 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Engineering |
| Founded | 1940s |
| Headquarters | Bath, Somerset, UK |
Key people | Dorothy Thompson, Chair Kiet Huynh, CEO |
| Revenue |  £719.2 million (2023) [1] |
| £148.8 million (2023) [1] | |
| £113.5 million (2023) [1] | |
Number of employees | 3,200 (2023) [2] |
| Website | www.rotork.com |
Rotork plc is a British-based company manufacturing industrial flow control equipment. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The company was established as a small engineering workshop in Bristol in the 1940s. In 1945 it was acquired by Frenchay Products led by Jeremy Fry. It made its first actuator in 1952. [3] In 1957 Rotork moved to Bath, initially operating from Widcombe Manor, Jeremy Fry's home, with 12 staff. In 1962 it moved into a new production plant in Newbridge, Bath, which remains the company's headquarters. [4] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1968. [5]
Protech Instruments & Systems, an instrumentation company, was purchased in 1985 to expedite the development of Pakscan, a digital bus control system for actuators. [6] In 1999 it bought Fluid System Srl, an Italian actuator business, in 2000 it bought Skilmatic in Leeds [6] and in 2002 it acquired Jordan Controls, a United States actuator business. [3] It started operating in Sweden in 2008 with the purchase of Remote Control. [7]
In 2009 the company acquired Flow-Quip, [8] and in 2010 Ralph A. Hillier, US-based businesses. [9] In 2011 Rotork Servo Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V. became fully owned by Rotork after being part-owned since the 1970s. [10] Shortly afterwards Rotork purchased Valco Valves Automation AS, Rotork's long term sales and service agent in Norway, now renamed Rotork Norway. [11] Rotork acquired K-Tork International Inc., based in Dallas, and Centork Valve Control S.L., a Spanish actuator manufacturer based near San Sebastián. [12]
In 2011 Fairchild Industrial Products in North Carolina was acquired. [13] In the UK Prokits was purchased. [14] In 2012 Italian switchbox manufacturer Soldo Srl was added and in 2013 the German actuator manufacturer Schischek was purchased. [15]
Flowco in the UK and Renfro associates in the USA were further acquisitions in 2013, both adding to the company's service capabilities, and the Italian actuator manufacturer GT Attuatori Srl was also purchased. [16] In 2014 Rotork acquired Young Tech Co. Ltd. (YTC), a Korean instrumentation manufacturer. [17] In 2014 Rotork also acquired Xylem Flow Control Limited (XFC), based in Wolverhampton, UK, a leading manufacturer of solenoid valves and instruments under the Midland-ACS, Alcon Solenoid Valves and Landon Kingsway brands for £18 million. [18] At the beginning of 2015 Rotork acquired part of Omas Teknik, [19] its sales and service agent in Turkey. M&M International Srl, [20] and Bifold Group were acquired in 2015. [21]
Also in 2015 Rotork acquired Servo Moteurs Service, an actuator service business located in the South of France, as an important step forward in the development of Rotork's direct service offering to its customers [22] and Roto Hammer, a manufacturer of custom-designed chain wheel manual valve operators based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. [22] In the beginning of 2016 Rotork acquired Mastergear, a leading manufacturer of manual and motorised gearboxes for valves, which has operations in Italy and the US, to strengthen its gearboxes offering. [23]
Rotork acquired Hanbay in 2023. The company designs and manufactures precise, miniature electric actuators that offer a compact profile and high torque design for small and instrument valves. [24]
The company is a designer and manufacturer of industrial flow control products encompassing valve actuators, gearboxes, control systems, instrumentation and accessories. [25]
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category. In an open valve, fluid flows in a direction from higher pressure to lower pressure. The word is derived from the Latin valva, the moving part of a door, in turn from volvere, to turn, roll.
An actuator is a component of a machine that produces force, torque, or displacement, usually in a controlled way, when an electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic input is supplied to it in a system. An actuator converts such an input signal into the required form of mechanical energy. It is a type of transducer. In simple terms, it is a "mover".
An automatic transmission is a multi-speed transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. Vehicles with internal combustion engines, unlike electric vehicles, require the engine to operate in a narrow range of rates of rotation, requiring a gearbox, operated manually or automatically, to drive the wheels over a wide range of speeds.
