Variety through modularity
Product life cycles are becoming shorter and shorter. At the same time, the variety of product variants is increasing, as every industry has individual requirements for its system components. Material, surface quality and corrosion resistance are just some of them.
For such a complex customer base with high-pressure or steam applications, tank farms, power plants, chemical and pharmaceutical companies, biogas or offshore plants, an adaptable modular system for individually configurable valves is recommended. This system has a decades-long tradition at Mankenberg. Since the 1970s, valve parts made of deep-drawn stainless steel have formed the basis. Back then, this was the first step towards modular thinking.
The modular principle
The Mankenberg modular system is used to produce deep-drawn control valves in both standard and customized versions. The basic components are pots made of deep-drawn stainless steel. They serve as a body for the valve. If a pot is later individually combined with variably welded connections and turned parts, a precisely customized valve is created.
Deep drawing is a tensile pressure forming process in which a flat sheet metal part is formed in a hydraulic press into a hollow body - the pot - that is open on one side. The local material properties of deep-drawn materials are specifically influenced by the work hardening process, making them highly corrosion-resistant and polishable for sterile and clean rooms. In addition, deep-drawn valves have significant weight advantages over conventional cast bodies due to the lower minimum wall thicknesses. Today, not only stainless steel is deep-drawn, but also special materials such as titanium or Hastelloy®.
A modular system is the flexible and cost-effective answer to the special requirements of different customers and markets. The following applies: standardization wherever possible and configurability where necessary. The lower storage costs increase cost-effectiveness.
Reduced product range
By participating in the project supported by the Federal German Ministry of Education and Research BMBF "Methods for the development and control of product diversity through modular, future-proof product structures - ProRobuSt", which was completed in 2018, Mankenberg pursued the strategy of reducing the number of internal variants and adapting them to the variance required on the market. The modular pressure reducing valve DM 555, which combines four series, was developed as a result.
With this valve, each variable technical feature is only dependent on one component. To change the Kvs value (maximum volume flow), for example, the screw-in seats of the DM 555 are exchanged. The cone and stem remain the same. Changing the spring module changes the adjustment range. Thanks to the EASY-ADAPT connection, the valve can be easily installed in the pipe of the customer's system. The piston, bonnet and adjusting screw are identical throughout the series. The result is a universal valve for small to medium flow rates with good control characteristics and a high reduction ratio, which is available as an EN and ASME version.
As an important effect of modularization, customers can configure their Mankenberg valve themselves using the Mankenberg Order Code thanks to the newly created transparency. In addition to the product designation, the connection size and type, nominal pressure rating, pressure range, Kvs value, body materials and elastomers are selected. All of this mandatory information then determines the price and delivery time for a valve that meets customer requirements.
Planning reliability through delivery time promise
With the product structures further developed to suit the variants, the Mankenberg product lines are differentiated according to the scope of services and delivery time. This enables Mankenberg to make reliable statements about delivery times:
M-BASE: The valve is ready for despatch approx. 2 working days after order confirmation
M-EDIT: The valve is ready for despatch approx. 15 working days after order confirmation
M-XTRA: Delivery time on request, as this is a custom-made product.
On average, around a third of the valves are ready for dispatch within 48 hours.
Modularization at Mankenberg - that means flexibility, up-to-dateness, individuality and less work for the customer.