INDUSTRY NEWS
MecWash Systems serves the American engineering sector
MecWash Systems services numerous manufacturing and engineering companies around the globe from its flagship headquarters in the UK . In addition , MecWash has a range of national distributors and it also has dedicated company operations in two key markets , North America and China , each with its own distributor networks .
Bill Westbrook is the operations manager for MecWash Systems in North America . He joined the company in 2011 , having previously worked for a MecWash distributor in Ohio . Bill oversees all activities related to sales , marketing , customer service , distributor relations , machine maintenance , and commissioning of MecWash machines in the United States and Canada .
We caught up with Bill to find out more about how MecWash serves the innovative manufacturing sector in the USA .
What ’ s the landscape of engineering and manufacturing in the area you cover ?
There are five industries that we focus on predominantly : hydraulics , medical and dental , aerospace , automotive , and precision engineering . We find that each area of the country has a certain focus in machining .
Across New England , New York , and Pennsylvania , the customer base is primarily aerospace intermixed with medical and scientific manufacturing . Our customers in Illinois , Iowa , Wisconsin and Minnesota are hydraulics concerns , many doing large valve machining and assembly . Of course , we have automotive customers in Michigan , Indiana , and Ohio . In the Rockies , we have hydraulics and medical customers . In the Northwest , we serve the largest dental equipment manufacturer in the world .
How have the cleaning requirements changed over the last ten years ?
Cleanliness requirements are getting tighter . Ten years ago , a company might often have needed to clean and dry parts to a visually clean standard . Now , many companies have exacting cleanliness requirements dictated by maximum particulate size and / or gravimetric weight gain . The maximum particulate size can refer to a single callout , say maximum 500 microns in many hydraulics applications . Or , it may include a maximum number of particles inside of defined micron classes , say maximum 100 particles in the Class of 50-100 microns , 50 particles in the Class of 101-200 microns , and so on . Our customers tend to be companies that manufacture high value parts , whereby scrapping a part because of a cleanliness failure becomes very expensive .
How would you describe the MecWash difference when it comes to cleaning standards ?
Most customers need their parts to look immaculate . These same parts can be challenging to clean when they have many drilled passages , blind holes , and inner diameters that are very small . It can be difficult to rid a part of contamination when inner diameters are very tight and blind holes are long .
We manufacture high-performance , rotational aqueous cleaning systems and aqueous cleaning chemical under the MecWash name . Whereas 20 years ago , some manufacturers might have been sceptical about the power of aqueous cleaning to remove cutting oil and other oil-based contaminants off complicated parts , today , MecWash has devised numerous methods to clean complex parts to the highest cleanliness standards . Furthermore , we are able to strip waste from the wash and rinse waters and recycle these fluids , so that our cleaning methods are environmentally sound and our cleaning
systems inexpensive to operate year in and year out . The same can ’ t be said for our solvent-based competitors .
How does a typical week flow for you in the US ?
In 2020 , during the pandemic , my day-today was pretty free flowing . I did continue to travel approximately one week per month to visit with existing customers , but new business opportunities were confined to Zoom , phone calls and emails , like many people ’ s businesses . There was so much uncertainty .
Now in 2021 , business is really picking up again . New customers are making enquiries , existing customers are expanding their business lines and adding more MecWash machines . It ’ s an exciting time with manufacturing on the rise , so much more so after undergoing a year like the last one .
Telephone : + 44 ( 0 ) 1684 271600 Email : enquire @ MecWash . co . uk Visit : www . mecwash . co . uk
20 SEPTEMBER 2021 read online : www . surfaceworld . com