Why Retrofit3D is delivering sustainability
IMI is at the forefront of valve innovation using additive manufacturing, creating opportunities for customers, new engineers and investors
If you’re a power plant manager with 1,100°F steam circulating through a boiler feed pump, the last thing you want is a faulty valve, potentially putting workers and customer power supply at risk. A major energy provider and IMI Critical Engineering customer in Texas, USA, was experiencing just this with a competitor’s control valve. The valve needed frequent maintenance and was so noisy the customer had resorted at one point to cementing it in to stop it vibrating – which hadn’t worked.
“Valve failure can bring a plant down, which would mean a power blackout,” says Uzair Ahmed, Senior Product Development Engineer at IMI Critical Engineering in southern California. The customer was fed up with excessive downtime and knew that IMI Critical Engineering’s valves had an excellent record at the plant. So it asked the company (a division of IMI plc) to recommend a long-term solution.
“We had them send us one of their competitor-brand valves, we retrofitted a new IMI part and sent it back within eight weeks, and now they’re having no vibration issues whatsoever,” Uzair says.
Why IMI does retrofit better than anyone
IMI Critical Engineering has decades of expertise in valve design and flow control for extreme operating conditions. It invented what’s known as multistage path technology – an intricate system of many right-angle turns that slows the flow within a valve trim in controlled pressure letdown stages to reduce the risk of damage.
Advances in 3D printing of metal have made it possible to custom engineer tortuous multistage paths that couldn’t be achieved using traditional machining methods. The process – aka additive manufacturing – gives much more flexibility than having to rely on standard parts. Working with a customer to solve a problem, an IMI design engineer can make a bespoke part to fit perfectly within an existing competitor-brand valve body, optimising performance and reducing the risk of damage in future.
Installing the new part is simple: “This is a drop-in replacement for our customers,” says Jonathan Davis, Senior Manager, Inside Sales, “So the work can be done as part of the customer’s regular maintenance schedule, with no need for outages.”
Sustainability in action
Traditionally, parts would be cut from nickel alloy sheet, generating much scrap in the process. With 3D printing using powdered metal there’s very little waste. “We’re reducing our carbon footprint with these products in the manufacturing process, as we’re using less material,” says Jonathan.
With the improved efficiency and performance from a valve upgrade, customers can keep using their existing equipment. This keeps total cost of ownership down for them and is a better, more sustainable, use of resources.
Putting the customer first
The Retrofit3D approach came out of IMI’s Growth Hub, the company’s ‘innovation engine’, which has a start-up mindset and a customer-first, purpose-driven strategy.
“Historically it’s been product first: ‘Hey, Mr Customer! Would you like to buy…?’ Now it’s much more about sitting down with them and understanding their pain points,” says Chris Barnhill, who heads up the Growth Hub for the Americas region of IMI Critical Engineering. “It’s more of a two-way conversation, rather than a selling relationship, that helps customers grow and be successful and that’s how we’re going to grow and be successful as well.”
Retrofit3D presents opportunities for investors and for the business, says Kevin McKown, Regional President, Americas: “The organisation is focused on delivering value for today, and for tomorrow. Solving customer problems generates many sales in the future. Although we’re currently focused on changing competitors’ valve trims, there’s a very large market and a big future for additive manufacturing in the industrial world.”
Working with the best
IMI’s growth mindset makes it a place where talented people flourish. “When I first started at IMI, I was doing development work with additive manufacturing, which eventually became the basis for Retrofit3D and how we were able to provide customers with solutions so quickly,” says Uzair, who has been at IMI for five years. “The company culture is great. No one is held back in any way. For me, IMI is more than just a place to work. Many of my colleagues have become like a second family to me.”
As a student, design engineer Jordan Dyer interned for a year and was offered a fulltime position after he graduated. “For any new engineers wanting to get into additive manufacturing, IMI provides great opportunities because we’re taking it to the next level,” he says.
Breakthrough engineering
“I think 3D printing is going to be the future of manufacturing in the next couple of decades. IMI being in the forefront is definitely breakthrough engineering,” says Jordan, who has been inspired by role models within the company: “I’ve developed friendships inside of work that I think will last me throughout my career.”
Jonathan talks about IMI’s flexibility and openness and says: “We have people who have worked at IMI for over 40 years. For me, that’s testament to the company’s culture, the career progression and the opportunities that you’ll receive. It’s comforting to know that there’s a long career ahead of me at IMI and I look forward to what’s next.”
Putting words into action
Coming up with solutions to customer problems, and doing things better in the process, is what drives IMI as a business.
“I think IMI is leading the way in our quest for a better world in our industry,” says Kevin. “We’re very focused on it, everything from reusing materials to finding new energy sources, we have a lot of goals and actions around not only talking about a better world but also making it a better world.”