Ever got to the platform to discover that you train has been cancelled? If yes the chances are that thieves or vandals may have stolen valuable copper items, like rail cable or electrical earthing components, without which the trains cannot safely run. In the East Midlands, FM Sudafix’s home region of the UK, the costs in compensation for cancelled or delayed rail services are enormous and rising, and this does not include the costs of remedial action. FM Sudafix Group CEO, Steve Hutchinson, commented, “Whenever I read reports of thefts leading to problems on the railways I can’t help but think that a theft resistant, reduced copper Conducrete system may have prevented the problems. As an Achilles Link-Up supplier to the rail industry we are contacted when remedial works happen and you can’t help but notice the waste; I would always much rather see our products and services used on a new project, which expands and improves the UK infrastructure as opposed to having to put something back that should be there.”

The thieves who steal valuable non-ferrous metal products from electrical safety systems expose themselves to great personal risk as injuries can result in death. Steve further commented, “Anyone who thinks that stealing copper is a good idea should check the internet and search to see the injuries that they could suffer. Desperate people, or those attempting to make cash quickly from stealing, often end up dead. The people who steal copper and get away with it often have the narrowest of escapes from injury probably without realising how lucky they are; in that way by catching and stopping criminals the British Transport Police are probably saving those people from horrendous personal injury.”

The FM Sudafix Group supplies a range of railway electrical safety products and services featured on a dedicated website, where customers can see the range, which includes railway earthing cable, rail contact kits, rail bonds, Voltage Limiting Devices (VLDs) and many others. The company is recognised for its ability to engineer solutions for railway projects, often finding suitable applications for the cost, time and life-saving conductive aggregate Conducrete, which prevents theft and reduces a reliance on copper products to create electrically safe zones.

If you have concerns about the electrical safety, or wish to safeguard operational continuity, then please contact the team.

Numerous companies rely upon the FM Sudafix Group and SAE Inc. to protect their projects from the hazards of electrical faults. The partnership between the two organisations represents one of the most reliable and reassuring ‘safety nets’ operating within the electrical safety segment of the construction sector to date, but a question occasionally asked by companies who have not yet worked the partnership ask “is it just the product I need?” or indeed “can I use any products if I get you to design it?”.

In terms of using different products from those specified in a design, any responsible engineer would advise against this unless the products being substituted provide the exact attributes of the replaced item and that replacing it will not adversely affect the effectiveness of a safety system; our designs are always specified with exact products in mind to ensure that the system is effective and safe. Whilst it is certainly true that the products remain as excellent as they are whether the FM Sudafix Group and SAE Inc. have designed the accompanying system, it is worth recognising the impressive electrical safety track record that these companies possess.

The formation of the FM Sudafix Group united two British companies with proven track records, the material manufacture and supply company FM Sudafix, and the technical design consultancy, JMI. With the ability to supply materials and provide full technical support throughout the lifespan of a project, including beyond completion, the FM Sudafix Group has established an impressive reputation and presence on significant earthing / grounding projects domestically, Africa, and in the Middle and Far East. With a focus upon large scale utility and transport infrastructure projects the FM Sudafix Group has the expertise to add considerable value to project teams.

FM Sudafix is partnered in enterprise with SAE Inc., which was founded in 1990 by the renowned Canadian Professional Engineer Brien Sirola, who remains the company President to this day. Sirola’s achievements with SAE Inc. have been staggering and through his vision, and by utilising the decades of experience within the team SAE Inc. undertook the necessary research and development phase for their industry leading earthing / grounding products have been used on a range of prestigious facilities on behalf of organisations such as NASA; each project offered its unique challenges and opportunities to hone the SAE Inc. product range. With key telecoms clients including Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, MTS Allstream, Rogers Communications, Sprint PCS, Telus, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, SAE Inc. is experienced in a variety of telecom applications including central office switching, remote switching, cellular, PCS, microwave and fibre optics; their solutions work for a range of clients and it is for this reason that SAE Inc. earthing solutions have been standardised by Bell Canada. FM Sudafix is enormously proud of its association with SAE Inc. who manufacture a number of the most demanded products in the FM Sudafix product range.

The partnership of FM Sudafix and SAE Inc. enables them to jointly offer their value and performance engineered product and project expertise to create long-life electrical protection systems. These systems are based upon decades of proven, real-world experience engineering and building electrical protection and earthing / grounding systems that work, and their performance offers demonstrable benefits. Their innovative design techniques and product technologies combine the best of leading-edge academic knowledge with extensive field experience. This partnership provides an engineering design process that integrates site geography, soil characteristics and soil resistivity data with advanced computer modelling tools to ensure that their clients benefit from the most effective protection which directly addresses the specific challenges of a site and complete installation and project management services for the deployment of electrical protection and earthing / grounding systems.

