Forbes take to Twitter

Forbes Technologies have recently taken Twitter, in order to keep up to date with customers, suppliers and surrounding industries. Follow Forbes now @forbes_group, which can easily be done via the link at the top of this page, for the latest news and product information.

Forbes are in the process of installing their fourth CNC automated sheet butt fusion welding machine. This is required for use with the company’s recent £1.7 million investment in the Krah machine, used for the automated production of helically wound tanks in PE100 high density polyethylene, with capacities to 100m³.

The new butt fusion welding machine is capable of butt fusing sheet material up to 60mm thick, with widths up to 4 metres. This investment with help speed up the production and reduce costs of the helically spiral wound tanks, known as the HVT range http://www.forbesgroup.co.uk/products/hvt-range/

Due to increasing demand, Forbes sister company, The Pall Ring Company, has invested in the latest moulding machine technology, to increase the output of the popular AstraPAK media.

The new machine, installed earlier this month, is the latest BOY 55 tonne injection moulding machine which will increase outputs by up to 30%, due to the faster moulding process. Not only has the machine increased output, it has also reduced power consumption by as much as 35%. This improvement has ensured The Pall Ring Company can still maintain prices, which have seen very little increase since 2009, despite rises in material & energy costs.

The Pall Ring Company now run a total of 7 BOY moulding machines which have given excellent reliability through the years, running 24/7.

Forbes have commissioned Active Renewables of Evesham, Worcestershire to install 205kW output PV panels at their Crimplesham site.

The new installation will involve a total of 820 ground mounted solar panels. Forbes Group has a large energy demand from their injection moulding plant which runs 24/7, 365 days per year, manufacturing pall rings and packing media, and therefore the efficiency of solar energy production is a logical step forward.

Lee Forbes, Company Chairman, explains;

“This investment will not only significantly reduce our carbon footprint, with the rise in electricity costs and our high constant use of electricity, the payback time will be relatively short. The company is continually looking for ways in saving energy. An example of this approach is in the injection moulding shop, which has a clever automated control system to maintain the shop floor at a minimum of 20°C using the waste heat generated by the moulding process. Since the development of the injection moulding facility in 2006 we have not required any external hearing source such as gas, oil or electricity.”

Forbes Kelso manufacturing site in Scotland are also currently installing rainwater harvesting storage tanks to reduce their water consumption with ‘grey’ water being used for a variety of applications within the site. This is in addition to the company’s recycling policy, with all plastic waste and packing materials being separated and sent for recycling. Even broken pallets and scrap wood are given to local people for use in wood burners.

Read more about our processes here.

Forbes Technologies Ltd, UK’s largest custom plastic & composite tank manufacturer was faced with an extremely demanding application, where digestate is pasteurised from a large Mechanical Biological Treatment AD plant. The plant located in the south of England and processes feed stock derived from residual municipal waste and generates electricity.

All six tanks, manufactured in a dual composite of high heat resistant polypropylene & NPG isophthalic glassfibre laminate, have a working capacity of 40 cubic metres and are 2.5 metres diameter with an overall height of 10.4 metres including a conical base. The tank tops incorporated a steel support bridge for a large top mounted slow speed agitator with four one meter diameter blades with the shaft terminating in a foot step bearing in the base of the cone. To aid the agitation process three full height vertical standoff baffles are welded to the internal wall, split to allow for thermal expansion

One major requirement is thermal insulation to permit liquid digestate to enter the tank at 75 degrees Centigrade & to hold the temperature for a given period without any further heating being required.  The tank being constructed in thermoplastic glassfibre laminate assisted in the insulation. To maintain this temperature 100mm thick polyurethane insulation foam covered with a GRP laminate was added externally.

This very physically demanding duty demonstrates the robustness of composite tanks when designed correctly. The combined strength & insulation factors are a big plus point being manufactured throughout in composites.

One of the strengths of Forbes is the range of materials & types of constructions they are able to apply to the construction of tanks, vessels & towers.  The company has dedicated factories for specific types of manufacture including helically wound polyethylene tank up to capacities of 100 cubic metres; composite single & dual laminate tanks & towers in excess of 200 cubic metre capacity & free standing tanks in polypropylene & HDPE from a few litres to 100 cubic metres.

Unlike many plastic fabrication companies, this wide choice of materials & designs allow Forbes to select the correct material & design for your specific application.

Sales contact:  Des Dibley  +44 (0) 1366 389650   email: ddibley@forbesgroup.co.uk

Press contact: Melvyn Jupp +44 (0) 1366 389640  email: mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk

Forbes Technologies Ltd have completed their first HDPE (PE100) helically spiral wound tank of six, manufactured in their brand new facility which was opened in August. They are now working on a further 5 tanks to the same specification which are on the way to completion, for NXP Semiconductors, who manufacture a wide variety of semi conductor solutions.

Forbes invested £1.8 million in the new production facility which incorporates the latest high efficiency production methods for producing helically spiral wound tanks.The facility has enabled the automated production of tanks & towers up to 4 metres diameter and up to 100,000 litres in thermoplastics.

See our HVT range of helically spiral wound tanks.

Sales Contact: Des Dibley (01366 389650) ddibley@forbesgroup.co.uk

Press Contact: Melvyn Jupp (01366 389640) mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk

Industrial Chemical Limited has recently commissioned a new facility for the production of Electro Generated Sodium Hypochlorite at their site in Thurrock.

Industrial Chemicals chose Forbes for the supply of a number of process and storage vessels, also for an emergency scrubbing plant, with the total order value exceeding £ 1.5 m.

