Emerging life sciences, and health and wellness product manufacturers must carefully plan budget and start-up costs to launch their products. Many of these entrepreneurs begin production with a general use vessel.
A stainless general use vessel has a lower entry price. Depending on the process and the demand for the product, general-use vessels may serve a small manufacturer very well for many years. Dispensing and storage vessels, vacuum, and low-pressure vessels are common examples of general use applications.
However, when demand outpaces production, the manufacturer may require a vessel that is customized for the processing needs. Here is a case story of a manufacturer that switched from a general use to a custom ASME pressure vessel:
BEFORE: A fast-growing botanical extraction processor was unable to produce the quantity of product needed to fulfill demand. Their process involved an imported general use vessel that was placed in a rudimentary ice bath for temperature control. This process resulted in waste of non-consistent product, constant staffing, and manual intervention to monitor and adjust.
AFTER: Apache's small vessel team provided an ASME processing vessel that completely replaced their batch process. The new vessel was designed with a thermal heat jacket that heated and cooled the product to the exact temperature required for the extraction process. The ASME vessel was jacketed with tri-clamp ferrules and included a site glass and high-pressure sanitary fittings. The vessel has a pickle passivated finish that provides ease of sanitation between batches.
While the price point for a custom manufactured vessel was higher than a general use tank, the ability to quadruple production off-set the cost of the vessel and resulted in a quick return on investment. Apache's custom vessel runs continuously day and night; it eliminated product waste and removed employee monitoring and intervention.
Visit standard vessels or visit custom ASME vessels for more information!
The steel material used in manufacturing commercial original equipment must fit the performance, pricing, delivery time, and quality requirements for the end-user. Industrial equipment suppliers, like Apache, must leverage relationships with mills and partnering suppliers to manage the constantly changing market. Part of the purchasing program for the stainless material program at Apache, focuses on partnering with quality domestic and foreign suppliers.
Stainless sheet and plate are produced in the United States, which is the majority of Apache’s base material for tanks, vessels and food processing equipment. Also, most Hastelloy and other high-alloy performance metal materials are made in the US. Pipes and fittings on the other hand are primarily from foreign suppliers since domestically there is not enough availability for demand.
Depending on the political climate, import tariffs affect the cost and availability of steel material from China and other countries. Some industries require products from foreign markets that may be a specific sheet, size, and material type, but those industries will pay a premium for it and may be subjected to extended delivery times.
One of the benefits to being a significant user of stainless steel is the relationships with stainless producers and distributors. Apache’s steel venders allocate an allotment of material to Apache, which affords relatively short transactions for supply. When we have a line on repetitive need, we initiate inventory strategies to keep our supply as fluid as possible. Many other components and materials are affected by timing and supply; Apache understands lead times and availability and also leverages relationships to manage delivery to provide the best timing possible.
Our suppliers understand our needs and hold a higher level of steel quality. The relationship and partnership with our steel vendors has strengthened our expectations, with some partnerships lasting up to 45 years when Apache was founded.
Apache uses more than 2000 tons of stainless and high alloy per year. We are in the business of heavy gauge commercial manufacturing of custom equipment for high-compliance industries. Our ability to manage domestic and foreign material as well as price, timing and quality of all material and components is resolved for serving over 100 industries represented by our industrial and commercial processing customers.
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