8th April 2008
18 members and one guest enjoyed a very interesting visit to the works of HMD Sealless Pumps Ltd.
At the outset of the visit, we had a talk about the history of the Company followed by details of the present operation and a description of the design of the pumps and their application in industry.
The pumps are, as implied by the company title, sealless and magnetically driven. The company’s fields of expertise are in magnetic drives and the application of the pumps, mainly in the chemical, pharmaceutical and oil industries.
The company was founded by two partners in South London in the late 1940’s and examples of the production from those days are on display at the works whilst a few are still operating. In the display were sectioned examples of their current models.
The company is now a Division of the USA based conglomerate, United Technologies Corporation through whom they have Agencies throughout the world and manufacturing plants in Belgium, France and China.
After the introduction, we were taken on a comprehensive tour of the works, seeing the assembly and test facilities. The Works Director gave us an interesting explanation of their production scheduling; it seemed very complicated and an eye-opener to those of us who have been retired for some time. To many of us, perhaps the most significant factor, however, was that Eastbourne now only assembles pumps, all, or virtually all components are manufactured abroad, generally in Eastern Europe or the Far East and of very high quality. But design and application engineering is still all done in Eastbourne.
A visit that was very worthwhile, and as is so often the case with our visits, we were made so welcome and with the members of staff who were our guides expressing their enjoyment at the questioning and discussion that occurred, Not least, they provided us with such tasty cakes and tea before we left.
Richard Norton
