather our phones were red hot with calls from water pumping stations needing to step up their capacity and pump companies trying to cope with major flood incidents," he explains. "With our weather patterns looking to become increasingly volatile, we began to think that having some panels ready and waiting would be a good idea."
>Some further thought identified other potential hirers. The most obvious is the breakdown scenario, where critical plant must be brought back online as soon as possible. A small step on from this is scheduled maintenance of a hard-working plant, where hiring in a variable speed drive unit will enable production to be maintained while control panels are out of service. They can also be used for evaluation purposes.
>Further there are many possibilities with conveying and materials handling, air conditioning, ventilation and air handling, and non-emergency aspects of the water industry. "The response from the market has been very encouraging," says Harvey.
>
