It has long been the tradition to give ships names, Amarjit Binji – or rather his children – went further and named his Ranheat boiler system Gloria.
Chris Franklin MD at Ranheat Engineering, a leading UK manufacturer of wood combustion equipment-continues his series of articles exclusively for Furniture and Joinery Production. In this issue he looks at one of his most successful customers, and their boiler system Gloria. Amarjit Binji is a time-served carpenter and joiner/wood machinist – he is now CEO of AJB Woodworking Ltd T/A AJB Group based in Corby. From humble beginnings in Oadby Leicestershire the AJB Group has continued its growth driven by its founder Amarjit Binji. Last year Amarjit was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the very competitive Midlands Business Awards 2022.
Chris Franklin writes: “I first met Amarjit in 2004 when I sold him a 150kW warm air heater, this was for his site in Oadby. As AJB Group continued to grow and expand, it wasn’t that long before that this needed changing to a 300kW warm air system and a much bigger storage silo. When they expanded again to another site in Corby, a much bigger boiler system was needed. This time it was a Ranheat 980 kW system, that being boiler based, it was able to receive support under the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive.”
Amarjit Binji, CEO of AJB Group keeping tabs on one of his latest investments
Amarjit has always led from the front, never asking anyone to do something he wasn’t prepared to do himself, so initially he looked after the new boiler system. He continues to monitor Gloria personally.
Gloria was named by Amarjit’s children, Jai and Aaron, and ‘she’ is fitted with the latest Ranheat ceramic flue gas filter system and automated tube cleaning. The filter and boiler tubes are cleaned using compressed air released by fast acting solenoid valves. When a valve triggers it expels a sharp pulse of air that creates a shockwave down the filter element or boiler tube. This gives a loud hiss that Amarjit’s’ children, Jai and Aaron, described as ‘Gloria sneezing!’
With a boiler now close on 1mW there was plenty of capacity, so as well as heating the entire factory and extensive canteen facility, the boiler was to provide heating and replacement air to an extensive spray facility in the new factory.
Two 150 kW air replacement units take air from outside and heats it for the extensive spray and drying facility
Purpose-made drying tunnel with conveyor system
Ranheat designed and installed the entire pipework distribution system for AJB Group, which includes, amongst other features, a circulated system for the hot water coming from the taps, this was not to save on energy but on water use, so you don’t waste water waiting for the water to come through hot. There is only a short pipe from the ring main to the tap.
Amarjit believes to get the best from colleagues you give them the best comfort, welfare and working conditions that are possible, then you get the best results – and the knock-on being that you can attract the best people in your area. Once you have them, train them and look after them, they are an investment for life.
Ranheat Engineering
01604 750005
AJB Group
01536 267 139
