Motion & Control Specialist Achieves ‘Fit For Nuclear’ (F4N)

Phil Black - PII Editor 20/03/2017

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– Platform To Develop Further Opportunities In Energy Sector

Instrumentation Products Division, Europe of Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies, has joined a select group of companies that have successfully achieved ‘ready to supply’ status through the Fit For Nuclear (F4N) programme.

F4N is designed to assist UK manufacturing companies in taking advantage of opportunities within the country’s rapidly developing £60bn civil nuclear new build programme. Launched five years ago, F4N was developed by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) with the support of its top tier industry partners and Government.

Deborah Pollard, Business Development Leader Capital Projects for Parker’s Instrumentation Products Division, Europe (IPDE), said: “This is a significant achievement for our IPDE division, as we seek to develop new opportunities in the nuclear sector. We have supplied to the nuclear industry in the past, but now we have successfully completed the F4N programme, this gives us even more credibility and means we have an even stronger offer to the market. There are exciting opportunities that lie within the nuclear industry in the UK and Europe and we see it as a growth area for the future for our instrumentation fittings, tubing and valves.”

The rigorous F4N programme includes an online assessment, site visit and verification and a final audit, with the whole programme normally taking 18 months to complete. F4N audits systems such as health and safety, quality, human resources, training, innovation and sales. As Instrumentation Products Division, Europe already had robust systems in place, the company managed to complete the programme in under 12 months. Although IPDE has met the F4N standard, the company will be audited annually to ensure it continues to meet the nuclear industry’s stringent requirements.

Mark Knowlton, Fit For Nuclear’s Industrial Advisor, said: “Fit For Nuclear is designed to help UK manufacturers to prepare for the huge global business opportunities in nuclear new-build. Achieving the F4N standard demonstrates Parker Hannifin’s commitment to the highest industry standards in nuclear decommissioning and new power generation as the energy market undergoes significant change.”

F4N allows companies to measure their operations against the standards required to supply the nuclear industry – in new build, operations and decommissioning – and take the necessary steps to close any gaps. It is delivered exclusively by the Nuclear AMRC, part of the government-backed High Value Manufacturing Catapult.