As part of Forbes supply were 20 off 150 m³ capacity product storage tanks measuring 4.1m diameter and 11.5m shell height – these tanks were produced in high specification vinylester resin glassfibre laminate which were fully ‘post cured’ to 90C in Forbes purpose built curing oven. This post cure is required to guarantee the tanks for their arduous duty and is a requirement of the resin suppliers to achieve the full design and chemical resistance capabilities of their resins.

In addition to the above were a further 30 off tanks ranging in capacity from  1 m³ to 129m³, fabricated in Thermoplastics, GRP & Dual Laminate construction (GRP tanks with a thermoplastic inner shell)

Forbes was also chosen to design and build the 3 stage emergency scrubbing plant required as part of the Environmental permission for the plant. Trial runs of the scrubbing system proved the process design by easily achieving their design conditions.

Forbes is the largest UK manufacturer of custom built tanks and other chemical plant in plastics materials.  These include freestanding tanks in polypropylene and HDPE up to 100,000 litres capacity & glassfibre reinforced plastics (GRP) incorporating polyester & vinylester resin laminates . The company has dedicated workshops which also include tanks and scrubbers in dual laminate composites with inner shells of polypropylene PVCu, PVDF and ECTFE.

Forbes can now offer the full range of materials of construction, with capacities up to 200,000 litres. There is no other company in the UK who can offer this range of materials & tank capacities.  This gives Forbes a major advantage being able to offer the most economical solution for your storage & processing needs.

Sales contact:  Martyn Hall  mhall@forbesgroup.co.uk  +44 (0) 1366 389615

Press contact: Melvyn Jupp  mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk  +44 (0) 1366 389640

On 6^th August, Michael Moore MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland opened the new production facility at Forbes Technologies Ltd in Kelso in The Scottish Borders.

Forbes is one of the UK’s largest producers of custom designed & built tanks in plastics & composite materials with capacities up to 200,000 litres. In response to an increased demand for their products, they have invested £1.8 million in the new production facility, which incorporates the latest high efficiency production methods. It is sited on 1.7 acre site alongside their already large production facility & incorporates lifting capacity for the production process of 32 tonnes.

The facility will enable the automated production of tanks & towers up to 4 metres diameter and up to 100,000 litres in thermoplastics. Forbes has already received a number of orders for the new process.  

During his visit, Mr Moore had a tour of the new facility with Chairman Lee Forbes and MD Melvyn Jupp.

Commenting, Mr Moore said:

“I was pleased to be able to open the new facility at Forbes today which will enable the firm to remain at the cutting edge of the plastics industry.

“The new facility will boost production and ensure that the company can respond to the increased demand for their products while continuing to provide secure, highly skilled jobs.

“I want to thank Lee Forbes and his team for inviting me to open the facility and I want to congratulate them on the success of this investment.” 

Chairman, Lee Forbes thanked Mr Moore for officially opening the new facility and said:

“We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our staff at Kelso, who have played a large part in our success, which has enabled the company to make this exciting investment. This additional production facility makes Forbes the only company in UK able to offer the complete range of tanks & other chemical plant in a variety of thermoplastics, GRP & dual laminate composite materials”.

Sales Contact: Des Dibley (01366 389650) ddibley@forbesgroup.co.uk

Press Contact: Melvyn Jupp (01366 389640) mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk

Forbes Technologies Ltd, the leading manufacturer of tanks, scrubbers & other chemical plant in thermoplastics & glass fibre composites are currently commissioning the latest automated production plant for large capacity tanks in thermoplastics. The major investment is good news for the Scottish Borders, increasing employment opportunities and securing existing jobs. This impressive facility will be officially opened by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon Michael Moore MP on 6th August. Forbes Technologies have already taken a number of substantial orders for their new helix spirally wound thermoplastic tanks, known as their HVT range.

Sales Contact: Des Dibley (01366 389650) ddibley@forbesgroup.co.uk

Press Contact: Melvyn Jupp (01366 389640) mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk

Kilfrost, the global leader in de/anti-icing products are gearing up ready for yet another harsh winter period with the purchase from Forbes of three new 60,000 litre capacity de-icer product storage tanks for their production plant in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. This latest batch of tanks will bring their finished product storage capacity to nearly half a million litres in eight GRP storage tanks. They also have in excess of one million litres storage in other tanks – ready for the harshest of winters!

Over the past few years, Kilfrost have purchased a number of other Forbes tanks which are used for a variety of raw ingredient storage, as well as processing purposes and of course lots of de-icer storage. The various tanks provided are manufactured using either Polypropylene material, dual laminates (GRP with polypropylene inner shell) or all GRP construction, manufactured by the ‘chop-hoop’ filament winding process – all designed to comply with the latest British Standards.

Managing Director of Forbes Melvyn Jupp commented, ‘we are delighted that Kilfrost continue to entrust us to deliver their varied tank requirements, although from a personal point of view I am hoping for a warmer winter this year’!

Forbes have also recently completed the commission of a new manufacturing plant for the production of large helix spiral wound thermoplastic tanks using both HDPE (PE100) & Polypropylene materials with capacities available up to 100’000 litres – ‘this will enhance and expand our already extensive manufacturing capabilities’  said Melvyn.

Sales Contact: Des Dibley (01366 389650), ddibley@forbesgroup.co.uk

Press Contact: Melvyn Jupp (01366 389640), mjupp@forbesgroup.co.uk