Industrial Distribution - November/December 2015

Looking for an industrial hose, couplings, or hose ac- cessory product line to carry? There are a few hap- penings in the market you should be aware of before you pick a brand to stick with.

Crimping vs. Clamping

According to hose and accessories manufacturer Kuriyama (Schaumburg, IL) one major trend in the hose market is towards crimping hose assemblies instead of clamping, as crimping provides a stronger seal around the outside of a hose than clamping. Traditionally, different coupling designs had to be used for each method, requiring distributors to stock duplicate coupling inventories.

New hybrid designs, however, can be used for both crimping and clamping, eliminating that problem. For instance, Kuriyama’s new Tri-Couple design allows distributors to purchase a crimp-ready coupling at an economical cost.

“The distributor can offer the customer a crimped
assembly, which is safer, and more durable, at the same
cost as a clamped assembly,” says Ken Moore, Kuriyama

Couplings Product Manager. “Additionally, not having
to stock dual inventories reduces the distributor’s overall
costs, allowing them to
pass this savings on to
the customer.”

Moore says Kuriyama expects the market to continue to trend toward crimped assemblies, as more and more distributors carry both high and low pressure hoses.

Value

As with all industrial products, value is the name of the game. Products should be fair priced without sacrificing quality. Kuriyama says that generally, domestic produced couplings offer the highest degree of quality, but with the right quality controls in place, an import coupling can offer a similar degree of quality. As always, distributors should take care to ensure the manufacturer has such quality controls in place before selecting a coupling product line.

Hoses & Couplings Trends

What to know before choosing an industrial hose or coupling product line

[NEW PRODUCTS]

Crimped Hose Clamped Hose

High Performance Grease Lubrication Engineers, Inc. (Wichita, KS) introduces its newest food grade lubricant, H1 Quincal Syn FG Grease, a high-perfor-mance synthetic grease for use in food manufacturing plants, especially for those applications where severe conditions such as high temperatures, heavy loads, and water are present. H1 Quincal Syn FG Grease is NSF H1 registered for incidental food contact and is robust enough to handle elevated temperatures and other harsh conditions, resulting in longer bearing life, fewer equipment repairs, less downtime, and lower lubricant consumption. It is especially effective when used on bearings operating in a warm, moist environment or in operations where a lot of water is needed to keep equipment cool.

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Work Gloves Magid (Romeoville, IL) expands its broad line of work gloves to include thermal protection for cold weather conditions, paired with the cut resistance that workers need to protect against sharp materials. The newest styles address a variety of customer requirements such as hiding dirt, improved visibility, and impact protection. Options include: