Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions
“Fluid Technology Solutions are a critical enabler in many of today’s high-risk industrial processes and applications, such as for the production of food, beverages and lifesaving vaccines and medicines. Our sterile tubing products combined with state-of-the-art pumping technologies enable us to engineer a wide range of solutions that are vital to our customers’ efficient use of resources and support global advancements in healthcare.”
Andrew Mines
Managing Director
Supporting efficient use of resources and advancements in global health
We make peristaltic and niche pumps and associated fluid path technologies, including tubing, specialised filling systems and products for single use applications.
Thousands of companies rely on fluid management and transfer solutions to manage processes and manufacture products that impact our daily lives.
Our pump and fluid path technologies provide industry-leading, sustainable solutions to deliver secure and accurate metering, dosing, transfer and filling for niche industries, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology, food & beverage production and healthcare.
Simple to maintain and cost-effective, our end-to-end industrial fluid path processes help companies across the world to run more efficient, safe and sustainable operations, improve accuracy and protect the environment.
Customer benefits
Lower energy and water use
Peristaltic pumps reduce the water, energy and chemicals used during many pumping applications, while sinusoidal pumps provide gentle pumping and easy cleaning, which is ideal for the food industry.
Less maintenance and downtime
Our Qdos chemical metering pump, includes the patented ReNu™ pumphead, which can be safely and easily replaced with no need for tools, specialist training or maintenance personnel, minimising downtime and reducing operating costs for the customer.
Improved process efficiency
Our range of pumps are designed to suit a wide range of pumping applications. We can provide the best pump to maximise process efficiency for each customer's application, such as the accurate dosing of chemicals for washing and bleaching during paper manufacture or the pumping of milk in yoghurt manufacturing.
Key Statistics
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£394.0m Revenue (Full Year 2023)
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23.8% Adjusted operating profit margin (Full Year 2023)
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47 Operating units (31st December 2023)
Watson-Marlow
Watson-Marlow makes accurate, low maintenance peristaltic dosing, transfer and dispensing pumps. Set up in the UK in 1956, it is the world leader in niche peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies for a range of industries, including food & beverage, water & wastewater, pharmaceutical, medical, mining, automotive, chemical, OEM solutions and environmental.
The company manufactures positive displacement pumps and provides engineering support to a range of industries, serving over 60 markets throughout the world. Its engineers work closely with customers to demonstrate how positive displacement pumps ensure accurate metering, transfer and filling, can deliver significant process efficiencies over the lifetime of the equipment – and make the best choice for their business needs, including return on investment and sustainability goals.
Product overview
- Pumps and systems
- Tubing
- Liquid filling
- Fluid path components
- Diaphragm valves
- Hosing
Product spotlight
Qdos® CWT™, one of five peristaltic pumps in the Qdos range which is designed to meet chemical metering and dosing requirements, delivers all the benefits of a peristaltic pump, but with significantly longer service life than traditional tube designs. CWT employs the peristaltic principle to operate a unique fluid contact element. To achieve the peristaltic pumping action, the pump incorporates a fluid contact element rather than a tube, which acts against a PEEK track. As a result, the fluid contact elements are subjected to very low stress levels. Qdos CWT has an outstanding accuracy of ±1% and repeatability of ±0.5% in dosing, with flow rates to 500 mL/min at up to 7 bar.
Bredel
Bredel is the market leader in heavy duty hose pumps for transferring viscous and abrasive fluids and solids. Bredel users enjoy sustainable, low maintenance performance through an advanced, robust pump design which includes, at its heart, a precision manufactured hose.
Bredel hose pumps completely contain the pumped fluid in a long-life hose, preventing operator contact with chemicals, slurries or sludge.
Bredel is part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, a Spirax Group Business.
Product overview
- Industrial hose pumps
- High pressure hose pumps
- Low-to-medium pressure hose pumps
- Precision manufactured hose elements
- Hose pump accessories
Product spotlight
In 2023, Bredel hose pumps expanded its range of hoses by releasing the new and versatile Bredel NR Transfer hose for general fluid transfer applications at pressures up to 12 bar (174 psi). The Bredel NR (Natural Rubber) Transfer hose can be used for handling sludge with a high solid content, food and beverage waste and abrasive slurries. This solution complements the Bredel NR Metering hose, which is designed for heavier duties with pressure capability up to 16 bar (232 psi), already available from Bredel hose pumps.
MasoSine
MasoSine provides energy efficient, gentle sinusoidal pumps for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical and cosmetics applications.
Certa Sine® pumps from MasoSine maintain yield while increasing output and are used in many stages of food and beverage processing, from unloading raw material to a storage tank, through transfer to a mixer, agitator, reactor or coooking vessel, and to final transfer to the filling line.
A single sinusoidal rotor creates four evenly sized chambers. The design allows gentle product handling with a smooth flow and virtually no pulsation, and a reduction in energy consumption.
MasoSine is part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions (WMFTS), a Spirax Group Business.
Product overview
- Sinusoidal pumps
- Certa process pump
- Certa plus process pump
- SPS process pump
Product spotlight
Integrator customers say that one of the key challenges they face is how to maximise space for a food and beverage installation without compromising on the quality of the pump. In response, WMFTS expanded its Certa Sine pump range with an innovative new space-saving model, the Certa Compact. The innovative design of this model enables a 30% footprint reduction compared to the existing Certa Sine pump range while maintaining the integrity of a premium pump and is ideal for applications up to 87 PSI.
Aflex
Aflex ensures the highest levels of chemical resistance and superior flexibility with an advanced range of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-lined flexible hose products.
Aflex hoses offer excellent chemical resistance, providing a smooth bore to ensure clean, fast performance, resistant to high pressures and temperatures up to 260C. They are constructed without the use of adhesives, eliminating the risk of contamination, up to 80mm bore and in lengths up to 30 metres.
Aflex PTFE flexible hoses are used in industrial processes, environmental applications, biotechnology and pharmaceutical applications and in the food & beverage and OEM sectors. PTFE is proven to outperform rubber, silicone and PVC in similar applications. Cleanability and steam resistance ensures compliance to the highest hygiene standards.
Aflex designs, develops and manufactures highly flexible and kink-resistant hoses from raw materials to finished products at factory sites in the UK.
Aflex Hose, founded in 1973, is part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, a Spirax Group Business.
Product overview
- FaBLINE TM
- Bioflex Ultra®
- Corroline+
- Corroflon
- Pharmaline N and X hoses
Product spotlight
With excellent flexibility and kink-free design requiring less force to bend than competitor smooth bore products, FaBLINE’s low friction, smooth bore construction will minimise back-pressure to avoid downtime and material losses.
FaBLINE carries up to twice the flow of similar-sized convoluted delivery hoses, providing a faster, more efficient processing solution.
FaBLINE is backed by European Food Contact and FDA certification and is an ultra-hygienic hose product with full compatibility with Clean In Place (CIP) and Steam In Place (SIP) process media and temperatures.
BioPure
BioPure fluid path components allow customers to connect with confidence and help them achieve compliance and repeatability. Their components support sanitary applications in sectors including pharmaceutical & biotechnology, medical & diagnostics, food & beverage, water & wastewater and OEM.
Assembled in an ISO Class 7 cleanroom following the principles of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP), BioPure aims to simplify production operations, lower cGMP manufacturing costs and reduce process validation. The company offers a range of sanitary clamps, single-use tube assemblies, gaskets, tubing and fluid path components.
BioPure, which has been producing bioprocessing fluid path components since 1998, is part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, a Spirax Group Business.
Product overview
- Q-Clamp™ sanitary Tri-Clamp™ is an innovative sanitary clamp, designed to create integral connections and reduce potential leaks. Designed for correct flange and gasket alignment, removing the potential for gasket over compression.
- BioBarb™, BioEndCap™, FlatBioEndCap™, BioValve™ and BioClamp are designed to meet the high purity demands of busy biotechnology and pharmaceutical labs.
- BioPure high-pressure flexible braided hose with continuously extruded platinum-cured silicone core ensures product integrity while delivering increased pressure capability.
- BioPure sanitary gaskets support leak resistant connectivity, reducing validation risks in contamination-free applications.
Product spotlight
BioPure Braided Hose assemblies offer a total solution for bulk fluid transfer in critical bioprocess fluid transfer applications. It is an end-to-end solution for companies requiring fitting, hose, assembly and testing for a reliable and repeatable method of high-pressure fluid transfer.
Suitable for multi or single use applications, these braided silicone hose assemblies combine BioPure platinum-cured silicone hose fitted with biopharmaceutical grade stainless steel tri-clamp connections.
The hose assemblies are made to custom lengths and come with a permanently crimped stainless steel triclamp style fitting. All hose assemblies are pressure tested to check and confirm hose integrity.
Flexicon
Flexicon’s aseptic vial fill and finish systems for biopharmaceutical applications offer class-leading precision, efficiency and flexibility. The low shear, gentle pumping action of Flexicon’s peristaltic filling machines ensures valuable product is transferred undamaged with high accuracy and precision.
Flexicon offers a range of products that can be built together to expand into larger systems as a customer’s needs grow, customised to fit a wide variety of vials and bottles.
The company’s benchtop filling machines remove the potential of cross contamination, as only the inner bore of the single-use tubing comes into contact with the fluid.
Flexicon Liquid Filling is part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, a Spirax Group Business.
Product overview
- Stand-alone units for hand-filling
- Semi-automatic filling systems
- Fully automatic filling systems
- Stoppering and capping machines
- Tubing and single-use assemblies
- Small-batch vial filling machines with integrated containment solution
Product spotlight
The PF7+ tabletop filler is simple to operate, reduces risk of errors, is highly flexible and comes with Flexicon’s trademark precision performance ensuring GMP and regulatory compliance. The PF7+ provides precision filling from as low as 0.2 mL and has repeatable filling accuracies of better than ± 0.5% to prevent costly over filling. The closed fluid path removes any risk of cross contamination, making the PF7+ ideal for aseptic filling. Optimised for filling accuracy with Accusil tubing, the PF7+ is designed to work with single-use assemblies.
How we’re designing technology that is good for the planet
Watson-Marlow’s award-winning Qdos Conveying Wave Technology (CWT) pump, launched in 2021, is helping customers to achieve better environmental performance. The pump-head design minimises operators’ exposure to chemicals, dispenses accurate dosing, is low maintenance and safe and quick to change. It uses less chemicals than other pumps and for one of our customers – Fürstenhagen wastewater treatment plant in Germany – the pump achieved a 97.5% reduction rate in phosphorus load over the year. This is helping our customer meet strict environmental targets and avoid the potential environmentally toxic effects of chemical discharge into lakes and reservoirs.