COVER STORY: CDI PRODUCTS
win a project, all they need is the seals and to test before shipping their valves. Other times the OEM may have to build the whole valve once a project is won. That process typically takes a few months, which was the case with this seal; it gave us the time to conduct additional testing, and our customers really appreciate that,” Hedger detailed.
Oftentimes, the end user will approach CDI’ s customer with a particular project that has an explicit completion date. CDI becomes involved and does everything to ensure its customers are delivering their product to the end user on time. The company also helps by providing seals that have undergone pre-testing, which avoids potential delays that can extend a project’ s timeline. Having inhouse testing capabilities puts CDI at an advantage and allows its customers( the OEM) to meet their own customer’ s( the end user) expectations.
“ A customer developing an entire new valve requires new sealing apparatus that must work with that valve because it is a custom innovation. We might also have customers that are on the maintenance, repair, and operations( MRO) side that are just looking to replace seals for existing equipment, and so the turnaround time must be a lot faster. The timeline varies by industry, equipment, and application. So, dexterity is a necessity,” said Schoeffler. always progressing. It gives us the ability to present seals to a customer for testing with a higher degree of confidence in the seal’ s performance; we make test fixtures that simulate or approximate the customer ' s equipment since we do not have the full equipment ourselves,” explained Hedger.“ Whenever we deliver their seal, our customer is installing it in their complete equipment. This is where we see if all our hard work, design, and testing paid off. This is the moment when we learn if we fully captured all the criteria for the application. Whenever we get the news from our customer stating that the seal passed, we get extremely excited. Our hard work indeed paid off.”
Adaptability to Timelines
CDI’ s initial project kickoff does not last very long before moving through its floating phase. The company speaks with its customers’ engineers to fully comprehend the project’ s scope and criteria, such as minimum and maximum temperatures, the maximum pressure, and the number of mechanical cycles the valve will undergo. It then establishes the more concrete details of the project’ s design like the gland dimensions where the seals will reside, tolerances, and surface finishes. The company must study all aspects of its customer’ s design to determine how the equipment operates and whether modifications are needed to optimize seal performance.“ We do all the design reviews, design presentation, and costing. The customer’ s project timeline determines how long we have allocated to perform testing. For example, the ISO 15848-1 test with 20,000 mechanical cycles can take one month or longer to complete depending on the speed of the valve’ s actuation. Testing on this particular seal lasted a few months, but timelines do vary from project to project. There are projects where a customer may have their equipment already manufactured, so whenever they
Accepting All Challenges
CDI’ s main challenge is the test itself. The company wants to ensure it is providing a solution that fulfills its customers’ requirements and keeps the bad fluids at bay so they do not escape into the environment.“ We often have customers approach us in the middle of a project when seals from another supplier are experiencing performance issues. In this scenario, we draw upon our prior experiences and knowledge, integrating our design philosophies to ensure that our seals are compatible with existing hardware, while also developing sealing solutions that are optimized for extreme conditions,” said Ward.
“ We like the challenges and the hurdles. It is a mindset that pervades the entire company. When people bring us something that does not work for them, we come together to find a way to overcome the obstacle and make it work, and at the end, we say,‘ That was an adventure!’” added Schoeffler.“ Our customers’ wins are our wins. When our customers succeed, we feel their success because we feel like we are part of their company. Every time they say‘ yes’ to working with us, we become a part of their team – every single time. We take that commitment very seriously.”
CDI is rightfully proud of the business it has built. Its focus is and will continue to be driven by a philosophy that enforces environmental responsibility and supports its customers.“ The whole reason you get into engineering is because you want to solve problems. The more challenging the problem, the more satisfying it feels when you find and share the solution,” Ward concluded.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the profiled company and may not reflect the position of Fugitive Emissions Journal.
JUNE 2025 • FUGITIVE EMISSIONS JOURNAL 9