Hayley is proud to count a number of the biggest multi-site food and drinks companies in the UK as valued customers, as well as hundreds of smaller businesses also operating in the sector. The industry is especially varied, with customer challenges that are both unique and complex across sites including bakeries, meat, poultry and fish processing, confectionery, distilleries, bottling plants and breweries. With fifty branches and specialist centres across the country from Belfast to King’s Lynn, Aberdeen to Exeter, Hayley has the stock, service and people to support the needs of our food and beverage customers. In this article, we explore a few of them.
1. Product innovation
Hayley holds authorised distributor status with industry-leading manufacturers renowned for quality, reliability and innovation across many categories including fluid power, bearings, power transmission, lubricants, and PPE. It is these direct relationships with global brands that allow us to source genuine products, with all of the relevant approvals, leaving no unwanted uncertainty for our food and beverage customers who have such stringent safety requirements. Whether it’s hygienic designs for hydraulic hoses, sealed bearings, NSF food-grade lubricants, metal/x-ray-detectable PPE, tool control systems, or FDA-approved seals, Hayley is able to advise and supply you with a comprehensive product offering that keeps your operation running effectively and safely.
Product recalls and lost batches are expensive and wasteful risks for food and drink manufacturers, as are mechanical failures caused by the unrelenting demands placed on production in the industry. Consider other challenges such as high speeds, temperature extremes, round-the clock runtime, and the need for frequent high-pressure washdowns. Maintaining uptime is key and through not only providing the latest, most reliable products but also cutting-edge condition-based monitoring solutions, enabled by modern sensor technology and analysis software, Hayley supports customers in implementing predictive maintenance programmes within their operation.
2. Multi-branch Account Set-up
Our network of branches covers the entirety of the United Kingdom. As Hayley supports customers who also operate on a nationwide scale, we can ensure that you are serviced with local stock and expertise on the doorstep of your plants, no matter where they are. This ensures that, should the worst happen, and a breakdown occurs, you can rely on Hayley to help you to minimise the costly downtime inflicted by mechanical failures.
The National Accounts and Regional Sales provide centralised account and contract management for Hayley’s multi-site customers, ensuring that KPIs are being met by the local teams servicing the needs of your plants around the country. They also ensure that company-wide initiatives such as decarbonisation programmes are supported in everything that Hayley do.
3. Obsolescence management
With your operations under pressure to run continuously in order to meet demand, component failures leading to production stoppages are at the top of the list of things to avoid. With unrivalled stockholding and technical knowledge near to your facility, Hayley teams can help with proactively managing your assets, before there is a requirement to replace them. Through an effective obsolescence management programme, products no longer available on the market are identified with suitable alternatives drawn-up. Whether it’s a pump, motor, gearbox, bearing or hydraulic/pneumatic component, we work with our supply partners to stipulate appropriate alternative products that are available on short lead times.
In the event that no alternative products fit the bill, quality reverse engineering can be carried-out by Hayley 24/7, who provide round-the-clock support. Any non-standard parts can also be arranged through the Hayley Bespoke Components division, who can deliver quality turned, milled and machined parts and more. No matter how niche your requirement is, you can trust Hayley to meet it.
To best support your business, Hayley is also able to hold consignment stock of critical spares at your local branch, to ensure that replacement products are available near to your sites for same-day delivery.
4. Support services
Hayley provides customers with a number of tailored support services, all aiming to deliver added-value. Our air leak surveys can detect where pneumatic systems are losing power and costing you money. If hoses are a product that your operation relies on, we have set-up hose asset registers for multiple customers, including large breweries, giving them greater visibility of their assets and a more informed way of maintaining them. Pump audits and sustainability surveys have also helped our food and beverage customers to save water, dramatically cut energy costs and reduce their environmental impact.
Should a breakdown occur, Hayley 24/7 provides Hayley customers with all-hours quality reactive maintenance services such as SKF-accredited gearbox repairs and full motor and pump refurbishments, providing you with a reliable partner for fast, effective mechanical repairs. A number of Belzona’s coating products for industrial pumps, applied in our authorised coating centre as part of many of our pump refurbishments are also FDA certified, providing you with total peace of mind. Failure of critical assets can also be avoided, and Operation Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) maintained through condition-based monitoring, providing an early warning of any mechanical issues arising.
5. Supporting decarbonisation
Businesses involved in the production of food and beverages are like many others in the way that they are being encouraged to look at every possible way to improve energy efficiency and their environmental impact. With many Hayley customers having their own Net Zero targets and general pathways identified to become more environmentally sustainable, Hayley supports them through our innovative product offering and support services mentioned earlier in this article.
Hayley has a documented track record of working with customers in your sector to reduce energy consumption and wastage, with our collaborations often resulting in considerable financial savings. By recognising the most power-hungry components of your operations (e.g., electric motors, pumps, air compressors) and prioritising them, we can assist with recommending and completing actions that can have the biggest impact on your decarbonisation journey.
Want to know more about our work with customers operating within this industry? Find all of our relevant case studies on our dedicated industry webpage.
Every day, up and down the UK, Hayley services customers from the food & beverages industry, helping to solve engineering problems and add value at each possible step. To enquire about opening an account with us, contact your local Hayley team. You can find their details by using our online Branch Finder tool.
