Next stop Saturn?
Sean Ong must have enough frequent flyer points to travel across the solar system. He has recently returned to Malaysia from yet another training trip, this time visiting the Indian subcontinent to commission a new Enviropeel application unit and visit a number of clients for Extreme Oilfield Services, who are introducing Enviropeel into the region around Mumbai.
It was a very successful trip, with four operatives trained and a satisfying level of interest from the businesses Sean visited. The photo shows Sean explaining how Enviropeel works to ONGC, India's state-owned oil and gas production company which supplies 77% of the country's crude oil and 66% of its natural gas.
Extreme Oilfield Services provide a wide range of engineering services and manufacture many components essential to the local and international oil and gas industry. Enviropeel has been introduced by Extreme as part of their commitment to innovation, quality and customer service.
Winter in the Northern Hemisphere?
If you like it cold, try the mid-west. Kenny Boehm sent these photos of the roadside as he passed through Indiana on his way to Ohio. It looks pretty, but I wouldn't care to be a cow in those fields.
At the same time as Kenny was travelling through the snow, Ivan was heading south for Texas on a mission to protect some more wind farms, hopefully in warmer climes.
Maybe not ...
Meanwhile, Arthur, our CEO has adopted the most sensible approach. He is spending Christmas in Perth, Australia, where the Christmas turkey will be served with an ice cold beer or a crisp chardonnay from the Margaret River. Possibly with a view of a glorious sunset over the Indian Ocean.
Wherever you find yourself and no matter how you will celebrate the change of seasons and the coming of the New Year, everyone at Alocit and Enviropeel wishes you the best possible fortune for the next twelve months.
Let's make 2017 a good year to remember
Who ate all the pies?
Australian manager, Chris Harrey has recently returned from what he insists was a working trip to New Zealand. He offers his attendance at the ACA 2016 Conference in New Zealand as evidence of his labours - and the photo on the right as proof of his attendance.
This photo was taken shortly after Chris had been awarded the coveted ANZAC Pie Eating award, the trophy for which is proudly displayed on the table in front of him.
Chris is standing with Muir Hamilton of Integrated Maintenance Group (IMG) who represent us in New Zealand. IMG offer a range of specialist services for NZ industry and Muir is the Machinery and Envirocoatings Manager for the Group.
Rampant Exhibitionism
It's true, we do like to show off ... especially if it means spending some time in West Australia's beautiful capital city. Perth may be a long way from practically anywhere but it is at the heart of Australia's resources sector, with more resource company HQs per cubic centimeter than almost anywhere on the planet.
So, if you want to talk to the Mining Industry, spend some time with Oil & Gas Industry executives or share a coffee with a major service provider, then Perth is the place to be. Particularly in February 2017, when the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre hosts Australia's largest industry exhibition - the Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference. For us, the highlight of the exhibition will be the A&E Systems stand in the subsea zone ... and we would love to see you there. So, if you're able to attend, why not pre-register and save yourself $20 - entry is free to all who register prior to the event - or let us know and we will arrange free entry for you.
Going into Europe ...
Sitting in the UK listening to politicians and journalists arguing about leaving the EU is impossibly frustrating. For the record, I was and still am feeling a sense of bereavement ... how could we be so blind to all that is good about Europe and only see the downside? I certainly don't understand it but, no point in rehearsing all the old arguments, we just have to get on with the world in which we find ourselves.
Luckily, despite our political differences, we still find that Europe is a good place to do business. I mentioned last year that our good friend Rogier Verbeek of Energy Coating (www.energycoating.nl) in the Netherlands was making great progress and this has been even more evident this year. There is scarcely a company in the Dutch-speaking world (and a few other language groups) that has not had a visit or a demonstration from Rogier and many of them have responded very positively, with several projects undertaken and some very inviting prospects for 2017. Dank u wel, Rogier.
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| EDF Test Facility |
And, for Enviropeel in Europe, we have had interesting developments with Siemens in France who are working with EDF on preserving their electricity generating infrastructure. You will know that we do a lot of work with Siemens in the UK for various electricity companies providing ingress protection on switchgear. Two of the nuclear sites we work on with Siemens are owned by EDF (the world's largest electricity generator), and between Siemens and EDF and their French counterparts the news obviously filtered through that Enviropeel had something to offer in France as well.
Following discussions and a meeting in Paris, which sorely tested my holiday French, we were invited to participate in a testing programme using Enviropeel for innovative resolutions to problems that EDF wish to solve. The first stage of this programme started last month and an Enviropeel team, headed by our Logistics Manager, James Beale, who is a fluent French speaker, headed for the EDF test centre, south of Paris.
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| Applying Enviropeel |
James reports that the EDF facility was enormous, with a number of testing laboratories that could take full-size infrastructure components through all the potential climatic conditions (and more) that they might encounter in the real world - sun, wind, rain, temperatures down to -40°C and tropical humidity. The image on the right shows just one of these - and it was by no means the largest.
James also mentioned the excellent on-site dining facilities provided by EDF as part of their great hospitality during the visit. Food quality (and quantity) is a recurring theme for our travelling personnel!
The initial application was extremely successful but the testing programme will continue well into 2017, with additional trial applications planned early in the year. We will keep you updated and look forward to extending our entente cordiale, even if it does mean we are swimming against the political current.
Next stop Saturn?
