For many years Hi-Force has also offered clients short and long term tool rental and in 2016 this service was formally extended, to offering complete on-site Bolted Joint Integrity management, during plant construction and maintenance shutdown activities

The UK headquartered manufacturer, Hi-Force, with regional offices in Holland, Italy, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and South Africa, has over 30 years’ experience in the design, manufacture, operation and use of manual, pneumatic and hydraulic bolting tools.

Hi-Force UK operates from a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, located in Daventry, England, that houses everything from product design, through to manufacture, assembly, testing and certification, of an extensive range of bolting tools, as well as many other types of high pressure hydraulic tooling.

Hi-Force also offers full after sales and service support, through all of its strategically placed regional offices and authorised and trained distributors, in almost 100 countries worldwide.

For many years Hi-Force has also offered clients short and long term tool rental and in 2016 this service was formally extended, to offering complete on-site Bolted Joint Integrity management, during plant construction and maintenance shutdown activities.

Group Managing Director of Hi-Force, Kevin Brown, explains: "During construction and commissioning of new facilities, the issue of correct "bolt up" of critical and non-critical joints, is often an oversight, during the construction contractor bidding phase, which usually results in conflict, between the plant owners, EPC contractors and the construction sub-contractors, around who are responsible, for the cost and provision of the required bolting tools and the necessary expertise, to carry out the bolting work.

"In many cases, due to a lack of available tooling and expertise the construction contractors suffer from conflict, with the pre-commissioning and commissioning teams, as a result of leaks from incorrectly assembled bolted joints during construction phase and from incorrectly pre-assembled components, supplied by third parties, that only come to light during pre-commissioning and joint integrity pressure testing.

"It is generally agreed that improvement in bolted joint integrity is one of the most significant areas, requiring attention, both on the site and at all levels of plant facilities management. The Hi-Force On-Site Bolting Services Division was set up to address and offer the ideal solution to these issues."

Managed from the Hi-Force UK Head Office, the On-Site Bolting Services Division can offer clients pre-start on-site surveys, full and comprehensive analysis of bolted joint needs and requirements, development of correct procedures, including all required bolted joint load calculations, on-site supervision, using ECITB qualified and trained Supervisors, on-site bolted joint integrity training courses, for the nominated contractors technicians, full flange management control, utilising the Hi-Force BOLTRIGHT PRO calculation software and of course high quality UK manufactured bolting tools.

Onsite Hi-Force supervisors

As part of the Hi-Force On-Site Bolting Services offering, the company is able to mobilise to site bespoke 20-foot containers, fully equipped, as either a bolting tool store, or a mobile on-site training facility, incorporating all the necessary training equipment, to deliver bolting training courses, to the highest possible standard.

Directly heading this new division within the Hi-Force Group, Brown enthusiastically claims: "Hi-Force is always looking to expand its offering to clients worldwide and this new venture has already delivered significant results in recent months. We currently have four containers mobilised across two plant construction sites and our clients are already seeing the benefit of employing a specialist Bolting Services Company, to manage all of their joint integrity needs at site.

"A further two bespoke containers have also recently been ordered. The issue of purchasing of capital intensive bolting tools, is no longer a requirement for the site, because we are offering competitively priced tool rental, throughout the project, with our own on-site tool service repair facilities, fully supported by readily available spare parts, to ensure bolting work is continuously carried out. Our on-site supervisors have all the necessary skills to supervise the bolting work, carry out bolting work when necessary, conduct high quality training courses at site and of course carry out any required tool service and repair work."

For further information on Hi-Force On-Site Bolting Services and Bolted Joint Integrity Management please go to www.hi-force.com and register your interest.