Alcomex

Tag Archive: partner

1. Word from a client: Eurofast® Adjustable Screw

   25/06/2019 14:12 Comments Off on Word from a client: Eurofast® Adjustable Screw

   Eurofast® has been the specialist in high-quality fixing systems for both flat roofs and cladding for over 40 years. They started in the Netherlands as a family business and have since grown to become an international company that is present in over 25 European countries. Eurofast® offers solutions for various flat roofs and cladding systems and focuses on the development, production and distribution of the fixing systems intended for this.

   

   The challenge

   These days, every roof has an insulation layer, and with many roofs, this insulation is in a sloped position that requires fasteners of various lengths to secure. For instance, the insulation later may be 10 centimetres at the start of the roof, but 25 centimetres at the end. Eurofast® was faced with the challenge of developing a type of fasteners for roofs that is suitable for sloped insulation in concrete surfaces.

   Alcomex as a solution-oriented partner

   The solution that was developed for this challenge is the ‘adjustable screw’: Eurofast® Adjustable Screw (EAS) that can be fastened at varying lengths. This screw was partly created thanks to the unique spring product that Alcomex has provided and thinking along during the development phase of the collaboration. By thinking about the spring configuration, the required forces and the installation space from the start of a project, we are able to optimally utilise our experience and knowledge.

   

   Eurofast® on Alcomex

   “We have been working with Alcomex for almost a year now, and we consider them to be a helpful organisation that proactively thinks towards solutions. Even when we have to take the project back to the drawing board several times in the early stages, we worked it out together.”

2. Market leader through research & development – part 3

   20/05/2018 11:18 Comments Off on Market leader through research & development – part 3

   

   
   

   If only technology was that simple!

   As we have started the project “foreseeable” lifespan, time after time we are struggling with the essential, yet also contradictory technical aspects.

   In terms of strength calculation, for instance, we desire a high tensile strength, because Alcomex uses the maximum burden of the wire as a calculation criteria. In various spring configurations, this is 50% of this tensile strength. Increasing this will have consequences, because if the tensile strength becomes too high, this will result in a wire that is of no use (too rigid). Also material suppliers won’t be happy with those requirements as they imply a process auditing. If this audit is not satisfactory, tinkering with the pre-material will be required.

   What we have seen over the last few years is that wire-tensile process largely influences the quality of the end-product. Material, percentage of carbon, conversion degree and other specific process steps have significant influence on the type of wire we use.

   

   

   

   
   

   From high quality to customer-specific customisation

   In the early days of Alcomex, we used to work with the SH, just like everybody else did. SH quality, according to EN 10270-1, but at Alcomex we stopped using that a long time ago. Presently we are working with EN 10270-1 TURBO materials. These are materials that are manufactured almost entirely specifically per supplier. This way, all our extension, compression and torsion springs are high-quality made. This almost entirely specific treatment per supplier can even be enhanced. When talking about customisation, Alcomex will even translate the requirements or application of a customer into wire-specific requirements.

   The greatest challenge we are currently working on is the combining of all our test information, experience, knowledge of the wire-tension process and technical calculation, conform the EN DIN 13906-1, into one lifespan formula. This formula, in combination with the customer-specific demands and processing of application data in its entirety, may lead to a solid basis for “foreseeable” lifespan.

   Did you miss previous episodes in the research & development series? Read part 2 here!

   By: Marco Dekker | Head of Research & Development