Valve designer and manufacturer Rexus Trading has delivered the first of two export orders to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, says Rexus Managing Director Allistair Balutto, adding that the orders are for their large bore AirFlo Variable Orifice air valves and KII couplings and flange adaptors. Allistair enthuses that Rexus’ products are destined for distribution all over the Middle East with the first orders for specific projects in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Dubai.

“We have secured these orders by working closely with consulting engineers, local agents and pump manufacturers. These orders are hard won as we had to prove the efficacy of our products against traditional options through surge analysis studies and insitu testing. Our products have proven that they are well suited for the rigours of the applications and outperform conventional designs”, states Balutto. Rexus holds local and international patents and has since inception targeted the export market. Reaching markets in the Middle East has been part of a five year export drive that is steadily gaining momentum. “We currently export to 14 counties and our medium term target is 30 countries. Volumes are progressively growing and is beginning to add a good counter balance to our dependency on the local market,” says Balutto.

We find that though the valve and fittings market is tough and overtraded in both local and export markets, there is a refreshing response to companies such as ours who are willing to demonstrate our technical and financial solutions through engaging the client in the design and the entire supply chain process. “The last year has been one of many significant milestones for our company. Not only have we penetrated the Middle Eastern market and made headway in the American and South Asian markets, we have also in this time launched our much anticipated CheckFlo range of non-return valves”, states Balutto.

Balutto tells Engineering News that the development of the Rexus ranges of CheckFlo non return valves is a natural progression in development for the company on the back of the success of the AirFlo range of Variable Orifice air valves.  The AirFlo air valve, Rexus’ premium product is now specified or accepted by a growing number of consulting engineers, water boards and municipalities and is leading Rexus’ local market thrust and export drive. The AirFlo is designed to dampen surge and water hammer in addition to performing all conventional air valve functions. Its surge damping characteristics are often complimented, depending on pipeline profile and material selection by the use of a good Non Return Valve design.

“We found when recommending a Non Return Valve solution to the design engineer that there was no locally available design that perfectly fitted all our criteria of initial cost versus a low headloss versus surge and water hammer protection and pipeline maintenance requirements. This spurred the development of our CheckFlo ranges of Non Return Valves,” states Balutto.

“Our CheckFlo valves have taken four years of development and has gone through several stages of development including extensive CFD modelling, performance testing and the intensive investigation of materials of manufacture and innovative manufacturing processes to meet our criteria of high performance, short manufacturing lead times and high quality at all times. Our emphasis in the development of all products are innovation expressed through high performance products that solve pipeline complexities in simple but elegant ways”, states Balutto.

One of the greatest opportunities created for local valve manufactures in recent years has been the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) designation and local content requirements relating to valves and actuators.

“DTI’s designation has created the change required to stimulate innovation and the incentive for improvement. We at Rexus subscribe wholeheartedly to the philosophy that those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable”, states Balutto.

Recognizing the positive stimulation created by DTI’s designation does not instantaneously resolve the market’s challenges.   The local valve industry is fraught with many challenges such as lack of high tonnage foundry casting capacities, diminishing skills and overcapacity in many valve lines. It is further challenged by the emphasis on initial capital cost and the slow uptake and/or the misunderstanding or misapplication of the local content requirements.  Navigating this market space therefore is often not easy. However, it is rewarding when there is an understanding and uptake of locally manufactured product as there has been for the entire Rexus range thus far.

“We have just supplied CheckFlo non return valves on a prominent pump station locally and there is already interest shown in the Middle East and other export markets. We trust that we will receive the same local and international support for our CheckFlo products as we have for our AirFlo and KII ranges of products,” concludes Balutto.