50,000 Collars a Year: Wilo France Boosts Manifold Tube Production Efficiency with the T-DRILL SEC-115

 In 2022, Wilo France, a subsidiary of the German Wilo Group, purchased the high-speed, fully automatic T-DRILL SEC-115 collaring machine for their Laval production facility. The collaring machine is integrated into a manifold production cell, acquired to improve the company's production efficiency by eliminating the need to buy manifolds from an external supplier.

"Before purchasing the SEC-115 and integrating the new cell, we sourced our manifold tubes from an external supplier. However, we were facing challenges with delivery accuracy and the large volume of different manifolds required. That is why we opted for in-house manufacturing", says Philippe Gondet, Autonomous Production Unit Manager responsible for the manifold production cell.

The T-DRILL SEC-115 utilizes the world-renowned T-DRILL collaring technology: the machine forms a collar directly from the run pipe, eliminating the need for t-fittings. Currently, Wilo's T-DRILL SEC-115 produces around 50,000 collars a year – and generates considerable savings along the way:

"With the new cell and the T-DRILL SEC-115, we save 25 % in costs with each manifold."

Fast, Efficient, and Clean Production for Hundreds of Manifold Types 

The T-DRILL SEC-115 is designed to streamline the production of manifolds, particularly those requiring multiple collar diameters. With more than 500 different manifold types, Wilo France is pleased to report increased efficiency since the commissioning of the SEC-115:

"Setting up diameters for different manifolds on the SEC-115 is easy and fast. The machine also produces no scraps – the parts are finished automatically without operators having to fix them. These qualities simplify the work of machine operators and increase the efficiency of our production."

Gondet notes that the machine's collaring tools are extremely advanced. Equipped with an automatic tool changer, the collaring unit selects the correct tool, which is automatically adjusted according to the programmed collar diameter. No manual tool adjustment is needed.

"All in all, the T-DRILL SEC-115 is a very good machine. We have had no problems with it – it is extremely precise, easy to use, and has a very long lifetime."

Plans for Growing Production with the SEC-115 

Currently, Wilo France's SEC-115 is being further optimized to support growing production: in the coming years, the machine will be producing 60,000 collars a year.

"We have had very good support from T-DRILL and T-DRILL's French representative throughout the process – from commissioning to requesting a quotation for the optimization. We are looking forward to further increasing our productivity with the T-DRILL SEC-115. We would, without a doubt, consider T-DRILL for our next investment and also recommend T-DRILL to others – we would have no problem recommending a good supplier."

Interested in increasing efficiency in your manifold production? Read more about the SEC-115 or contact us!

Learn more about T-DRILL collaring