Energy Innovations
(Charlotte, NC), they unveiled a revolutionary automation cell in 2010. But aſter the automation cell was completed, the global competitive landscape changed unexpectedly—cou- pling business went overseas. LB Pipe then realized that the distinct competitive advantage they’d created by reducing fixed labor costs and overheads could open up new markets and create an even stronger diversified customer portfolio. Today their business is less than 50% couplings, having added municipal water, oil & gas, and construction customers to the mix. LB Pipe still produces their own couplings, but mostly to put them on other parts. Te company’s consistent growth rate, of more than 100% annually, and its healthy mix of cus- tomers are the result of competitive advantage gained through the low overhead enabled by automation.
Wanted: A Better Way With 33 years in the oil and gas industry, many industry
veterans would be entering the coasting phase of their careers. Not Jim Legg, general manager of LB Pipe. His fuel has always been a unique vision for what’s possible beyond business-as- usual. Legg had a clear vision for transforming the coupling manufacturing process. Additionally, typical reject rates were relatively high, adding more to the price equation. Legg knew that streamlining cost out of the system was the way of the future. Te only way to get there was automation.
“Our vision was to do things differently from what the
industry has done for decades,” said Legg. “We needed to find a better way. Just because things have always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s impossible to streamline the pro- cess.” All Legg needed was the right CNC machining equip- ment and a brand new, automated process. LB Pipe & Coupling Products is an in-house contract
manufacturer. Originally their focus was on what’s known as the bread and butter of the industry—API couplings. Tese are standard-issue couplings certified by the API for use in oil & gas applications. With conventional technology, it takes three workers to
run one spindle in the manufacture of API couplings. With rising labor costs, and given the challenges of day-to-day workforce management, bread and butter became expensive staple items in the oil & gas producers’ budgets.
IMTS 2008—The Spark In September of 2008, Legg attended the International
Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) with his vision in mind. He encountered a surprise at the Okuma booth. Tat company was demonstrating a cell for making premium couplings, which was a big head start toward Legg’s vision. Premium and API couplings are two different markets. Te former are more difficult, with more stringent specifications
The automation process produces a consistent number of couplings per hour. 76 Energy Manufacturing 2013
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