Group HES flies high with new £2 million deal with Galliford Try

Published: 22 June, 2017

The Gloucester-based engineering company, Group HES, has secured a record deal with construction company, Galliford Try, to supply four large hydraulic ring mains at the new Airbus Wing Integration Centre (AWIC) in Filton, Bristol.

Wing testing

The AWIC facility will be a development and testing centre for wing innovation in aircraft, as well for other large structural aircraft parts. Airbus will also open the facility up to other companies and universities, with its innovative, highly flexible and easily adaptable environment.

Ring main system

Group HES has secured the contract to supply, build and install the hydraulic ring main system, with four rings, which will power the machinery in the new AWIC centre, that Galliford Try are building for Airbus. The installed power will be 2.5MW, a flow rate of 4500 lpm and a pressure of 280 bar, supplying four separate rings.

In-house project management

The company comprises five separate divisions that give Group HES the right experience, capacity and ability to undertake this project in-house. The project involves system design, manufacture of hydraulic power packs, the design and development of control software systems, electrical and control panels, on-site installation and commissioning, including over 1km of pipework. Group HES’s previous investment in 3D CAD is invaluable in this project, as the company can easily plan, design and manage the process.

Investment in machinery

Group HES will be investing £150,000 in special purpose machinery to end-form large bore high pressure pipes, to be able to offer up to 10” pipework. This will expand their abilities for future projects that require larger bore pipework. Working closely with hydraulic manufacturers, Parker Hannifin, Group HES will become a UK base for the Parker Pipework Centre.

Group HES is also teaming up with Parker to develop advanced stress analysis tests, in addition, Parker’s variable speed drives will also be used extensively in the project. The automation and motion control division of the Group, HES Automatec, will be creating the software in-house, using a National Instruments product, that will run these variable speed drives, as well as developing sophisticated data acquisition systems. The Group will also use its existing distributorship and partnership with Bosch Rexroth to supply the best quality hydraulic components for the system.

2018 completion

The Group reports that it is proud to have won this record contract and is excited to be part of improving wing safety and innovation. Work has already started on the project with the AWIC facility set to open in 2018.