Valves are Top Priority

Welcome to Valve User magazine, which you may notice has had a slight re-design. We hope you like the improvements!

There is a particularly interesting article in this issue (see page xx) concerning a survey carried out on users of valves by a valve supplier. The survey outcomes are equally interesting, and emphasise once again that valves and related equipment remain a top priority for users and maintainers of process plant. The humble valve – whether it be a simple unit or an incredibly complex assembly of equipment - still provides a vitally important function and yet still presents a number of challenges to users, particularly to those with pressures on uptime, spares and/or replacement inventories. It underlines again why a reputable manufacturer/supplier combined with a robust valve management system is vital in these pressing times.

More interesting still is the emergence of a new threat to our industry – ‘carpet baggers’! There are manufacturing companies out there who – probably with some justification – are not doing so well in their native industries. They see the buoyancy in the customer-base for valves as an opportunity and, with little or no experience and only a modicum of theory, are buying their way into the marketplace with cheap, inferior products and it has to be said, a rather Cavalier attitude. One gentleman I spoke to freely admitted to ‘dabbling in valves.’ This can only end badly!

My advice to new and old valve users alike is to trust your instincts – if a valve price looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is. It’s probably going to be much cheaper in the long run to just walk away and talk to someone who actually knows what they are doing!

We hope you enjoy this issue!

Published: 11th August 2010