News

Crane Building Services & Utilities provides extensive technical training to students, engineers and professionals in the HVAC industry. The Applied Technology undergraduates at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) are the most recent to benefit from the Company’s expertise on commissioning heating and chilled water systems.

In November 2011, Viking Johnson together with it’s Belarusian distributor, Setcom, won the acclaimed ‘Best Building Product of the Year’ in Belarus for it’s Next Generation UltraGrip range. The range was entered into the ‘Pipeline Element’ category which included tough competition for other established industry suppliers. See our video of the ceremony below.

Viking Johnson had a great response from its exhibition at Aquatech 2011 at the RAI, Amsterdam. From 1st to 4th November, the exhibition stand was manned by the European sales force, who successfully developed relationships with potential and existing customers.

From 1st to 4th of November, Rilsan® fine powders are exhibiting jointly with Viking Johnson (stand 317, Hall 1) at Aquatech, the world's leading trade exhibition on process, drinking and waste water technology.

Viking Johnson has supplied it’s bolted joints, accredited to AWWA C-219, to Degremont India Ltd. for use on the new drinking water treatment plant at Bhandup, on the outskirts of Mumbai City. The plant is part of the largest water distribution project in India which aims to provide a constant supply of water throughout Mumbai.

Thanks to everyone for attending the Viking Johnson conference - 59 countries were represented! Please find below a slide show of images which we hope you will enjoy.

Viking Johnson will supply two large diameter couplings to repair the catastrophic mains burst on Liverpool Road in Huyton, Merseyside. The 40” inch diameter water main burst on the 18th July, sending huge plumes of water into the air up to 8 metres high, causing significant flooding. Many homes were evacuated and a primary school closed as the fire service pumped water and the water utility sought to get the mains under control. The water main has now been isolated and water supplies rerouted through other pipework in the area until the repair has been made.

WASK water equipment is achieving “preferred product” status with the Water Utilities including Severn Trent and South East Water. The WASK Hydrant Wizard, in particular, is proving invaluable to the water distribution network as it allows leaking or damaged hydrants to be replaced or fixed without interrupting water supply to customers or disturbing sediment within the pipes.

Over the last decade, Crane Ltd. has evolved into Crane Building Services & Utilities, through the acquisition of several brands serving the building services, water and gas markets. These brands have historically been sold independently, but Crane BS&U has now combined them to offer a comprehensive industrial package.

Viking Johnson will be exhibiting at this year’s AquaTech exhibition at the RAI, Amsterdam, from 1st to 4th November. The exhibition is the world’s leading trade exhibition for process, drinking and wastewater and attracts professionals from all over the world.

In the world of FMCG, fads come and go all the time. The commissioning industry is less exaggerated but changes to practices are still being experienced. When asked will we see an end to proportional balancing, my initial thoughts were ‘not in my lifetime’, but perhaps this is tempting fate?

Viking Johnson has embarked on a multi-million pound investment in its Large Products Factory at Hitchin, with the aim of enhancing its business model to offer a world-class service. Viking Johnson is a leading brand of Crane Building Services & Utilities and manufactures pipe connections, repair and flow control products for the water & wastewater industry.

For the past six years, Hattersley Hook-Up units and commissioning valves have been heating and cooling the 32,000 seat Ricoh Arena that is home to Coventry FC. The site also comprises an exhibition hall, a hotel, a leisure club, a casino, and one of the UKs largest Tesco Extra supermarkets.

Phase 3 of Kuwait's largest shopping destination is underway and consists of more than 86,000 square metres of retail space. The project will be completed in 2012. Located in the Al Rai district of Kuwait City, the mall has been designed by London & Los Angeles offices of Gensler in conjunction with Kuwait developers, Mabanee.

A range of isolating valves has been specified for installation within the fancoils of Henrietta House, a prestigious office development in London’s West End. The building is undergoing refurbishment before CB Richard Ellis of London relocates its headquarters to the office in May 2011.

Valves from Crane Fluid Systems have been installed in the heating and air conditioning system of a new, floating visitors centre at Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve, situated near Preston. The visitor centre is due to be opened in Spring 2011.

Viking Johnson UltraGrip has been supplied, via Kutotec, its distributor in Japan, to repair water mains damaged in the recent catastrophe. Earlier this month, the Japanese pipework system was crippled by a huge earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, followed by the subsequent tsunami that swept much of the infrastructure away in NE Japan. UltraGrip, in sizes varying from DN50 to DN300, has been specified for repair work, including the critically important reconnection of water supplies needed to irrigate the rice fields.

Commissioning valve units, strainers and associated products from Crane Fluid Systems (http://www.cranefs.com) have been installed at the commissary recently built for Domino’s Pizza Group, the leading pizza delivery company in the UK and Ireland, at West Ashland, Milton Keynes.

A Viking Johnson Distributor, Hygrade, based in New Zealand has been working closely with Christchurch City Council and City Care in restoring water supplies and repairing the sewer system in the Canterbury area, on South Island, after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the area in February.

Viking Johnson, a leading water utilities brand of Crane Building Services & Utilities, has won the contract to supply Scottish Water with mechanical couplings & flange adaptors and repair solutions for use on both clean and dirty water. The two companies have worked together for over fifteen years and enjoy a good working relationship.

Viking Johnson is a world leader in the manufacture and supply of couplings, flange adaptors and pipe repair solutions for the international water, wastewater and gas markets. The Company manufactures steel sleeves and end rings, on its 14 acre manufacturing facility in Hitchin, for a wide range of dedicated and wide tolerance couplings. These products have a design life of 50 years and will form a crucial part of a distribution network. To ensure the future integrity of a pipeline, it is vitally important that all welds are structurally sound and dimensionally stable.

The volatility of the commodity markets continued into the 1st quarter 2011 and shows no signs of abating. The LME copper price for 2011 YTD is 12% higher than the average 4th qtr 2010. The LME copper rate surpassed the $10,000 per tonne mark for the first time during February but has since fallen back to around the $9600 per tonne level.

Viking Johnson, a leading utilities brand of Crane Building Services & Utilities, has entered an agreement with AIG Industrial Group Ltd., to supply VJ products in China.

The Crane Philanthropic Funds has provided grants, totaling more than £26,000, to support a number of local charities and not-for-profit organisations. Every year, charities are nominated by employees of Crane Building Services & Utilities. They are then reviewed and those with particular affiliation with staff or their families are selected.

Viking Johnson, a leading water utilities brand of Crane Building Services & Utilities, will exhibit at Aquatech 2011 in Mumbai, India from 2- 4 March. Viking Johnson will show its extensive range of mechanical couplings and flange adaptors, repair products and flow control solutions including its new and award-winning product launches from 2010; Remote EasiRange and Next Generation UltraGrip.

WASK & Sperryn, gas utility brands of Crane Building Services & Utilities, are attending Gastech, at RAI Amsterdam from 21st to 24th March. Both brands will feature on Stand B140 with the SBGI (www.sbgi.org.uk), the trade association for the UK onshore gas industry.

Viking Johnson has a 14 acre manufacturing facility based in the UK at Hitchin. A skilled and experienced workforce produces a range of pipe connections as well as repair and flow control products - more than 7,000 product lines are manufactured from raw materials, through fabrication, coating and product finishing.

Crane Fluid Systems will supply a range of valves for Phase 3 of 'The Avenues' based in Kuwait.

Highlighting Lean At An Inflection Point?