A wastegate is a valve that controls the flow of exhaust gases to the turbine wheel in a turbocharged engine system.
Moog is an American-based designer and manufacturer of electric, electro-hydraulic and hydraulic motion, controls and systems for applications in aerospace, defense, industrial and medical devices. The company operates under four segments: aircraft controls, space and defense controls, industrial controls, and components. Moog is headquartered in Elma, New York and has sales, engineering, and manufacturing facilities in twenty-six countries.
A solenoid valve is an electromechanically operated valve.
The automated manual transmission (AMT) is a type of transmission for motor vehicles. It is essentially a conventional manual transmission equipped with automatic actuation to operate the clutch and/or shift gears.
The Yamaha FJR1300A and FJR1300AE/AS are sport touring motorcycles made by Yamaha Motor Company. Both models have a 1,298 cc inline-four engine. The AE/AS model has an electronically controlled clutch and gear shifting system called YCC-S. The clutch and transmissions of the AE/AS models are identical to that of the standard FJR model.
A camless or free-valve piston engine is an engine that has poppet valves operated by means of electromagnetic, hydraulic, or pneumatic actuators instead of conventional cams. Actuators can be used to both open and close valves, or to open valves closed by springs or other means.
A transmission control unit (TCU), also known as a transmission control module (TCM), or a gearbox control unit (GCU), is a type of automotive ECU that is used to control electronic automatic transmissions. Similar systems are used in conjunction with various semi-automatic transmissions, purely for clutch automation and actuation. A TCU in a modern automatic transmission generally uses sensors from the vehicle, as well as data provided by the engine control unit (ECU), to calculate how and when to change gears in the vehicle for optimum performance, fuel economy and shift quality.
In turbocharged internal combustion engines, a boost controller is a device sometimes used to increase the boost pressure produced by the turbocharger. It achieves this by reducing the boost pressure seen by the wastegate.
The Flowserve Corporation is an American multinational corporation and one of the largest suppliers of industrial and environmental machinery such as pumps, valves, end face mechanical seals, automation, and services to the power, oil, gas, chemical and other industries. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, which is in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, Flowserve employs close to 16,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Flowserve sells products and offers aftermarket services to engineering and construction firms, original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and end users. The Flowserve brand name originated in 1997 with a merger of BW/IP and Durco International.
A water timer is an electromechanical device that, when placed on a water line, increases or decreases the water flow through the use of an electro-mechanically actuated ball valve or embedded (solenoid) valve. It is used in conjunction with irrigation sprinklers to form an automated or non-automated sprinkler system, capable of administering precise amounts of water, at a regular basis. A water flow timer using a ball valve contains an electric motor with gears to stop or start the water flow by turning a perforated ball within the water flow line. The gearbox in a ball valve timer makes a rumbling sound when actuated. The solenoid type switching timers contain a solenoid that relieves pressure on a diaphragm in the water-flow tube or moves a stopper into the water flow area to regulate flow. The solenoid type uses no gears and makes a tapping sound when the solenoid is activated. Battery powered garden hose timers are the most commonly seen water timers and are seen in two types, the ball valve timer that is actuated by a motor with gears, and the diaphragm timer that is actuated by a solenoid. The solenoid/diaphragm timer uses more battery power throughout the "on" cycle because the solenoid must be actuated the entire time that the water flow is "on". The ball valve timer using the motor and gear actuator only uses more battery power during the few seconds that motor is used to turn the water flow on or off.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc is a British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. It is headquartered in Cheltenham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
An electrohydraulic servo valve (EHSV) is an electrically-operated valve that controls how hydraulic fluid is sent to an actuator. Servo valves are often used to control powerful hydraulic cylinders with a very small electrical signal. Servo valves can provide precise control of position, velocity, pressure, and force with good post-movement damping characteristics.
Partial stroke testing is a technique used in a control system to allow the user to test a percentage of the possible failure modes of a shut down valve without the need to physically close the valve. PST is used to assist in determining that the safety function will operate on demand. PST is most often used on high integrity emergency shutdown valves (ESDVs) in applications where closing the valve will have a high cost burden yet proving the integrity of the valve is essential to maintaining a safe facility. In addition to ESDVs PST is also used on high integrity pressure protection systems or HIPPS. Partial stroke testing is not a replacement for the need to fully stroke valves as proof testing is still a mandatory requirement.
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