Situation

Is the 11th hour nigh? If you’re in dire need of some rubber assistance, you can lean on us, we're the safety net you’re looking for and we’re here to help you in any way we can. It’s an ethos that has been engrained into our very core, to help anyone who truly needs it. Our customer follows the same ethos and are all about giving back to the environment and to society. 

In this “Case in Point” we put our problem-solving skills to the test going out of our way to help a charity dedicated to keeping our UK waterways all over the UK safe and clean. This is such a worthy cause, and we are incredibly honoured to be involved with an organisation that does so much for so little in return. 

This organisation has been active nationwide for over 10 years, and they have devoted their time into keeping a 200-year-old network of waterways spanning 2000 miles, alive and well. We are more than happy to help those that are protecting ecosystems, enriching lives, and doing their best reverse the damage that has been caused by negligible parties.

Problem

The fund reached out to us when they experienced an issue sourcing fendering for a dock that required their attention. They were initially looking for wedge-shaped wooden fenders to be installed to a lock, but the supplier’s lead times were excessive to say the least with an estimate of 7 weeks to manufacture and ship. Their deadline was looming over them like a dark cloud, and they needed to find an alternative. We welcomed the trust with open arms and upon hearing about their dilemma, we offered our new friends a solution. 

Unlike timber fenders, our solution will not rot and can absorb heavy impacts from vessels and static objects. Our hard-wearing, chemically resistant and incredibly durable EPDM rubber can withstand and function at 100% in marine environments. Due to the fender size, the rubber wedge extrusion would need to be a bespoke one which enabled us to showcase our machine tooling expertise. 

We then declared to our customer that the tooling, extrusion and fabrication of the dock fenders would take around 30 days, a full 3 weeks less than the woodworkers. Expecting a similar time as the previous enquiry, the organisation was taken aback by our responsiveness to solve their problem. Not only that but, they were very happy with our willingness to work with their timeframes. Time was of the essence, so we sent a quote for their fender design which included tooling, extrusion and fabrication. 

Solution

Our hardworking team of rubber engineers started by machine tooling the rubber template in accordance with the dimensions and measurements provided by the trust. We developed the rubber fenders using our high-quality EPDM rubber material and loaded it into the extruder. The four dock fenders were extruded and cut to the correct length before being prepped for vulcanisation. 

Once the dock fenders were cured, we removed them from the autoclave and left them to cool. We then drilled holes in the fenders so they could be easily installed onto the docks. Next, we hollowed out the drill holes, so they looked clean and professional. The fenders were then checked over and received the seal of approval at quality control. 

They were then shipped to the river trust within the timeframe they set us. Our customer was delighted with the finished products and were quick to thank us for a job well done. The charity also showed an interest in some of our other products and services so all we can say for now is, watch this space. There could be more to follow.