International Business Development Manager, Colyn Davies, explains why Dynamic Equipment Company is celebrating enormous success
By Roxanne Ridge
Dynamic Equipment Company (DEC) was formed in 2000 after Managing Director, Richard Hays, was introduced to Simon Newbury via a mutual friend in a pub.
Together, they discussed the industry and realised that there was space in the market to develop specialist products for the drilling industry.
They soon set out to address this gap in the market, invested in top software, and formed DEC - a company providing mechanical handling solutions to the oil industry.
Since this date, the company has gone from success to success. And this year, the company made an impressive £6.5 million in annual revenues.
Industry knowledge
Much of this growth has been a result of the company’s focus on employing and training good staff. International Business Development Manager, Colyn Davies, for example, joined DEC two-and-a-half years ago with a strong understanding of the company. He had previously worked as a marketing consultant in Aberdeen and had a background in the oil and gas industries.
“From the onset, I had a knowledge about the way the company worked,” says Colyn. “I was aware of the core principles – which include everything from growth and development to solving challenging problems and creating a sense of family among the workers.
“I liked the idea of working among this and I was aware of the international success the company was capable of.”
Similarly, engineers, technicians and support staff within the company are also of the highest standard and in a dynamic market they are fully motivated for planned progressive growth.
“We’re a dynamic company by name and a dynamic company by nature,” explains Colyn.
“The company regularly recruits graduates in our specialist scheme. We train them up to work with our specific technologies, which makes them excellent engineers.”
A one-off service
By specifically training the engineers, the company is able to offer a service that is tailored to the client’s requirements. DEC’s project management team works closely with each client taking into account the scope of work, personal safety integration, material usage and design constraints, time schedule, delivery, and installation deadlines.
“We offer genuine one-off designs which the product management team match to the client’s needs,” explains Colyn. “The company is always coming up with solutions to the ever increasing demands of the industry.”
DEC has a fully developed range of standard products, which can be divided into three categories: Dynamic Safety Systems, Dynamic Oilfield Products and Dynamic Non-Oilfield Products. However, the company is always working on new lines.
“We’re constantly developing new products in anticipation of industry changes or in conjunction with client’s specific needs,” says Colyn. “We offer everything from installation and commissioning support to training and a full aftersales service.”
Forward thinking
In order to provide such a tailored service, DEC has invested in the best software. “The company has been technology and IT focused from the beginning,” says Colyn. “Recently, we invested in the 3D printer, which I believe is the only one in Scotland.
“We use a program called Inventor. This allows us to physically print out a model of our designs, which is fantastic.”
Much of this focus has been down to the heavy focus on research and development – a division that, the company claims, is dedicated to the development of energy and environmentally friendly, efficient new technologies to tackle the problems of modern industrial society. “Our company has a full-time Research and Development manager,” says Colyn. “And we’ve recently got involved in two projects with universities.
“DEC along with the Centre for Research and Energy and the Environment at The Robert Gordon University has recently been awarded funding for two years through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership – a partnership for the development of a novel technology for energy and environmentally friendly removal of scale from wellbores.
“This is an example of just one of the ways in which the company is starting to branch out into other areas of the industry.
“And we’re constantly looking for new ways to move forward.”
Meeting challenges
Development in such a niche industry is not always easy however. “The company is affected by changes in areas such as oil prices,” says Colyn. “And although we focus on training graduates up within our company, finding other experienced people who are ready made and confident at working with our technologies can be difficult.
“However, DEC is always ready to meet a challenge and provide a solution. One of the company’s core values is to ‘solve challenging problems’ and we always aim to do just this.
“Staff are constantly being trained and developed and although oil prices can be affect our business for a bit, DEC is always seeing new opportunities in business where new rigs are being built and need drilling packages and where old rigs are in need of more sophisticated equipment.”
“Luckily, because of our in-house project management team, cost is never a restraining factor when it comes to business. We don’t lose contracts on cost because we conduct thorough research into every project we take out.”
In terms of competition, there are only two other big companies in the industry who provide a similar service. However, DEC is positive that there’s room for a third. “As we grow and meet the size of the two other companies, we’ll be developing our products and expanding into untouched areas of drilling solutions.
“At the moment, we’re relatively unheard of, but this will definitely change in the future as we increase our already expanding Dyna range of products.”
The future
The majority of DEC’s staff are based in the site in Aberdeen, but the company has engineers worldwide in places such as Houston, Singapore and Baku. The company is currently working on opening offices in these locations.
DEC currently has hundreds of clients – many of which are drillers, such as the Transoceans who will then serve the Shells and the BPs. And earlier this year, the company became the North Sea authorised agent and service centre for Rogers Oil Tools, based in Texas USA. Naturally, as DEC finds more solutions to more problems, the company’s portfolio of clients will grow.
“We’re always finding solutions to more problems and we’re starting to branch out into different areas of the industry as well. We’re looking into the research and development of chemical injection skids, hydrogen production and fuel cells to mention a few.
“And DEC’s always looking to collaborate with both industry and academic sectors in a variety of research fields. I’m positive the company will perform excellently in the future.”