Proven benefits of using precision wire mesh

According to Alan Dunn, general manager of Bopp UK, many industries still regard 'mesh' as a commodity, rather than the guaranteed engineering product a precision made item is, buying on price alone, and remaining unaware of the dramatic improvements that can be made to yields, quality and profits by treating it as a critical item. As a means of trying to reach the 'right' people - primarily engineers and plant m a n a g e r s - to whom to tell its story, Bopp organises from time to time seminars held in industrial areas with a wide range of different industries within easy reach. The presentation is low-key with the aim being, in the words of Alan Dunn, t o ' o p e n people's eyes' to what can be achieved if 'sieving' is given the status it deserves of being advanced solid-liquid separation technology, and, if satisfactory results are to be obtained, the need to utilise a precision filtering product made to a quality not to a price. One of the seminars, held in Stoke-on[ r e n t nearly three years ago, early in 1988, sparked off considerable interest in various pottery companies particularly Wedgwood, and in other industries in the area. According to Bopp, pottery companies have much to gain from paying close attention to sliphouse filtration. Using a precision woven product - with exactly the same machinery and equipment as before - allows far closer control to be exercised over the removal of the impurities, mostly metallic in origin, that are prevalent in body ingredients and which, fortuitously, are generally larger in size than the ingredient particles. Adopting such methods leads almost immediately to far higher yields at the fired body stage - improvements of 15% or more in this type of situation have been noted by Bopp - but, in addition, there are beneficial knock-on effects. There is, for example, less grinding required to remove surface blemishes, and the acceptable size of internal impurities can be drastically reduced, sometimes by as much as a factor of ten. A further aspect is that although using a quality product is more expensive initially, it generally lasts five or six times as long. Present at that seminar in 1988 was Paul Bentley, sliphouse manager at Wedgwood, who, following various trials, soon became convinced of the force of Bopp's arguments and, by the beginning of 1989, Bopp screens were installed in the main sliphouse at Barlaston, which supplies five other production plants in the group. Wedgwood says that there have been substantial and measurable improvements in overall yield, and the new set-up has played its part in creating a more critical approach to every part of the production process. The company's glaze suppliers have also changed to similar types of meshes, so that the glaze received is less contaminated. One noticeable effect in the Wedgwood fine bone china tableware range is an increase in the number of fashionable narrow border designs, where the majority of the surface is undecorated - now a more viable design style due to the increased purity of Filtration & Separation

Proven benefits of using precision wire mesh T h e d e c i s i o n t a k e n s o m e y e a r s a g o by w o v e n - w i r e s p e c i a l i s t s G B o p p to t a k e t h e m e s s a g e a b o u t t h e b e n e f i t s of u s i n g a q u a l i t y p r o d u c t direct to p o t e n t i a l u s e r s , is p a y i n g w i d e s p r e a d d i v i d e n d s , b o t h to t h e c o m p a n y a n d its customers

Wedgwood production director Roy Naylor (second from right), presents the general manager of Bopp UK, Alan Dunn (centre), with a specially inscribed plate in recognition of the companies' close association over many years. On the extreme left is Wedgwood sliphouse manager Paul Bentley, second left is Bopp sales engineer Jim Hadden, and on the extreme right is lan Gautby of SWG Process Engineering.

Wedgwood sliphouse - using precision mesh here has meant substantial and measurable improvements down the line in overall yield. the white china. The units supplied by Bopp to Wedgwood are pre-tensioned bonded screens, 36 to 48in diameter, made at the company's modern new facility at Derby. The mesh is a standard plain weave in a high quality stainless steel alloy, with a mesh size of 50pm for slip and 63-80pm for

November/December 1990

glazes. The mesh size is something of a compromise; any smaller and there is the danger of separating out some of the body ingredients. G Bopp & Co, 115 Brunswick Park Road, New Southgate. London N l l 1LJ: and Grange Close. Clover Nook Ind Park, Somercotes. Derbyshire DE554QT. 391