Hydratight Expands North America Service

HYDRATIGHT is now offering a much-expanded service in North America, following the major acquisition by parent company, Actuant, of Superior Plant Services and its subsidiary Patriot Tools in 2008.

As one company, Hydratight, a major supplier of joint-integrity tool rentals and sales, and machining services company SPS, has grown Gulf of Mexico operations by more than 45%, to become what is believed to be the only true OEM in its field to offer engineering, manufacturing, sales, rentals and machining services.

SPS brought Hydratight a major presence in the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast, new customers, a leading market position and a service portfolio second to none. Patriot Tools, in North Carolina, gave the enlarged company a source of on-site machining tools and manpower for the south east. Its specialty in the power generation sector has complemented the focus of the region. The addition of SPS and Patriot gives Hydratight additional distribution locations for Hydratight and DL Ricci-branded products in this southeast corridor, with technical expertise to support the growth.

SPS's 80 well-trained and highly-competent service technicians were added to the Hydratight workforce - people with a similar business and working philosophy to those already under the Hydratight banner.

Though some sites were merged to rebalance the new company, this meant a stronger presence in the right locations, with a larger stock of tools and equipment in the right places to manage customer needs. Hydratight has moved over $250,000 of equipment into the area to service the powergen, industrial and pulp and paper industries.

Senior management at SPS's sites in Louisiana, Texas and North Carolina were integrated into the Hydratight management structure, where their experience proved invaluable to Hydratight Americas leader Bob Boychuk.

"Hydratight is now developing general opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico in a way we couldn't before," he said

Similarly, services SPS previously offered only in the Gulf, such as weld-testing, are now being developed across the continent from Canada to Chile, with a drive to expand worldwide.

Hydratight's American size and reach now offers far greater potential to seek out bigger customers.

"As we grow as a company, we need to grow in the way we do business," said Bob.

"Customers know they will get the same service, quality and value they had come to expect, but across a wider range of products and services.

"The challenge hasn't been holding on to old customers - which is the problem after many mergers take place; it has been, and continues to be, about growth - and that's the best kind of challenge."

Opportunities for 2009 remain strong, despite the global downturn.

"We have a solid base on which to build.," Bob explained. "We intend to expand our expertise in the Gulf of Mexico and North America to cover the whole region. Hydratight now has the manpower and competency to fully develop the expertise we acquired through DL Ricci, such as heat-treating and machining services, to the Gulf and offshore.

"Hydratight really came of age in America with this development. It brought the region into line with what has made our UK and Norway operations so successful in this sector. SPS was the right company at the right time - and the opportunities and outlook for the future are very bright."