Saturday, January 23, 2010

Message from the President: January 2010

Recession

Much has happened at GenTex since my last blog. We have experienced a recession, triggered by the collapse of the sub-prime lending rates in the United States, the effects of which have been felt across the globe. In addition to the recession, we have also experienced a major drop in the price of natural gas and oil (which many experts agree is directly connected to the recession I mentioned above).

Like many companies, GenTex has experienced a slow down, due to the drop in the price of oil and gas, coupled with the effects of political policy changes and the volatility of our currency, as it continually fluctuates with the US Dollar. Fortunately, prior to the slow down, GenTex had started our "Lean Journey", and this recession has motivated us to speed up this process.

Lean

For those of you not familiar with the term 'Lean Manufacturing', it is described as:

'A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non value added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection.'

For GenTex, Lean Manufacturing means the standardization of equipment. GenTex is now building most of our equipment in modules, which allows us to manufacture and assemble our equipment more quickly, leading to shorter delivery time for our customers. Building in modules has also allowed us more flexibility, giving our customers the option to purchases either part of a hot oil or pressure unit, or the entire unit. GenTex no longer has to sell the full package, which is incredibly beneficial for customers who would rather use a cab and chassis from their own country. North American trucks are very well built and competitively priced, however if the parts for that particular truck are not available in our customer's country, then the truck is of no use to them.

Lean Manufacturing in Practice

Recently, GenTex has sent modules in a sea can to our agent-partner in Poland. Our agent-partner then mounted and assembled these modules on a European chassis, using drawings and technical support provided by GenTex. GenTex has also provided similar services to another customer in Argentina.

New Product: Heater

GenTex is now working towards developing another heater. We have hired an engineering firm to assist us in the design of this heater, and we are pleased to be working with a university professor with a PhD in Combustion, who's insights have been invaluable. This heater, once completed, will be a 20, 000, 000 Btu output heater, mainly utilized for heating extremely large volumes of water. Some fracs today require heating millions of litres of water, and this task can take days to complete. With a larger heater, like the one GenTex has been developing, this same task could be done more quickly, with less heating units.


On behalf of all the staff at GenTex, Happy New Year!

Garett Cupples,
General Manager/President

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Message from the President: December 2008

Shop Talk

Our visit to the 2008 Brazil Onshore Conference was a success and many new contacts were made while in Salvador, Bahia, resulting in our Sales Department being inundated with estimate requests. In addition to Brazilian estimates, our Sales Department has been keeping busy creating oilfield equipment estimates for various customers around the world including Mexico, Argentina, Gabon, the United States and India.

Our Sales department is not the only busy department at our facility this winter, shop staff are currently fabricating several Hot Oil Units, a 2 Ton Pressure Truck and a Heater Module, among other projects. GenTex is also selling our training unit, a GenTex 35M GH-100 Hot Oil Unit (see picture). For more information, please contact our Sales Department or see "Used Oilfield Equipment", on our website.

Last, but not least, after numerous meetings in the past few months with Ed MacLean of MK Pumps, GenTex is proud to announce that we are now the exclusive distributor of MK Pumps (a subsidiary of Mud King Products) in Western Canada.

Community Support

GenTex is proud to support our community, donating to various local charities and programs throughout the year. This year we have chosen to sponsor one of our employee’s Siberian Husky dogsled team, TuColdTu Rain. Below are some pictures of the TuColdTu Rain dog team and their carrier. For more information please visit http://users.xplornet.com/~tucoldturain/.







On behalf of all the staff at GenTex, Happy Holidays!


Garett Cupples,
General Manager/President

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Message From The President: October 2008

October has been a busy month for GenTex, as our fabrication shop is currently working on a variety of oilfield equipment for our clients. The oilfield equipment we are in the process of manufacturing includes several 70M GH-165 Hot Oil Units, a 4992 TEX-STEAMER, and a totally enclosed, trailer-mounted Hot Oil Unit for one of our best customers, Little Red Services. This 70M GH-600 Hot Oil Unit is designed to weather the harsh climate of Alaska (unit featured in photo above).

