Tube-Mac Piping Technologies is a piping engineering firm that defies the ordinary. Clean, cost-effective, and leak-free, the company’s three market-disrupting systems are setting the bar for no-weld industrial pipeline systems that offer alternatives to traditional welded pipe systems and consistently save customers over 60 percent in typical installation and flushing costs.
With nearly half a century of expertise guiding its operational culture, the company was established from the back of a pick-up truck in 1977. Today, Tube-Mac is headquartered in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, with over 300 team members serving its large clientele from facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Doing it better
At a time when obtaining skilled labour is a challenge across industries and finding good high-pressure welders is difficult, especially in isolated and low-population regions, Tube-Mac solves pressing labour issues. It also helps alleviate customers improve their ecological responsibility and fiscal bottom lines, with state-of-the-art innovation, field installation services, and custom engineering design. The team also fabricates non-welded piping systems for hydraulic and lubrication applications and for various fluid and gas applications.
Requiring no X-ray inspections, Tube-Mac’s concept saves even more money while eliminating the issue of stress fatigue cracks found in welded joints. Underpinned by ISO 9001:2015 certification, the company’s systems are easy to install in limited spaces, while also bypassing emergency off-loading of pipe contents to enable repairs. There is, therefore, no disposal of chemical waste, no need for neutralizers or acid flushes, and no need for fire permits or fire watch personnel.
Unsurprisingly, news of Tube-Mac’s products is travelling fast as the industry catches on to its outstanding value proposition, and the team is proud of its resulting growth trajectory. “Cleanliness and environmental issues are significant concerns in the industry. There is absolutely no reason that piping systems should be installed in the same manner they were 60 years ago, with high labour costs and inadequate cleanliness practices,” says Chris Peitchinis, Vice President of Business Development.
As part of the company’s expansion efforts, Tube-Mac recently introduced a new line, the PreFiS range, unique to a separate business entity trading as PreFiS Fittings GmbH and operating from Germany. PreFiS is not the company’s only notable, new operation, however. This year will mark the grand opening of its new Singapore facility, which houses a fabrication facility and sales office. Tube-Mac is also proud of its growing presence in around 30 countries globally, thanks to strategic distribution partnerships.
The company’s depth of expertise has secured it a diverse following from numerous industries, including mining and aluminum, pulp and paper, simulation and testing, steel and automotive, and offshore drilling and prospecting, making its wealth of expertise a widely respected resource in the trade. Its team of industry-savvy, expert technicians and project managers is well-versed in custom-engineering solutions that render optimal routing layouts at reasonable cost. Therefore, fabrication and installation services are designed to suit customers, with both prefabrication and field fabrication as options. And, alongside all its other services, Tube-Mac offers 3D modelling, layout, supervision, and commissioning.
Eliminating the need for skilled welders, the company provides training in specialized equipment fabrication and maintenance to empower customers’ field teams, ensuring proper use and product longevity. That includes executing oil flushing and pressure testing, a service that is a significant plus for companies that often rely on migrant labour requiring specialized work permits.
Innovative products
Tube-Mac is most notable for its 37° Flare Flange System. Named after its characteristic 37-degree flaring pipe ends, the system features internal cones and flanges that create premium seals for piping systems transporting an array of liquids and gases over long distances. The flare flange connection is based on sliding a flare flange onto the steel pipe before being flared. After flaring, the flanges are drawn together, and one flat face cone is inserted into one pipe end and an O-ring face cone is inserted into the other pipe end. An entirely leak-free flange connection is created when the flanges are bolted together, connecting the flared ends and drawing the cones into a sealed position. TMI®37° Flare Flange System is available in a range of diameters ranging from ½-inch to 10 inches with corresponding pressure capacities ranging up to 6,000 psi or 420 bar.
The company’s PYPLOK® system is a 360° radial swaged fitting that features internally fitted O-rings providing necessary reinforcement in high-pressure systems ranging from 200 to 600 bar capacities. PYPLOK® fittings can be installed for use in various fluids and gases as long as the medium is compatible with the O-rings. The standard O-ring is Viton, which handles the widest variety of fluids and gases. For high temperature water or steam applications, EPDM O-rings must be utilized.
Tube-Mac’s latest non-welded technology, PreFiS fittings, are devoid of O-rings. It is an axial swaged fitting which, when swaged with the PreFiS tool, produces a metal-to-metal seal, custom-designed to handle water mist fire suppression systems up to 140-bar pressure. Water mist fire suppression piping systems connected with PreFiS fittings are ideal for use in data centres, museums, and cruise ships.
These outstanding products have landed Tube-Mac quite a number of international projects. One of these, the $5.25 billion USD Panama Canal Third Set of Locks Project, was executed in collaboration with Bosch Rexroth Germany. The project saw Tube-Mac arrive at the site with two ocean container-loads of equipment—one for the Pacific side and another for the Atlantic side of the canal, with two teams working across the waterway from one another. While this project demanded more than 1,000 37° Flare Flanges and over 2,000 PYPLOK fittings, the overall mission was the addition of a much-improved waterway, large enough to significantly improve traffic flow. The expanded lock system led to the introduction of NeoPanamax cargo ships, a new generation of gargantuan commercial vessels that now pass through the famous canal. “The new design also featured advanced water-saving basins and massive new concrete gates,” Peitchinis explains.
Making a splash
The company’s systems are not only used for hard industrial applications like steel mill equipment and forging presses, however. Its products are routinely incorporated into engineering destined for seemingly magical architectural effects and entertainment feats for globally recognized names. Tube-Mac was responsible, for instance, for the hydraulic piping that powers the 28 wings of the dynamic roof at the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
“PYPLOK fittings were [also] utilized underwater to operate the floor and lifts for the thrilling acrobatic fantasy show Le Rȇve, at Wynn in Las Vegas,” Peitchinis shares.
Yet more applications include Universal Studios’ entertainment and simulation rides featuring the company’s products in setups for Despicable Me, Fast and Furious 7, and Jurassic World, where the hydraulic system animates dinosaurs. Its engineering can even be found in earthquake simulators in Taiwan, Japan, and China. Moreover, BMW, Porsche, and Audi have harnessed its innovation in simulation test equipment.
Powered by people
Rather than magic and wild imaginings, however, Tube-Mac runs on the hard work and creative genius of a strong team of pragmatic problem solvers. For this, the company’s management team is especially grateful. “Machines, although automated, do not run by themselves. Everyone contributes to our success,” says Peitchinis. “From the sales team and piping designers to machinists on the shop floor, from packing to shipping and finally to our field technicians who are in the limelight with our customers on the jobsites,” everyone’s contribution matters.
Knowing the value of generous contributions, Tube-Mac gives back wholeheartedly to several good causes, including a local high school robotics team, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, The Salvation Army, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Doctors without Borders, and many others.
This sense of commitment extends to everything the company touches, including staying abreast of the technological advances in its field, and with that commitment comes large capital investment. “We continue to improve our processes with the latest CNC machining lathes and centres. We train our employees and ensure safety is number one,” Peitchinis says.
As with all evolution, expansion follows in close succession. To this end, Tube-Mac’s PreFiS acquisition now gives it access to new markets requiring lower pressure capacities. Peitchinis’ invitation to prospective customers is one of welcome. “Tube-Mac takes the worry away from customers. Leave it to us, and we will take care of the complete piping system,” he says. It’s proving to be a winning formula.
