Turning Up the Productivity

Customer

A leading global supplier of medical, industrial and specialty compressed gas. 

Application

High volume production gas cylinder filling.

Challenge

The stiff, high-pressure hoses used in the application made it difficult for the workers to connect and disconnect the cylinders before and after the fill cycle.

Project Goals

• Develop a swivel fitting to facilitate easier hose positioning
• The bearing design must minimize particulate generation during the rotation of the swivel fitting

Solution

The FasTest team partnered closely with the customer, diving deep into the fill plant’s workflow to understand the precise challenges posed by stiff, high-pressure hoses in their high-volume setup. Leveraging this insight, we engineered a groundbreaking swivel fitting featuring an industry-first ball bearing design. This ingenious assembly delivered silky-smooth rotation under pressure, effortlessly overcoming hose rigidity while minimizing particulate generation—a critical factor for maintaining gas purity. The design’s robust sealing integrity and low-friction mechanics ensured reliable performance even in the most demanding conditions, transforming a cumbersome task into a streamlined operation with a simple, elegant twist.

Results

The new swivel fitting turbocharged the customer’s cylinder filling process, slashing connection times by over 30% and banishing the frustration of wrestling with unwieldy hoses on packed manifolds. Operators could now position cylinders with pinpoint ease, eliminating the bottleneck that once stalled production and boosting daily output to new heights. Safety soared as the fittings’ fluid motion reduced physical strain and eradicated hose kinking, extending hose lifespan and cutting replacement costs significantly. The team nicknamed it “the smooth operator” for its seamless performance, raving about the newfound speed, comfort, and reliability that turned a gritty chore into a productivity powerhouse—keeping the fill plant humming and morale high.