To keep production lines moving, hydraulic hose applications play an important role in the food and beverage processing industry where equipment is subject to extreme temperatures, cleaning chemicals and corrosive environments, according to Motion Australia’s Sean Babbage.

“Australian food and beverage regulators require producers to adhere to stringent sanitation and aseptic standards for products that are made for human consumption. As a result, hydraulic hose is a practical solution for high powered washdown applications used in sterilising machine components to mitigate the risk of contamination,’ says Sean.

“Like most fluid transfer systems, hydraulic hose assemblies come in a variety of material constructions, shapes, and sizes and require complex engineering expertise to fit and install properly,” he explains.

“Improper assembly can lead to corrosive build-up, cracking, leaking and bacterial growth in the hose. Which is why procurement managers should ensure that their hose assembly components are designed, tested, and validated to meet the specific requirements of their equipment and in line with industry standards.”

As General Manager – Flow Technologies at Motion Australia, Sean has more than 15 years of experience with leading Flow Technology projects, a background in mechanical engineering, and a rich understanding of the manufacturing and operations requirements in high-growth markets such as the food and beverage sectors.

In recent years, Sean has been working with Gates® – one of Motion Australia’s strategic supply partners and a notable OEM supplier– to introduce their range of hydraulic hose fittings to Motion Australia’s customer network.

Along with a new standard range of hydraulic hose products including the Gates® MegaSys™ MXT™ and MegaSys™ MXG™ 4K and 5K Hydraulic Hose products, Motion Australia has started offering Gates® Hydraulic Hose Assembly Kits as a total package solution for fluid power applications.

“Motion Australia carries a wide range of hydraulic hose assembly kits to suit all applications, but we are currently hosting Hose Assembly Workshops that utilise the Gates® MXT™ range Hydraulic Hose Assembly Kits in 1 and 2 wire braided applications,” says Sean.

“The Gates® Hydraulic hose MXT™ range is the perfect accompanying product to suit our customer workshops as it reduces weight and routing difficulties. The MXT™ range is 30 percent lighter than traditional hydraulic hose.”

Brand new to the Australian market, the Gates® Hydraulic Hose Assembly Kits combine quality, design, and innovative hose technology to achieve a lightweight and more flexible hydraulic hose for the most demanding industrial environments.

The assemblies are designed to work as a complete system and meet or exceed Australian food safety standards.

Additionally, the Gates® MXT™ range of hydraulic hose products are challenging traditional products for similar applications with an innovative new hose construction that consists of a reinforced wire pack that is highly flexible and lighter – in some cases amounting to double the service life.

For food and beverage producers, any downtime on equipment comes at the cost of production. But according to Sean, Gates® Hydraulic Hose solutions are a minimal investment that has huge savings benefits.

“Our Hose Assembly Workshops have seen a reduction in customer downtime and maintenance by ensuring customers have the ability to maximise these cost savings benefits,” he explains. “One way we are doing this is by training staff on site in hydraulic hose assembly procedures.

“Additionally, Motion Australia has been working with customers to catalogue their equipment assets and effectively ‘kit up’ on specific Gates® Hydraulic hose components, fittings, and accessories. This ensures that our customers have the correct replacement hoses readily available for a scheduled maintenance or urgent replacements”

For plant operators, providing staff with hydraulic hose training will save them major complications with production scheduling, spoiled products, and maintenance costs. Concludes Sean: “If we can help alleviate downtime for customers in the food and beverage industry then our job is done.”

Gates® Hydraulic Hose Solutions

  • High pressure hydraulic tubing
  • Hydraulic tubing
  • Hydraulic hose assemblies
  • Hose-tube combinations
  • Adaptors and flanges
  • Hydraulic tube manifolds
  • Assembly kits and bundles