Procon Engineering is an amalgamation of businesses specialising in providing Weighing and Process Control solutions to manufacturing sectors in the UK and around the world, including food & drink, chemical, petrochemical, utilities, mining, power and nuclear. The company has continued to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions, adding a vast wealth of engineering skills and experience to its portfolio.

The diverse product range and services we now offer is second to none, whether supplying basic weighing elements such as load cells and instrumentation, or more complex integrated batch process control systems, nuclear build load cells, beltweighers, and boiler tube leak detection systems. This is all supported by our own in-house service team which provides 24/7 emergency breakdown cover and calibration services 365 days a year.

The company history begins with the founding of Defiant Weighing Ltd in 1975, which became one of the UK’s leading load cell and instrumentation designers and manufacturers.

Defiant Weighing developed and manufactured a wide range of electronic instrumentation and control systems, including one of the first programmable weighing batch controllers, and installed many thousands of weighing systems worldwide. As a load cell designer and manufacturer Defiant developed a wide range of load cell elements improving reliability, accuracy and performance to meet the ever-increasing demands of the manufacturing industry – this work continues today. Many early products which were installed in the ‘70’s are still in service, further demonstrating the emphasis on quality. This focus on quality is embedded in everything we do.

In 1996 Defiant Weighing was acquired by Procon Engineering AS Norway. This company was originally a leading supplier of weighing systems to the land industries in Norway, but by 1996 was principally serving the oil Industry.

Defiant Weighing was subsequently renamed Procon Engineering Ltd (PEL), with the Head Office remaining at the Defiant Weighing manufacturing site in Sevenoaks, where the company is still based now. Expansion continued when in 1999 Procon Engineering Ltd enhanced its weigh system capability by acquiring Inflo Control Systems Ltd (primarily a Beltweigher OEM), along with its subsidiary Lintvalve which manufactured and supplied Boiler Leak Detection Systems into power stations worldwide.

The name Inflo Beltweighers is recognised in the industry for high accuracy belt weigh systems using a unique resometric weighing technique for weighing bulk materials on conveyors in applications such as mining, power stations, and ports.

The purchase of Lintvalve increased Procon’s range of services by adding failure detection systems designed specifically for coal fired power stations, to its portfolio. These systems enable early identification of steam leaks in high-pressure steam pipes so that routine maintenance can be scheduled before costly major failures occur.

In 2000 Procon Engineering Ltd went on to acquire the Weighing Division of Negretti Automation Ltd. Negretti’s origins can be traced back to 1850, since when as Negretti and Zambra, the company designed and manufactured various kinds of instrumentation for temperature, pressure and flow. They were appointed opticians and scientific instrument makers to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and King Edward VII. Negretti moved into the weighing business in 1982 with the acquisition of Fisher Industrial Controls, who in turn had bought GEC Elliot, designers of the very first strain gauge load cells in the 1950s.

The Negretti acquisition enhanced Procon’s weighing product range as well as adding expertise in process control (factory automation) and project management skills.

In the meantime, the ownership of Procon Engineering AS in Norway passed between various oil company names, indirectly leading to Procon Engineering Ltd in the UK becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV) in 2003, and since 2010 has been trading as Procon Engineering (a Division of NOV UK Ltd).

NOV is a major internationally quoted company employing over 30,000 people and providing advanced equipment, technical expertise and support to the oil and gas industries worldwide.

In 2004 Procon’s service division diversified into calibrating equipment not related to weighing, such as temperature controllers, flowmeters, pressure sensors, meaning that the company could offer complete site support through one service provider.

In 2006 Procon entered into a partnership with ETC/Urenco – a world leader in the enrichment of uranium for use in civil nuclear power stations, and to whom Procon had supplied special load cell based weigh systems for a number of years – to develop and supply full “turnkey” environmental stations used in the enrichment process. This involved detailed design, manufacture, and quality control, to exacting nuclear regulatory standards for sectors such as power generation, de-commissioning and enrichment.

In 2010 the Procon Safety Critical EP52 Weigh Controller achieved Emphasis SIL 1 approval rating from Sellafield Ltd.

Procon set and continues to exceed the standards demanded for the design of bespoke weighing solutions such as Triple Bridge Load pins, ATEX and radiation tolerant versions for Sellafield Sites.

Today Procon is still supplying all these products and designing turnkey plant control systems for installation in the UK and all over the world, supported by an experienced team of engineers with expertise in both weigh and non-weigh systems