Engineering components distributor HAYLEY DEXIS, working in partnership with LOCTITE®, has helped a UK bogie service centre achieve annual savings of approximately £26,000, while significantly reducing waste through the introduction of a refillable spray system.
The initiative has enabled the depot to lower product expenditure, eliminate thousands of disposable aerosol cans and reduce the environmental impact associated with maintenance operations.
The customer, a rail bogie service centre responsible for the maintenance and assembly of wheel sets, had been using LOCTITE SF 7063 aerosol cleaner as part of its assembly process. Annual consumption had reached around 15,000 aerosol cans, costing approximately £20,000 each year. Disposal of the empty cans added a further £6,000 in annual waste management costs. Faced with rising expenditure and significant waste volumes, the depot challenged HAYLEY DEXIS and LOCTITE to identify a more efficient and sustainable solution.
Drawing on their long-standing relationship with the customer, specialists from HAYLEY DEXIS and LOCTITE worked together to assess the site’s requirements and recommend an alternative approach. The solution centred on the LOCTITE refillable spray system, which combines reusable aerosol canisters with a dispensing station incorporating an air-powered pressuriser. This enables users to refill and reuse canisters while maintaining the convenience and effectiveness of an aerosol-based application method.
Under the new arrangement, HAYLEY DEXIS now supplies LOCTITE SF 7063 in 200-litre drums, allowing the depot to refill canisters on site as required. The dispensing station has been positioned close to the point of use within the maintenance facility, improving accessibility for engineers and helping ensure a critical consumable remains readily available during day-to-day operations.
As a result of the change, the depot is saving around £20,000 per year compared with its previous use of 400ml aerosol products. Waste disposal costs have also been reduced by approximately £6,000 annually, taking the total financial benefit to around £26,000 each year.
The sustainability benefits are similarly significant. The refillable aerosol canisters can be reused up to 600 times, dramatically reducing the volume of waste generated on site while helping to lower the facility’s associated carbon footprint.
“This project demonstrates how targeted engineering solutions can deliver measurable commercial and environmental benefits. By working closely with both the customer and Henkel, we were able to identify an approach that reduced operating costs, cut waste and improved day-to-day efficiency within the depot,” explained Josh Crampton, Marketing Manager at HAYLEY DEXIS.
“Organisations across the rail sector are increasingly looking for practical ways to improve sustainability without compromising performance. The LOCTITE refillable spray system shows how relatively simple changes can produce substantial long-term benefits in both operational and environmental terms,” added George Hickey, Market & Customer Activation Manager at LOCTITE.
