Technological strength – doubled

technoLogicaL

strength - douBLed

The Bridon-Bekaert Group is the world’s premier supplier of mission-critical steel cords and ropes. Its unrivalled, innovative technologies are acknowledged in many key industries from oil & gas to mining, and from forestry to construction. Bridon International and the Bekaert Ropes Group merged in 2016 to form the world’s biggest, and most high-tech brand in its field. This significant strategic move has provided major gains for the company’s customers, as well as for the environment. Philip Yorke reports.

When you work with the Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group, you are benefiting from more than 300 years of specialised experience in steel wire, synthetic ropes and cords, as well as enjoying a customer service culture that has grown to become second to none. The group’s technological leadership can be seen in its combination of rope technology and wire technology which provides a unique platform that demonstrates a clear differentiation in the high-end international rope market.

The group’s ability to serve a diverse range of market sectors, including oil & gas, elevator, surface and underground mining, cranes, industrial infrastructure, fishing and forestry etc., speaks for itself. With 17 manufacturing locations around the world the company has by far the most extensive global footprint. As a result, personal service and up-to-the minute technological assistance is available to all.

Although the Bridon-Bekaert Group was formed only in 2016, its heritage spans more than three centuries. It is this unique heritage, combined with its strong vision and dedicated customer focus, that makes the Bridon-Bekaert Group the world leader in its field. Today the group is listed on the Euronext stock market in Brussels and with around 30,000 employees and consolidated revenues of almost €5 billion, it ranks as the clear, global market leader.

Serving critical, multifaceted markets

Bridon-Bekaert ropes are trusted globally throughout a broad range of industry sectors. The company represents the gold standard in quality and reliability, especially when it comes to high-end mission-critical ropes and wires. It is impossible to list all rope and wire applications in this short feature, but among the most visible is the Oil & Gas industry. This encompasses onshore and offshore exploration construction and the countess multi-faceted operations that are connected with it.

Bridon-Bekaert has centuries of experience and product understanding at hand concerning the unique challenges of the oil & gas industry. This in turn allows the company to design highly specialised ropes that exceed its customer’s expectations and the most stringent international industry standards. These high-tech products are designed to endure the world’s most extreme, abusive and demanding oil and gas operations, and to operate faultlessly in the world’s most hostile environments.

When it comes to the mining industry, equally demanding and hostile environments apply. All Bridon-Bekaerts ropes and wires are designed to achieve the longest possible service life and the lowest maintenance regimens, with the optimum uptime. At Bridon-Bekaert, every product is tested to destruction so that the company knows precisely its individual capabilities, and is therefore confident that it will perform to the operator’s highest expectations.

Trusted in the world’s deepest mines which suffer the harshest and unimaginable operational environments, the company’s underground ropes provide superior service and out-perform any ropes produced by its competitors.

Cooler airport hubs

Thanks to Bridon-Bekaert’s ability to provide unique solutions that meet today’s most challenging projects, it was selected to partner with other leading construction experts in order to design a structure for Doha’s state-of-the-art International Airport. The new structure would not only provide shade in the intense 50C summer heat, but would also support the hundreds of hyper-parabolic fabric canopies. Thanks to Bridon-Bekaerts’ unique technological know-how these will be supported and tensioned using hundreds of Bridon-Bekaert stainless steel Dryform cables. Recently the company extended its existing range of Stainless Steel Dryform cables in order to incor-

porate a 1000kN MBL cable, which will be used as a bracing cable that extends to the outer edge of the huge structure.

In association with Gelsenkirchen of Germany, Bridon-Bekaert has produced over 1500 cable assemblies designed to meet the diverse demands of this high-profile project. Cables are being supplied in diameters ranging from 12mm to 35mm in stainless steel, and from 45mm to 70mm in Galfan Locked coil.

Focus on safety and sustainability

The company’s ‘Ropes 360 service’ enjoys a unique reputation for its commitment to providing complete solutions and support for its customers. The primary goal is to maximise its customers’ safety and to extend every rope’s operational life-span. Teams of dedicated rope technicians and engineers offer flexible services, from rope inspection and non-destructive examination (NDE), to post retirement examination and modern feedback systems.

Brindon Bekaert has helped customers worldwide to implement and manage comprehensive rope-inspection programmes in order to avoid the high costs associated with equipment downtime. When a rope requires repair or maintenance, then ‘Ropes 360 Services’ provides customers with immediate installation and replacement services, as well as with failure criteria and rope maintenance training to ensure the optimum safety of the operator and to optimise the life-expectancy of the rope or wire.

Whilst safety is a top priority at Bridon-Bekaert, so is sustainability. The company’s excellent sustainability performance in 2017 has recently been recognised by its inclusion in the Ethibel Excellence and Sustainability Index (ESI) Europe. This is a reference benchmark for top performers in terms of corporate social responsibility. n

For further details of Bridon Bekaerts latest innovative products and services visit: www.bridon-bekaert.com