Leng Nimsakul October 2014
No. 4259 gland packing has been the top of the line packing at Sugar mills in Thailand for years. It can withstand high Abrasive from pump "magma" and pump "C" without any wearing of sleeves, making it the target for counterfeit products to emerge from a neighboring country, China. But the counterfeit performance does not make up for its relatively lower price at all, and the difference between MTBF (mean time between failure) of the two according to our customer's use is significantly high. The counterfeit being 1-7 days and ours lasting the whole sugar harvesting season of 3 months. If packing keeps failing during the sugar season, it means the whole process line will not be smooth with constant shut down and the loss of products far exceeds the cost difference between the two packings. Not to mention the MTBR ( mean time between repair) of pumps because of the packing failure.
If customers want to know how to tell the difference between them, then the picture below could help. The counterfeit packing is on top, having a very dark brown color on its Kevlar yarn whereas the original's Kevlar color is bright red and full of vibrant. It is an impossible job to copy as Kevlar is a licensed trademark from DuPont.
Below is a letter from Mr.John McDonald ( President, Robco Canada ) indicating that Mahamek is the exclusive distributor in Southeast Asia and also address the issue of counterfeit.
