How have Hydraulic Projects Responded to Market Changes

Over the past year, we have seen a considerable level of growth in the demand for valves and marine autopilot pumps, from both our existing customers, as well as new ones. This level of demand far exceeds anything we have experienced in years past.  

However, during this time the world has not only been experiencing a historical Pandemic that has affected all areas of the supply chain, but closer to home, the impact of Brexit coming into effect has also presented hurdles.  

Fortunately, issues that initially arose due to Brexit have now settled down as increased border checks and customs requirement processes get better. Though, delays at seaports for some components, where ports delay entry to ships while they clear backlogs, can still be seen. 

Impacts as a result of COVID, however, are still in effect, as countries have and continue to face lockdowns. This has delayed production schedules for raw materials and components as well as shortages of some materials. 

Hydraulic Projects’ Response 

So, what have we done? We now have a system in place to forecast and order further in advance than we were previously doing, allowing us to account for extended lead times associated with raw materials and components. 

While our staffing levels stayed at full levels throughout 2020, we have now increased staff in our machine shop and assembly area, as well as utilising overtime through the week into weekends.  

The machines themselves are also running longer hours, both day and night. Our 5-axis milling machine is making Flow Controls 24 hours a day. 

With regards to production, earlier this year we added a second Okuma Pallet loading milling machine to our production facility and have recently commissioned a second set of fixtures for our popular V5-60 valves, which will increase our capacity by around 40%. 

We have also made changes to the courier we use for export orders. Following Brexit, we experienced delays with our previous courier and made the decision to start using DHL from March 2021. This switch has worked very well, though we continue to monitor all UK and export shipments daily. 

Ongoing Impacts 

With all the work that we have completed to respond to market changes and pressures from both Brexit and the pandemic, we are expecting to be in a far better position by the end of 2021. 

There are still notable impacts being seen in the area of motors for marine pumps and systems, which has been hit hard with delays to supply orders placed over six months ago. This is coupled with a large increase in demand for autopilot pumps and systems which has reduced our existing stock levels and increased lead times.  

We are confident that these pressures will be greatly reduced by the end of 2021, thanks to the effort put into improving issues within the supply chain.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the sales team on:  

Tel: +44 (0)1626 863634  

Email: sales@hypro.co.uk