RHC SA / Company
Three generations of Reinhart.
Established in 1952 by A.J. Reinhart. Carried forward from 1980 by Giacomo and Pietro. Expanded since 1998 by Robert, Roland, Luca and Max — new ideas grafted onto seventy years of experience.
01 — History
Key dates since 1952.
The mixture of new ideas and existing experience allows RHC SA to push the limit on each project — to the client's satisfaction.
First hydromechanical cleaning with the RCT — 21 April, a water pipeline in Switzerland, for a fire department.
First HMC of an industrial pipeline, in Italy.
First HMC of a gas pipeline, in Germany.
First HMC in a steel factory, Germany.
First HMC in a German coal mine.
First HMC in a vertical pipeline — 1,000 m.
Development of the first “MEDUSA” tool, Ø 1200 mm.
Giacomo and Pietro, sons of A.J. Reinhart, continue the business.
First HMC of new pipelines for AIR LIQUIDE, Paris — nitrogen, oxygen, ultra-pure oxygen, carbon dioxide.
The RCT becomes a fixed component of the AIR LIQUIDE oxygen pipeline procedure.
First step offshore — for BP in Scotland, Beatrice platform.
First HMC of a nuclear pipeline, in France.
24″ HMC tool developed for maintenance dewaxing and corrosion cleaning of a 360 km pipeline.
16″ tool for a 22 km Inconel-coated pipeline. Move into the new premises.
95% of tool fabrication is now done in-house, in the Swiss RHC SA workshop.
20″ BiDi tool for cleaning a loading line while collecting wax deposit.
8″ tool to clean flexible pipes. Construction of new offices and a dedicated tool-testing building begins.
20″ tool for dewaxing a pipeline with very low flow — under 0.02 m/s.
Move into the new offices. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.
OHSAS 18001 certification. New test premises. 8″ tool for iron-oxide removal in an Inconel-coated line; 40″ tool for epoxy removal in a brine line.
Recertification ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Test facilities inaugurated.
Swiss Safety Center becomes the new certification organisation — transition to ISO 45001.
Partnership with Hydrokarst Swiss SA for underwater pipelines in Switzerland — united against the Quagga mussel.
02 — Infrastructure
Everything under one roof in Courroux.
In 2008, RHC SA moved into premises designed around the work itself. A dedicated system cleans returning tools of up to 5 metres length and 2,000 kg: debris is removed in the washing room, the tool passes to the sandblast room next door, then to the colouring room for repainting — ready for the next job.
The workshop holds a water cutter operating up to 3,800 bar, a leather-cutting machine, assembly tables, a pit and a 2,000 kg crane. Five milling and three lathe NC machines produce 95% of all cleaning tools in-house — three times more efficiently than conventional production.
A 120 m² storage connects directly to the workshop, guaranteeing flexibility and reducing production time. The 150 m² office floor includes an open-plan technical office, a technical meeting room and a reception. In 2011 construction began on new offices and a dedicated building for testing cleaning tools — inaugurated in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
03 — Fabrication & development
From drawing board to 5-axis machining.
Design — 1952 to today
From 1952 to 1999, tool drawing was done on a drawing board, using sketches. Between 2000 and 2004 it took the numerical step with 2D CAD. Since 2005, all tools are designed in 3D, with controlling and quality checks assured by software validation throughout development.
Machining — three leaps
1952–1999. Cleaning tools were fabricated on conventional 3-axis machines.
2000–2006. The move to modern CNC — 2-axis lathes and 3-axis mills with a positional 4th axis. Production time fell, machining quality rose, and one person could run several machines simultaneously.
2007 to today. Programming with CAM software, directly on the 3D tool parts. Combined lathe-milling machines, 4-axis mills, then a 5-axis milling centre for large parts and two 4-axis machining centres. From 2009, the last handmade operations were automated with a water-cutting and a leather-cutting machine.
04 — Management
Certified, computerised, audited.
Facing a huge demand for pipe cleaning services in 2006, RHC switched to a computerised management system. Working simultaneously on projects and maintenance showed that the structure had to change — so the R&D department set up the current Reinhart structure. Almost every year, further programs or certifications were added:
- 2007 — ABIM: stock, personnel, parts, fabrication software
- 2008 — GP: project management
- 2009 — SP: internal project management
- 2010–11 — EPDM: document management
- 2012 — ISO 9001 & ISO 14001 certifications
- 2013 — OHSAS 18001
- 2014 — OPTIMISO intranet
- 2015 — SCREEN: overhaul of several systems
Today RHC SA is certified ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 (Swiss Safety Center) and rated Achilles Global Energy Silver Plus.
Certificate EN · FR · DE
05 — Partners
Chosen alliances.
PipeQuip AS
Selected partner of RHC for offshore activities in Norway.
pipequip.no ↗ Underwater — SwitzerlandHydrokarst Swiss SA
Exclusive partner for the maintenance and cleaning of underwater pipelines in Switzerland. United against the Quagga mussel since 2020.
hydrokarstswiss.com ↗