The Nottingham Express Transit light rail system has been a demonstrable success, helping improve links to the city centre and in turn regenerate areas. Despite the success of the first phase of the Nottingham Tram it came as some surprise when the enhancements to the NET system were confirmed to proceed due to the dramatic spending cuts affecting many aspects of British life; consequently the enhancements to the system have been held up by the government on a few occasions as symbols of progress within the austerity measures.

It has recently been announced by various news agencies that the Tramlink Nottingham consortium has been nominated as the preferred bidder by Nottingham City Council. John Maher, FM Sudafix Technical Director, made the following comment on the announcement: “This announcement came as a surprise to many who expected the Arrow Connect consortium to be the preferred bidder. Clearly Tramlink Nottingham have demonstrated to Nottingham City Council that they have the right strategy to take the NET system to the next level. It is going to be an interesting build programme, and having worked extensively on NET Phase 1 I would dearly love for the FM Sudafix Group to be involved with NET Phase 2. It would make a nice addition to our current portfolio of light rail projects and I know that we can accommodate it due to the knowledge base, ability, and flexibility within the team. It’s one of those things that when you have experience of these projects then you can appropriately manage them, but if this is your first time being involved then you can expect to face the costs of learning on the job, that certainly should not put anyone off being involved, but they should be prudent and try and walk in with their eyes as wide open as possible because the challenges can be considerable.”

Also available to comment to the website was FM Sudafix Group CEO Steve Hutchinson, “The expertise in our team is top notch, so whether NET Phase 2 needs support with the earthing, equipotential bonding, stray current management or lightning protection, our team can help. When it comes to having the electrical safety products to install then the NET Phase 2 project team can rely on us to supply everything from VLDs (Voltage Limiting Devices), rail contact kits, pre-made and certified rail bonds, SPDs (Surge Protection Devices), rail drilling kits and our fantastic Conducrete, which is ideal of creating safe earths in demanding conditions such as the low excavation earths this system may need for rail signalling earthing or other earthing requirement. The FM Sudafix Group is great when it comes to rail earthing needs and our clients will confirm this, so we hope the NET Phase 2 project team knock on the door soon so we can start helping out by applying our value engineering techniques.”

The management of the FM Sudafix Group foster a multi-cultural approach to their business operations and encourage every member of staff to conduct themselves as citizens of the world with a view to better support their clients and customers. This approach contributes to the ongoing successes of the FM Sudafix Group, which currently operates in over twenty countries, and the impressive business performance was recognised by the Nottingham and Derby Chamber of Commerce. The FM Sudafix Group was shortlisted as a finalist for the award prior to the final judging to determine the overall winner of the category. The nominated companies were evaluated by the judge of the award, Alex Mauser of Midlands Enterprise Europe (http://www.een-midlands.org.uk/), and the verdict was that the FM Sudafix Group had demonstrated the best performance amongst the nominees. The award ceremony, held on Friday 25th September 2009, was a tremendous event and the members of the team fortunate enough to attend were delighted with the evening. FM Sudafix Group CEO, Steve Hutchinson, provided the following comment, “It is an honour and privelege to receive this acknowledgement from the business community and I offer my sincere thanks. I think it is important to recognise the most important contributor to the overall performance of the FM Sudafix Group, and that is the customers who are devoted to quality and high performance who return to us with every new project, we thank you for the opportunity to support you.” For further information please refer to:
http://www.thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk/news/Notts-firms-shine-chamber-
awards/article-1373676-detail/article.html and refer to the third award category on the page.

Rail and infrastructure projects form a substantial part of the activity of FM Sudafix Group companies. Our clients, customers and interested parties have genuine needs to establish the latest developments in the earthing/grounding, stray current management and cathodic protection aspects of the rail industry. The FM Sudafix Group is committed to providing its stakeholders with an industry leading standard of communication and access to current information about its ongoing performance and its involvement in rail and infrastructure projects is no exception. Whether our customers require effective, safety enhancing and theft resistant earthing/grounding products, or sector leading support services the FM Sudafix Group is demonstrably the choice of prudent buyers and project managers alike.

Visit: www.railearthing.com

Current evidence suggests that FM Sudafix was the first sector company to embrace the recently applicable Quality Assurance standard, ISO 9001:2008. It is unclear at this stage how many companies previously certified to ISO 9001:2000 will be able to gain certification with ISO 9001:2008. As a result of our proactive approach we have managed to align our factors of production to the requirements of this standard and gain certification. Our customers can be confident that they are enjoying phenomenal sector quality.

