Keeping up to Speed-Fit
September 1st 2005

John Guest is a bone fide British manufacturing success story. Ian Clay visited the company and discovered the processes behind the products

Abetter example than John Guest of how a traditional family firm has been able to compete and thrive in the modern manufacturing environment you would be hard pressed to find.

The company manufactures strictly in the UK and employs 1100 people (900 of which are involved in manufacturing) yet 60% of its business is export.

The Speed Fit push in system (with which most readers will be familiar) concept runs right across the company’s market segments. While in IP&E the compressed air products are only ever written about the company is also heavily involved in the drinks dispensing industry; the heating and plumbing market and the automotive industry. All markets which have different technical issues and demand different materials that can stand up to their particular stresses and strains.

One of these markets that heavily influences the way in which John Guest operates is the automotive industry. It is not widely known but John Guest actually sells fuel line products to just about every car manufacturer in Europe. As most people are aware car manufacturers impose very high quality pressures upon their suppliers, indeed as marketing services manager John Cowling says "We can’t afford to have one in a million of our products going wrong, and this quality idea is kept across the company...not just in the automotive products." John went on to say that "With this very high quality we can keep away the cheaper competition from the Far East."

Manufacturing reflexivity

An old engineer used to say that machine tools were the only things on earth that could give birth to themselves.

This reflexivity is in evidence at John Guest’s main manufacturing site in West Drayton as machine tools manufacture thousands of small plastic components that are then sorted and batched using machines which are powered by compressed air, most using the John Guest Push In system.

The Push In system can accommodate piping from 4-28mm in dia and can handle up to 16bar pressure. Until recently the system was only available for nylon piping but John Guest has recently introduced its own brand (bought in) of aluminium piping. The reason for this is, John Cowling maintains "To meet market demand as there are those people who want something more rigid than rigid nylon pipe."

Saving energy

As well as the ease with which the Push In system can be installed John Cowling maintains that the system is also 100% leakproof. It is threaded products he believes that lead to compressed air leaks, and in these energy conscious days that cannot be tolerated.

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