Replacements for failed pneumatic cylinders can be supplied within as little as 4h by a service that enables companies to get interrupted production back-on line with minimum downtime costs.

ASCO Joucomatic's new Premier Cylinder Service enables companies to get interrupted production back-on line, fast, and with minimum downtime costs. The new service provides a safety net in the event of unexpected failure of pneumatic cylinders, by providing a facility for replacement in as little as 4h. The Premier Cylinder Service covers ASCO Joucomatic's comprehensive ranges of profile and round tube cylinders in bore sizes from 8-125mm, and of virtually any stroke length.

It offers a graduated level of service dependent upon user need and urgency.

The highest- level service is the Premier 4- hour service: this guarantees same day delivery for orders of up to two cylinders placed before 12 noon.

Importantly for customers, the price of cylinders supplied under the new service is as the current ASCO Joucomatic price list; however, a nominal GBP 25 service charge per cylinder is applied, plus special carriage charge for same day delivery.

For situations where speed of delivery is not quite so crucial, ASCO Joucomatic has introduced the Premier 24h and Premier 24h+ services.

Operating on the same terms as the Premier 4h service, the Premier 24h guarantees manufacture of up to two cylinders within 24h and same day overnight despatch for orders placed before 12 noon; while the Premier 24h+ ensures manufacture of up to five cylinders within 24h and next day despatch with no service charge.

'The introduction of this new graduated service is a crucial support to the 24- hour manufacturing and processing operations of our customers,' said John Christophe Serkumian, managing director of ASCO Joucomatic UK.

'The nature of the global economy means that in interruptions in production are extremely serious and costly in downtime terms.

With our new service our aim is to reduce the duration of these interruptions to an absolute minimum, helping to ensure maximum efficiency from our customers' plants.' The Premier Cylinder Service is one of the first results of ASCO Joucomatic's initiative in lean manufacturing at its Skelmersdale, UK, manufacturing facility.

The company has invested GBP 250,000, alone, on one machining centre, which is used for manufacturing piston rods.

This, and major investment in other areas of its machine shop and logistics facilities, is optimising ASCO Joucomatic's operations, by improving the through-flow of goods and data, and by minimising waste.

'Our initiative in Lean Manufacturing has been undertaken to ensure that ASCO Joucomatic remains a major player in the fluid control and fluid power markets,' said Serkumian, 'Our aim is to give our customers the products that they want, when they want them; and always endeavouring to exceed their expectations.