Green Point UK, BITZER UK's compressor remanufacturing and services arm, is celebrating 10 years in business this April.
The company, headquartered in Milton Keynes, has grown steadily since launching in 2014, and remains the UK's only compressor remanufacturer to operate alongside the original producer.
Will Pribyl, General Manager since the launch, said: "We have a unique niche, working hand-in-glove with our UK colleagues and the global BITZER group, as well as being part of Green Point's international network."
He added: "This enables us to draw on BITZER and Green Point's unmatched expertise and resources, reflected in the technical excellence of our offering and related services."
Green Point UK opened its doors on 24th April 2014, with local MP Iain Stewart cutting the green ribbon. The first remanufactured unit to be despatched was a BITZER semi-hermetic reciprocating compressor, model 4PCS-15.2, ordered by RSL Ireland, still a long-standing customer. Shortly after, the first remanufactured screw unit – a BITZER HSN7451-60 – left the warehouse.
Since then, it has processed thousands of BITZER compressors and helped its growing customer base deliver high quality solutions for clients the length and breadth of the country, and beyond.
Indeed, the company supplies remanufactured compressors as far afield as the Faro Islands in the north, and – on rare occasions – as far south as Australia, to support marine cooling on UK-built ships.
Over the past decade, the most popular compressor handled is BITZER's 4CC 6.2 Octagon semi-reciprocating unit, a workhorse that is used in refrigeration packs, cold stores, retail, and commercial and industrial applications.
The original team of four staff has now grown to eight, which includes long-serving screw technology specialist Mick Nicholson, who is celebrating 20 years service with BITZER UK and, latterly, Green Point UK.
When established, Green Point UK was the 20th BITZER remanufacturing operation to open. Today, there are 60 Green Point facilities operating globally.
Under the watch of Will Pribyl and BITZER UK's MD Kevin Glass, the business has contributed important technical innovations that have been adopted by Green Point internationally. This includes an innovative hydraulic pressure test rig for transcritical CO2 units, used to ensure the integrity and leak-tightness of compressor bodies, and important updates to the detailed remanufacturing protocol used across the network.
Green Point UK also acts as a centre of remanufacturing excellence, hosting visits from staff setting up new Green Point operations, such as in Africa and Brazil.
Will Pribyl: "Looking ahead, we see the drive towards establishing a true circular economy in the industry accelerating. Our vision is to continue expanding the remanufacturing side, while developing added-value services around this core.
"This includes site services, such as system diagnostics and optimisation, to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation. This dove-tails with BITZER's roll-out of intelligent controls and remote diagnostics, now possible using the latest built-in IQ modules linked to BITZER's Digital Network."
"It's an exciting time to be part of the industry, and Green Point UK is well positioned to continuing pioneering on this new frontier."
