Four decades and still running – a story of Piab conveyors that last

Do you remember the year 1982? Walkmans, padded shoulders, acid wash jeans, the Falkland Islands war and the release of Culture Club’s ‘Do you really want to hurt me?‘. Feels like a long time ago, doesn’t it? Yet, in the facilities of a detergent powder producer in Halland, Sweden, a Piab C2 vacuum conveyor has been running reliably ever since that very year. That is almost 40 years and counting.

To celebrate the 70-year anniversary of Piab, the Vacuum Conveying Division launched a competition with longevity and reliability of their products at heart. During The Hunt, customers and employees went digging deep into the history books to find the oldest, still running Piab vacuum conveyor out there. And it was found in Halland, where Berith and Sverker Paulson installed a C2 conveyor in the production line at their family-owned detergent producer Weba Kemi in 1982.

Records show that the only maintenance that has been needed was in 2017, when former Piab test lab responsible Calle Renström and ASM Melvin Zetterberg visited Weba to weld the bottom lid. But that is it. For almost 40 years, the vacuum conveyor has been running smoothly at Weba, ensuring a safe and dust-free environment in their chemical production line.

To meet the winners, Melvin Zetterberg, Area Sales Manager, paid Berith and Sverker Paulsson at Weba a visit in Halland just before Christmas last year. During the visit they also discussed how Weba would best be able to make use of their prize – a brand new vacuum conveyor to be delivered in 2022.

The owners of the company, which produces powder detergents for both industrial and private customers all over the Nordics, remember exactly why they chose Piab’s product back in the days: “To move powder in an operation line is connected to great, potential danger since electrical impulses can cause dust explosions if something goes wrong. Piab offered the only solution based on vacuum instead of electricity so once we found them, it was an easy decision to make.”

“Although we have only met Piab twice in relation to our own product, we have spoken them at various trade exhibitions over the years, and it is always a pleasure.”

Floris Rouw, President for the Vacuum Conveying Division, says: “Congratulations to Weba Kemi on 40 years of sustainable vacuum conveyor solutions and on their new piFLOW®p vacuum conveyor.“

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