Message 11 in the About Paratherm  series...

Greetings from Paratherm,

When You Need Fluid Fast: Paratherm Logistics — 5 Warehouse Locations and the Paratherm Customer Service Team

True Stories of Urgent Supply

For nearly 25 years now, Paratherm has been supporting hot-oil applications to help their operators minimize downtime, make the fluid and equipment last as long as possible, and maintain their processes for maximum efficiency and productivity.  While we're at it, we sell them some heat transfer fluid.

But now and then a mishap occurs resulting in the urgent need for a part, a gauge, a tool, a component—or some lube oil, some grease, a gasket or a seal.

Or, some heat transfer fluid.

Here are some of the circumstances we've observed in the not-too-distant past:

New Systems:

• Customer underestimated the total volume of the heater, piping, and the heat user, and when the contractor showed up to start the system for the first time, they still needed 3 drums of hot oil to reach minimum operating volume.
  
  
• The contractor thought the factory had ordered the fluid.  The plant manager thought the contractor had ordered the fluid.  When it was time to bring up the application for the first time, no fluid.

Existing Systems:

• Plant was relocating their heaters from inside the building to a new, separate heater shed. When the full charge of fluid had been pumped in, they were still short of the minimum.  Sent somebody out to look and 300 gallons were on the shed floor.  Inadvertently, a valve had been left open.
  
  
• Backed a forklift into a pressure valve. By the time they shut down the system, 175 gallons had escaped.
  
  
• Accidental fire, caused by fluid ejected from the system into a catch drum with water in it.
  
  
• Got a call one Friday evening, customer had drained a significant portion of the fluid volume to perform some routine maintenance on piping and components.  Afterward, when they buttoned up and restarted the system, it started burping and popping and generally acting up as they approached their operating temperature.  Turned out that gradually collected water had been hiding down deep in an inactive nook of the fluid expansion tankage, and was stirred up and mixed into the system at large when the removed (but uncontaminated) fluid was reintroduced. Now, that old water was trying to turn to steam. Customer had an urgent need to get back online by Monday morning, so we shipped a new charge of fluid immediately, and by Sunday evening they were back online.

In each of these situations, Paratherm responded, either over a weekend, or in the middle of the night, by contacting our warehouse operators and expedited shipping services, all working as a team to urgently supply enough hot oil to bridge the customer over the crisis.

Not Just for Off-Hours Emergencies

Paratherm's Customer Service and Logistics team frequently responds according to the needs of each customer, each situation, whether it's a Tuesday afternoon or a holiday weekend.

So contact Paratherm's behind-the-scenes customer service pros when you need the fluid tomorrow, this Friday, or next week. 

The Paratherm team has developed a network of stocking locations for Paratherm’s heat transfer fluids, throughout North America, and increasingly, around the world.

In North America, these inventories are managed directly by the headquarters team in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; so whether you need a drum tomorrow in Minneapolis, Minnesota or a tote on Thursday morning in Sarasota, Florida, our sales and service professionals have the logistical knowledge, and contacts, to get you the fluid you need, when you need it—often without resorting to premium-cost expedited transportation services.  Note; for weekend emergencies or same-day delivery, these expedited freight services are generally the only option available.

The map below shows Paratherm’s North American stocking points.

North American Stocking:

 So, summing up Paratherm's Logistics Services

• Fast turnaround on routine orders
• Expedited shipments for weekend or weeknight emergencies
• Attention to detail, and responsiveness to unique needs
• Relationships with warehousing and logistics networks
• Stock ready to ship from 5 USA warehouse locations (not all warehouses stock all products)
• International distribution and representation
• We ship 24/7

And keep in mind another benefit of working with Paratherm; We strive to help our customers keep on top of things with predictive/preventive maintenance, so that urgent situations are far less likely to arise in the first place (Hint:  When was your last heat transfer fluid analysis?)

One last detail; one of the customers mentioned in the brief emergency descriptions above actually switched from a competing brand over the weekend, because the other company simply wouldn't help them until Monday.

So, switch to Paratherm this weekend!

For further information on heat transfer fluids, system cleaners, and related services, call Paratherm toll free at (800) 222-3611 in the US and Canada, at +1 610-941-4900 for international inquiries. You can call these numbers on weeknights and weekends! 

For your convenience, in case you missed any, here are the previous messages in this series:

Monthly TipSheet for Hot Oil System Users

December 2012 Chemical Engineering Article, Troubleshooting HTF Systems

Paratherm's Unsubmerged Info Blog

The Paratherm Sales and Support Team

Heat Transfer Fluids: A User's Guide

The Fluids: Paratherm's Line of Thermal Fluids

Services for Hot-Oil Users

System Cleaners from Paratherm

One-Minute Video: Fluid Analysis for Predictive Maintenance in Hot Oil Systems

Best Regards,

 
Greg Jerdan, Operations Manager
Paratherm - Heat Transfer Fluids
31 Portland Road
West Conshohocken PA  19428 USA
610-941-4900  phone  610-941-9191 fax

P.S. if you'd like to learn more about Paratherm and Heat Transfer Fluid Technology in general, click here to receive the series About Paratherm.