Pulling together to gain new perspectives 20 That’s the Wey. SISTAG AG, Alte Kantonsstrasse 7, CH-6274 Eschenbach, Switzerland, weyvalve.ch, [email protected] 3 | WEY EDITORIAL Dear Customers and Partners, Springtime – time for a new start military conflicts, protectionism, the flow of refugees, low oil prices and other factors. This meant we had to fight harder for fewer project orders. In this regard, our export partners deserve our grateful thanks for staying on the ball. After the thaw, spring is sure to come, bringing with it some positive optimism of Editorial The new season should hopefully give us a new start! A new start ... positive?! SISTAG AG NEWS all a boost! The shockwaves resulting from You, our loyal customers, and those we Edition: Spring 2016 the exchange rate of the franc last year would still like to win over as customers, Number of copies: 950 certainly put the brakes on our business. are all inspiring us. You have shown us, However, we overcame this challenge year after year, that you value, above all, Address of the editorial office: thanks to extra effort, further increases in our unique selling features and the associ- SISTAG AG efficiency and prudent cost management. ated added value we are able to offer with Alte Kantonsstrasse 7 Although our margins remain under pres- Wey products. To help you get the best out CH-6274 Eschenbach Switzerland sure, you – our valued customers in Swit- of our products, our sales team and our Phone +41 41 449 9944 zerland – have not let us down. Instead, worldwide partners are happy to provide you have contributed to a gratifying level of you with expert advice for your projects, Concept: Kobalt AG, Lucerne sales that has helped to ease our pain while our customer service and field ser- Printing: Multicolor Print AG, Baar somewhat. Please accept a very big “thank vice team support and look after your ev- you” for your orders and the trust you have ery need when it comes to any aspect of placed in our Wey products! installation, commissioning and mainte- Unfortunately, our export business suf- nance. Tell us what you need! Incidentally, fered considerably due to political turmoil, product training for employees and part- 3 4 | WEY EDITORIAL 5 | WEY WORKS Wey Valve Inc. builds for the future New operations facility in Shannon, Mississippi ners has a high priority at our company. job in the Swiss mountains and much Wey Valve Inc. started construction in The new Wey Valve facility was complet- That is why we conduct regular training more. With these stories, perhaps we April 2015 on a new facility to maintain ed in February and put into operation in seminars (see the related article) to help all can encourage you to embark on new its position as the North American sales March 2016. those involved master any application. ventures. and manufacturing headquarters for the To support these teams, the engineering We would also be pleased to meet with Wey Knife Gate Valve line. The new facili- department is continually working in the you personally at our SISTAG factory to ty is designed to enhance Wey Valve’s full background to develop new products and discuss your projects or introduce you to manufacturing and service commitment further refine optimized solutions. In addi- our Swiss manufacturing. Likewise, we to its customers and markets and their tion, the application of new materials and would be delighted to welcome you at our development needs. production methodologies is also contrib- booth at the Powtech in Nuremberg, at the The new 40,000 square foot facility, locat- uting to our optimism. Although we have IFAT trade fair in Munich, or at Weftec in ed just off Highway 45 at the Tupelo Lee little influence over the global economic New Orleans (see the trade fair overview at Industrial Park South, represents a major situation, if we work together to tackle the end of this issue or on our website), investment for Wey Valve Inc. It will in- problems with a positive attitude, we will where we can make you more familiar with clude a production hall for manufacturing all become winners. the Wey black-red product line. knife-gate valves up to 90“. Two 10 ton A new start, in the truest sense, of the Embarking on a path to further success, bridge cranes and five 2 ton jib cranes will word is very apparent at our subsidiary hand in hand with you – That’s the Wey. be deployed in a sophisticated system Wey Valve Inc. in the United States, as they that will enable greater efficiency in work moved into a brand new facility in Shan- Kind regards, flow, starting from receiving parts, to as- non, Mississippi in March. You can read sembling and testing valves, and through more about this in