The current economic situation has cost the global construction industry billions of dollars through halted, cancelled and re-scoped projects. For troubled projects, budgets are drastically reduced or cancelled entirely and sites all over the world remain dormant, where the build should be nearing completion. It is a modern tragedy that impacts on communities, prospective structures intended users, and companies operating at all levels of the construction sector. Constructors are pushed to breaking point to cut costs and reduce prices and this pressure is exerted throughout the supply chain. The highest quality cannot be achieved for the lowest price and the net result is deeply troubling: buildings that ought to be magnificent and wholly safe completed to a substandard level potentially leaving that structure exposed to horrifying levels of risk. The situation sounds perilous but it is certainly avoidable, a maxim frequently cited by the FM Sudafix Group is “if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right,” and this is applicable to all endeavours. It is better to pool resources into the truly viable projects and then completing those buildings to the highest standards, this in turn will result in a more efficient structure returning the investment value in a swifter time, without the potential risk of litigation if hazards are not effectively managed by safety systems. Through the prudent deployment of resources and the selection of the right constructor and supply chain structures will simply be better, safer, and provide swifter remuneration of investment. There is nothing to gain in cutting corners and hoping nothing goes wrong. The FM Sudafix Group does not compromise on quality, and it freely admits that there is a cost for the highest performance items due to their higher cost of production. FM Sudafix electrical safety systems, be they earthing/grounding, lightning protection, cathodic protection or stray current management, are high performance and priced at the smallest margins that still protect the integrity of quality. It is the FM Sudafix Group’s high performance and quality services and products that have led to them being recognized as a safety seal of approval on any structure.

Traditionally the most used material in any earthing/grounding system is copper. There are a few attributes which make copper appealing to designers: the electrical conductivity of the material, and familiarity.

Using copper as the main method of creating safe earth/ground systems costs rail infrastructure projects, indeed the wider construction industry, billions of dollars a year. Copper is a high cost item and is attractive to criminals who steal the valuable components. The true cost of copper theft extends beyond replacement elements.

After theft occurs it takes time to discover the event and undertake remedial action; this period without protection exposes the project, facility or zone to potentially life threatening hazards. Fortunately copper, or other metallic components, are no longer the only materials which can be used to create safe zones. The British company, FM Sudafix, provides earthing/grounding solutions to address any issue so we posed the problem of copper theft to Technical Director, John Maher: “The theft of metallic components has always been a problem facing earthing/grounding and lightning protection systems.

Fortunately copper, aluminium or stainless steel materials are not the only available methods of earthing/grounding fault current, and even when they are utilized it is entirely possible to offer theft protection to them. “One of the materials exclusively held in the FM Sudafix product range offers superior earthing/grounding opportunities making substantial quantities of metallic components redundant; that compound is called Conducrete. “The theft prevention properties of Conducrete ensure that materials contained within Conducrete remain where they were installed, providing the protection needed.” Steve Hutchinson, FM Sudafix CEO, was recently asked about Conducrete: “The versatility of Conducrete is changing a number of industries. It is a unique product that solves problems in numerous sectors. We are still discovering further applications. We have to keep substantial stocks due to the enormous demand.” Conducrete is approved on projects throughout the globe. It has been approved for use on the Dublin LUAS light rail system, amongst other infrastructure projects, and by utility organizations all over the world. Other options for earthing/grounding include items of cathodic protection; FM Sudafix host AEL Anodes and the environmentally friendly EnvirAnode™ either offering extended life systems designed specifically for each project. FM Sudafix continues to demonstrate why it is the superior manufacturer.

This month the FM Sudafix Group have acknowledged a notable increase in enquiries for both light and heavy rail projects in a number of countries around the globe. Locating the potential reasons for the increase in orders for services and materials are not immediately clear, although it is entirely likely to be connected to the global financial situation. It seems paradoxical to consider a difficult economic period as an impetus for growth, yet there may be some truth to this. A number of governments have sought methods of driving domestic stability through the construction industry. Whilst commercial projects require a reciprocal demand from commercial entities, or a marketplace robust enough to sustain developments until they find an interested party, infrastructure projects derive their customers from their domestic population and tourists. Effectively governments following this route to reignite a flagging economy utilise their national fiscal resources recognizing that such projects are effective at repaying their initial investment over time, and they immediately expand the opportunities for local enterprises. The reason for rail companies seeking to obtain the services and products of FM Sudafix is self-evident, with the ability to support projects from pre-design to the completion of construction the FM Sudafix Group is regarded by many leading rail sector operators as peerless. With a catalogue of successful projects in continents spanning the world the FM Sudafix Group is always pleased to assist project teams in the creation of reliable, effective and compliant rail systems.

FM Sudafix has won numerous business and specific sector accolades, which has always demonstrated our ongoing performance to the global marketplace. Recently the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce (www.dncc.co.uk) has seen fit to acknowledge our achievements in their 2009 Awards programme. It is always encouraging to receive this sort of recognition from a business network working closely with organizations in the region and we look forward to championing business excellence in all of our territories of operation around the world. The FM Sudafix Group is proud of its association with the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce and possesses the firm conviction that by continuing to deliver the highest level of service and response to the needs of our clients the FM Sudafix Group’s successes will continue. Whilst awards provide a clear indication of how a business is regarded the FM Sudafix Group insist that the only indicator of their ongoing accomplishments that matters is the high esteem of its ever expanding customer base.

Some of the FM Sudafix UK team with the host of the Derby Chamber Awards event, famous actor Brian Blessed.