Romtec Utilities operates our own metal fabrication shop at our manufacturing facilities. Owning and operating our own metal shop provides our customers and our pumping systems with many different advantages. The most common advantage is lower costs for metal components on pump stations, but there are also advantages related to our speed of manufacturing and our ability to fabricate custom components. Let’s take a look at how these advantages can benefit your pump station project.
There can be a lot of costs associated with metal fabrication for pumping systems. These costs can cover a wide range of design and supply considerations from skid-mounted systems to control shelters and shade structures. Romtec Utilities can manufacture most metal components in-house, reducing the need for a separate component vendor. Manufacturing components at our facility allows us to pass on these savings directly to our customers for all types of metal work.
The ability to manufacture these components at our manufacturing facility also provides the benefit of using our engineering expertise during the manufacturing process. Pump stations are sophisticated pieces of technology that can vary dramatically in functionality with small changes. Often times, experience in the fabrication process of metal components can lead to improvements in the design world. By having engineers and metal fabricators both onsite, new ideas can be discussed as to how to save materials and improve the functionality of a system. This type of innovation is something that is always going on at Romtec Utilities.
This type of communication also improves the speed with which we can fabricate metal components. If there are questions about a drawing or material, the answer is 50 yards away and not 50 miles. On one recent project, metal components were manufactured for 27 separate pumping systems in as many days. Working with deadlines that tight for so many systems would not have been possible without our own metal fabrication shop. Additionally, doing tasks like drilling penetrations, mounting hatches, and fitting handrails and control mounts require a lot of precision. Doing this work onsite greatly reduces the potential for mistakes and delays.
Some pumping systems require a special touch to solve unique problems, and using our metal shop has allowed Romtec Utilities to resolve many issues for our customers that prevent future problems. In most applications, the custom metal work is used to fabricate mounts for the control panel. On each system, mounting the controls is unique to the specific panel that is used. This requires custom brackets and mounting hardware on most new pumping systems. This type of work also extends into the valve vault, meter vault, wet well, and above grade structures. Romtec Utilities has the ability to fabricate the specific metal hardware needed for each pumping system no matter how custom it is.
Over the years, Romtec Utilities has developed many innovations related to the installation and functionality of our pumping systems. Operating our own metal shop directly relates to our ability to extend these advantages to our customers. With Romtec Utilities, our expertise is not only in mechanical, structural, and electrical engineering but also in the fabrication of these components and systems.