Henco will start producing pre-insulated pipes from April. To this end, 10 million will be invested in a new foam line, which will provide insulation for the well-known Henco multilayer pipe. The investment brings major benefits in efficiency and supply flexibility, as well as sustainability. More than a thousand trucks take it off the road every year for Henco. With it, Henco becomes the only producer with full in-house production of this type of tubes in Western Europe

With a new €10 million investment, Henco is showing its confidence in the future. Providing the pipes with insulation foam in-house instead of leaving this to (foreign) partners boosts efficiency and sustainability. Wim Verhoeven, CEO: ‘We bring the production from A to Z in-house, where previously each truck trip to our partners required two or three return trips. That transport saving takes more than 1,000 trucks off the road every year, or about 750 tonnes of CO2." This year, Henco also already installed 2,000 solar panels on the site, starting the direction towards more sustainable production.

Quality label

Due to increasingly stringent building standards, demand for pre-insulated pipes is rising. Thanks to its new innovative process, Henco improves the insulation value, and thus also the energy losses in both heating and cooling systems. But also in terms of fire safety, the pipe plays in the highest class, both in terms of fire retardancy and flammability (drop formation) of the material. Wim Verhoeven: ‘Moreover, we keep the quality even better in our own hands, and the lead time from order to delivery is reduced considerably. This enables us to respond much more flexibly to demand, partly thanks to the construction of a smart buffer stock. In short, we can now rightly bear the ‘made in Belgium’ quality label."

Benefits for the target group

The end customer for Henco pipes is the sanitary installers, who pass through the wholesaler for this purpose. For the consumer/occupier, Henco products are invisible and not directly relevant as ‘behind the wall’. But for the target group of installers, it is important that they can turn to a reliable supplier who can respond quickly for the right colours, thicknesses and lengths. This allows them to optimally plan their work and reduce waste. ‘On the other hand, because of our certifications in different countries, specifiers and engineering offices are also sure of their business, which is an advantage especially in large construction projects with European standards (e.g. BREEAM).’

Local anchoring with a view to the world

The new line would create some 15 extra jobs in the first phase. Henco is thereby creating a positive sound in the Flemish industrial manufacturing industry. Wim Verhoeven: ‘We are anchoring locally, to better serve the whole of Europe. We have already purchased adjacent space for this purpose, with a view to possible future expansion. The construction sector in Europe is slowly growing towards unification, but there are still a lot of regional differences. From our factory, we can respond to this smoothly, with local people who have the right skills and attitude. So we are quite proud to be the first factory in Europe to realise this entire process in-house. We are ready to support and even co-direct any evolution in construction, including towards prefabrication, for example."

About Henco

Henco, headquartered in Herentals, develops and produces high-quality solutions in pipe and fitting technology and is a reliable partner for professionals in the sanitary, heating and cooling industry.The success story of Henco Industries NV began in 1992 when entrepreneur Louis Hendrickx launched the multilayer pipe.Today, more than 300 employees ensure annual production and sales of more than 130 million metres of pipe and more than 11 million fittings.Since 2008, Henco has been part of the listed industrial group Aalberts.With an extensive distribution network, Henco serves customers in more than 60 countries.Henco values long-term partnerships with its customers, with support at every level of the project, from technical advice to after-sales service.

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