In other news, we are currently preparing to promote our oilfield equipment at yet another oil show this month in Salvador, Brazil, for the ‘Brazil Onshore 2008’ conference. This show is geared more towards onshore exploration, including well servicing, which is a sector that is of interest to GenTex, as we specialize in the manufacturing of oilfield equipment for well servicing applications. For more information on our oilfield equipment's vast application possibilities, please visit www.gentex.ca/products.asp.

In addition to a busy month of fabrication and oil shows, GenTex managed to squeeze in a brief facility tour for Innovative Manufacturing Works (IMW). (For more information about IMW, please visit http://www.manufacturinginnovation.ca/). The tour was intended to introduce participants to the manufacturing sector, and emphasize how important manufacturing is in Alberta. Each company that participated was asked to share with tour participants what makes them innovative, and GenTex chose to highlight how our practical knowledge of how to operate the oilfield equipment we manufacture makes us unique. This in-depth knowledge of oilfield equipment has strengthened our research and development at GenTex, as well as enables us to create one-of-kind training programs for the equipment we build. For more information on what makes GenTex innovative, see our website www.gentex.ca/advantage.asp.



Garett Cupples,
General Manager/President

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Message From The President: July 2008

Canadian Trade Commissioners have been a vital resource for GenTex™ when it comes to international sales, so when I was asked to be a part of a brief interview by the Department of Foreign and International Trade (DFAIT) at this year’s Global Petroleum Show, I was more then happy to oblige. Below is a link to the interview, which focuses on our company’s experience conducting business outside of Canada, and the important role that trade commissioners have played in facilitating our company’s presence in the international market. GenTex™ has experience exporting to many different countries around the world, and our oilfield equipment, including steamers, heaters, heating units, hot oil units, pump truck and pressure trucks, can be found on almost every continent. For more information on our international sales visit our website at http://www.gentex.ca/.

Check out my interview podcast at :

http://webcast.international.gc.ca/coc/CanadExport/GPS/GarretCupplesInterview-md.mov




Garett Cupples,
General Manager/President

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Message From The President: May 2008

In recent news, I have just returned from the OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) held in Houston, Texas. GenTex tries to attend oil shows as often as possible to keep up with new developments within the industry, and we are constantly on the look out for new suppliers, and products, to further improve upon the oilfield equipment we produce, something our customers' find beneficial.

In addition to attending oil shows for research and development purposes, we also use oil shows, such as the Global Petroleum Show, to showcase our oilfield equipment. The Global Petroleum Show is the largest petroleum show in the world, and attracts many international companies, GenTex's presence at this show is vital, as over 50% of our sales are international.

For the fourth consecutive year, GenTex Oilfield Manufacturing Inc. will be attending the bi-annual Global Petroleum Show, which will be held June 10-12, 2008 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I encourage everyone to come visit us at booth #3315 to learn more about our products and services. In this year's show we will be displaying two units manufactured by GenTex, the first is a customer's unit, a Tandem Pressure Truck with a 450 HP, a 10, 000 psi water blast pump with stainless steel piping and a aluminum tank. The second unit featured will be our recently completed training unit, used to provide on-site customer training.


I look forward to seeing you at the show! Please keep posted for my next update.



Garett Cupples,
General Manager/President

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Questions


FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:


Pumping:

Q: I want a pump that can pump up to 5,000 psi ( 3,490 kpa) at 2 bbls per minute (320 litres).

A: This would require approximately 270 HP, and after a few more questions it is clarified that what they really mean is that they want to pump up to a maximum of 5,000 psi, but at a low rate. The maximum rate required is 2 bbls/min, but a pressure rate of only 1,000 psi. The horsepower now required is approximately 70 HP which results in a much smaller and less expensive pump required.


Heating:

Q: What temperature can you heat to?

A: This can vary. Our heaters are designed for a maximum of 120 C (250 F) however most oil companies now restrict temperatures to a maximum of 80 to 100 C (175-210 F). Another factor is the viscosity and flashpoint of the fluid.


Have More Questions? Ask us!