Production meets Engineering - for end-to-end documentation from production to maintenance
LESER customizes its valves for a wide range of customer requirements. This is a complex process that must be documented carefully.
LESER customizes its valves for a wide range of customer requirements. This is a complex process that must be documented carefully.
LESER Safety Valves must dependably protect many different applications against excessive pressure increases – from a laundry shop around the corner to a beer brewery or a huge chemical factory, and from a hospital to a pharmaceutical company making vaccines, and through to a natural gas platform. Adapting safety valves to match customer specifications is one of LESERs core competencies which is appreciated by customers.
Increasing internationalization has caused the LESER product portfolio to grow substantially. Furthermore, intensifying regulatory activities at many different levels are adding complexity to the task of implementing customer requests. Customization in order processing involves a wide range of materials, connections, checks, and coating systems, just to mention some of the aspects to consider. To ensure that all the customer's specifications are taken into account, all parties involved must receive the necessary information.
During assembly, the valves are not only put together piece by piece. In addition, the set pressure must be adjusted, and the valve must be checked for internal leakage and external tightness. For every step there is a detailed process description and documentation. These documents have been refined and supplemented over the years, for example in the case of product extensions, optimizations in the process or general additional requirements. This is why it became necessary to verify that the existing documentation was complete, and above all, manageable. “We therefore found it especially important for the development engineers to join their colleagues from the Industrial Engineering department and, of course, the assembly workers themselves at the workbench and assemble the valves they are in charge of”, said the new Head of Research & Development at LESER, Dr Michael Hess. The result is a streamlined, practicable documentation. In the process, the experts initiated standardization steps, such as reducing the amount of lubricants or glues used in assembly.
What has started successfully with the Compact Performance series will now be implemented for the entire portfolio of LESER Safety Valves. In addition, the updated documentation will eventually be checked for user-friendliness once again, working together with teams from other departments, such as Product Management and Quality Assurance. The results will then be incorporated into the service documentation, as well. Workshops around the world will profit from this work – not just at LESER sites but also at the facilities of plant and equipment operators.