this edition of our mag- to shipping. azine, which will also update you with fas- The facility will house 8,000 square feet of cinating reports about system applications Hans-Jörg Sidler office space and includes meeting rooms, in the cleaning up of uranium mines in as well as seminar and conference rooms eastern Germany, a challenging assembly for future sales seminars. New operating facility for Wey Valve Inc. 4 5 6 | WEY WORKS The Vuippens sewage treatment plant is upgrading its equipment SISTAG is involved with every product group 3 4 The Vuippens plant purifies wastewa- of municipal and commercial wastewater ter for the City of Bulle as well as the are continually increasing. With a capac- surrounding communities of Vaulruz, ity of 80,000 population equivalents, it is Vuadens, Echarlens, Morlon, Riaz, Mar- being brought up to the state of the art sens, Pont-en-Ogoz, Sorens, Corbières, and modified to meet future requirements. Hauteville, Pont-la-Ville and La Roche. It is With Wey knife gate valves, Wey water 6 being renovated and expanded at a cost control gates and butterfly valves, SISTAG 1 Vuippens sewage treatment plant of approximately 33 million Swiss francs. is making its own key contribution. 2 Expansion of the water system The demands on the level of cleanliness 3 Wey MFA & MFC knife gate valves 4 Wey stop logs 5 Wey VNA knife gate valves 5 6 BV12 butterfly valves Coagulant Flocculang Venlaon Lime agent Venlaon Precipitant Waste Screen 6 mm Sand collector & oil separator Fine screen 3 mm Circulang Coagulaon & Separator SBR biological Slling basin & fluidized bed flocculaon Pumping cleaning drain pipe staon Waste Grease Sand Waste Floang sludge Excess sludge 1 2 6 7 8 | WEY WORKS In the Swiss mountains Assembly under unusually difficult conditions A day off in the mountains conjures up im- No matter what, our installation technicians ages of many lovely, pleasant things. How in customer service take sun, rain, wind, would your perspective change, though, if snow along with very hot or cold weather all this became a day at work instead and the in their stride and overcome every adversity. conditions were quite difficult? You sudden- Whether in the valleys or in the mountains, ly face some very basic questions such as our technicians always find a solution, even “Is there any electricity at the site?” or “How in the most inaccessible locations. do we get our workers, tools and materials As a result, SISTAG places great value on up there?” Additional factors that need to occupational safety and protecting the 2 be considered during such assembly opera- health of our employees. The company pro- tions require our employees to be extremely motes and actively supports measures such Fig. 2 Figure 3 flexible and improvise with what is on hand. as anti-skid courses, safety training on how Another work assignment in the mountains Successful assembly and commissioning of to avoid falls, training on how to drive various approximately one hour’s hike from Zermatt. the system in Zermatt. site vehicles, and even vaccinations. Assembly could only take place in winter be- cause the mountain stream was at its lowest Fig. 1 level during those months. Rather than hav- A work assignment in the mountains roughly ing the technicians hike to the site on snow- half an hour by car above Aminona-sur-Si- shoes with their tools on their backs, they erre. To reach the assembly site, the vehicle were flown to the site in a helicopter. When had to be driven across a mountain stream. faced with such an assembly job, everything Assembly was thus only possible during dry must be planned precisely in advance. Just weather when the water level was low. one key tool left behind can jeopardize the entire job. 1 3 8 9 10 | WEY WORKS WISMUT Project Installing a new pressure pipeline in the Gessental valley Wismut GmbH is a company operated by the mines. The flooding was carried out the German Federal Government in the with two hydraulically separated subsys- states of Saxony and Thuringia. One of its tems. Flooding the mine area south of the main tasks now is to take the wide-ranging A4 highway in the Ronneburg region began to construct a water-treatment plant as well KNIFE GATE VALVES DELIVERED underground network of tunnels, shafts, at the turn of 1997/1998, while flooding of as the associated systems for collecting, SO FAR: galleries and chambers that made up the the mine area north of the A4 took place in routing and later discharging the flood wa- Type of knife former uranium mine out of service and 2000. The quality of the flood water coming ter. It is assumed that the water must be gate valve: MF in ductile iron, decommission them so they are safe.