In addition to the in-house testing facilities at their UK technical facility, FTF Group® has in-house design and manufacturing capabilities required to deliver complex solutions to projects worldwide.
FTF Group's in-house facilities includes a variety of full CNC punching and bending machining along with other specialist CNC machines.
Large Scale Manufacturing Capabilities
FTF Group® has vast experience when it comes to the manufacturing capability required to deliver the most complex of bespoke solutions on time and to the agreed and designed specification.
FTF Group's® in-house manufacturing capabilities include standard manufacturing equipment facilities including but not limited to cranes, forklifts and pump trucks, welding, linishing, metal saws, roller former's, power presses, turret punch and break presses and other full CNC machining centres.
Over the years, FTF Group® has also invested in various bespoke and non-bespoke industry-leading machinery, highlighting their commitment and drive to manufacturing their leading product solutions to the highest quality achievable.
CNC Serpentine Pipe Bending Machine
Prior to developing the bespoke full CNC Serpentine Pipe Bend Machine, FTF Group® utilized soldered connections to produce copper heating and cooling coils. The issue with soldered connections is that the quality of every soldered joint would depend upon operator skill and experience.
Problems with soldered joints can arise from flux burning, inadequate wetting, poor joint preparation and de-wetting caused by oxidation. This meant even when working within a documented quality system it was still possible to have a small percentage of joints (<2%) which can either leak on product test or have "flux inclusion" which can result in the product passing the hydrostatic test but then later exhibiting a leak within a few days of working service.
In order to negate the risk of products leaking on site from "Flux Inclusion", FTF Group® helped develop a sinusoidal bend which has zero joints and is a 100% repeatable process using a Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) manufacture process.
During the bend development, FTF Group® undertook Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to ensure that the CNC bend would meet the performance requirements necessary for exceptional service life.
FTF Group's® in-house full CNC automated serpentine bending machine produces seamless sinusoidal copper coils from thousand-meter drums of copper. This means there is no risk of leaks as there are no joints whatsoever in the coil.
Investing in a bespoke CNC serpentine bending machine for our cooling and heating products means FTF Group® can maintain production consistency across various copper coil lengths to suit the need of individual projects.
The high precision of the machine means FTF Group® can program the machine to create intricate bends in the copper coils without any errors to reduce waste and diminish defects, ensuring only high-quality products reach the end user.
Over the past decade, FTF Group® is proud to confirm no leakage from its serpantine coils. This production process is utilized on a range of FTF Group's® product solutions including their Multi-Service Radiant Panels (MSRPs), Modula, Frengerwarm and NOMS approved Prison Panels Radiant Heating Panels, as well as their X-Wing Radiant Passive Chilled Beams and their Wall Mounted and Hydroplank Chilled Ceilings.
High Power Punch Machinery
FTF Group® has an in-house Trumpf rotation punching machine which is used for the precise processing of metalwork for their HVAC product solutions.
The turret punch allows FTF Group® to meet fast production times, short setting up times, and high component quality - a must for a leading HVAC manufacturer such as FTF Group®.
CNC Press Brakes
FTF Group® has a number of 4m long full CNC press brakes to maximise productivity for the most demanding metal bending operations.
With high precision and a vast range of automatic material handling components / tools, the press brake machinery in-house at FTF Group's® UK technical facility is another example of FTF Group's® commitment to investing in machinery that maintains its high-quality manufacturing capabilities.
Bespoke X-Wing Knitting Machinery
For FTF Group's® X-Wing 'Radiant' Passive Chilled Beams, FTF Group® commissioned a fully CNC automated bespoke 'knitting' machine to mechanically compression bond the sinusoidal copper coils mentioned previously with the aluminum 'wings' of the X-Wing.
These aluminum wings are also produced in-house by the power presses and roll forming machines and are manufactured this way to be in direct metal to metal contact with the seamless copper waterways.
FTF Group® automated a vast majority of processes related to the manufacturing of the X-Wing 'Radiant' Passive Chilled Beam to ensure that the highest levels of quality are both repeatable and consistent at all times.
Venturi Air Pressure Testing and Lighting Electrical Safety and Functionality Tests
All of FTF Group's® Active Chilled Beams are factory manufactured to deliver the designed air volume at the systems designed static air pressure.
The air volume is guaranteed to be within 5% of the design and is validated by a test on a third-party calibrated venturi air pressure testing machine that has an accuracy of measurement within 3%. During this process a barcode and unique serial number is then generated and applied to the beam unit for full traceability of production on the BSI audited quality management system (QMS) to BSEN ISO 9001:2015.
FTF Group® utilize first-tier electronic components when wiring their gear trays, Philips drivers, and LED boards as well as emergency inverters and batteries. All the lighting circuits as part of the luminaire is then Clare tested in accordance with BS EN 60598-1 for earth continuity, insulation resistance, DALI functionality, and polarity check, before again having a unique barcode and serial numbered generated and applied.
Dedicated Powder-Coat Paint Plant
FTF Group® powder coat their Chilled Beams and other HVAC products to provide an even covering and high-quality product finish.
Efficient Exporting
FTF Group® has truly mastered the art of exporting to a fine art, helping them export their product solutions globally. Due to good planning and precise packaging, FTF Group® can maximise the number of Chilled Beams into shipping containers more efficiently than ever before.
One of the key advantages to their global exporting process lies in the efficient utilization of their overhead crane system installation inside their UK Technical Facility. This advanced crane system plays a crucial role in streamlining their shipping process to load shipping containers with remarkable efficiency.
FTF Group's commitment to excellence extends beyond the products of their highly efficient HVAC solutions. FTF Group® recognises that delivering products safely and on-time to projects worldwide is crucial.
By investing in top-of-the-line infrastructure, FTF Group® has solidified its reputation as an industry leader, offering their
Also situated in-house at FTF Group's UK technical facility are their state-of-the-art testing facilities. FTF Group® have 3x Climatic Testing Laboratories, 2x Photometric Laboratories and 1x Acoustic Laboratory, all of which to test and validate their product solutions. FTF Group® also utilizes third party validation and certification for all their product lines for added security and customer peace of mind - "FTF Group® have been a Trusted Brand for decades".
