T.D. Williamson Global Solutions- March 2006

During the first few months of the year, just before "construction season" kicks into overdrive, the TDW Technology Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma becomes a beehive of activity. It is during this "slow" period that TDW trainers and technicians take time to hone equipment knowledge and operator skills to their highest levels. For most TDW trainers and technicians, classes serve as refresher courses as well as an opportunity to brush up on any new product improvements and any changes in DOT regulations. The underlying goal for this period of TDW "spring training" is to send out technicians that our customers can be assured possess the expertise to teach their personnel properly and/or perform essential pipeline maintenance services quickly, competently and safely.

The TDW A.B. Steen Technology Center in Tulsa is a state-of-the-art training laboratory. Opening in June of 2002, the 4,000 sq. ft. facility features three
separate areas:

A tiered classroom seats from 36 to 48 participants. The room is wired for the latest audio-visual equipment and system feeds for individual laptop computers.
A dining room is also set up to serve as a second classroom for up to 20 participants. The dining room/classroom provides the ability to teach two different classes simultaneously. Food is catered and can be adapted to suit any dietary requirements.
A hands-on, two-story teaching area can be configured to replicate a large number of working situations and includes pressurized pipelines for students to service. Trainers who are fully qualified to government and industry standards teach all classes.

Instructor demonstrates proper procedure

Outside of the U.S., the majority of training is handled by the TDW Nivelles Training Center in Belgium, which is patterned after the Tulsa facility. Pipeliners in Europe, Africa and the Mid East, regions served by TDW, S.A., are subject to increasingly stringent regulations that require sophisticated, formal training for technicians and operators. The TDW SA (Nivelles) training center is designed to fulfill customer training requirements and is committed to long-term technical education and maintaining up-to-date understanding of regional regulations. Nivelles has long been the training site for TDW's EAM customers.

For a minium period of six months to a year, each new technician moves through a process that will indoctrinate them exclusively in equipment operation and field applications for hot tapping equipment. Limited initially to working only with hot tapping machines, training continues with plugging, STOPPLE® and SHORTSTOPP® equipment and procedures. After receiving a broad range of training with hot tapping & plugging systems, recruits are considered trained to a Level I status as a TDW technician. In addition, all TDW technicians are required to undergo a thorough evaluation every three years.

TDW technicians are exceeding to a steady rise in demand for their services. Throughout the industry, our technicians are widely recognized for their ability to handle expected, and unexpected, jobsite tasks with a high degree of efficiency and safety.

Students each take their turn

Our long-time customers know that behind every TDW technician, there is a long company history of hands-on field experience in addition to an engineering staff that, for over 50 years has compiled solutions for just about every pipeline situation imaginable.

The TDW Technology Center in Tulsa is where TDW technicians refine their mastery of equipment and processes.
It is a versatile facility that accommodates training for customer technicians and TDW employees. Its classrooms offer a perfect environment for detailed safety training, and they are often utilized by various industry organizations as a meeting site for their own educational programs. Occasionally, TDW technicians use the Technology Center and surrounding area to simulate, rehearse and refine a particularly difficult or unusual procedure so that when they arrive on a customer's jobsite, they are fully prepared to handle the situation in a safe and efficient manner.

Rehearsals are a particularly common practice when technicians are going to be working with custom designed equipment that has been produced by TDW to take care of a customer's unique pipeline maintenance requirements.

As this article is being written, there is a large Composite Wrap class being conducted in the Tulsa Technology Center simultaneously with technician training. Taught by TDW engineer and product specialist Dixit Kadakia, students in the Composite Wrap class include a customer's in-house training personnel from Colombia, South America, TDW technicians from the U.S. and Canada and TDW customer service reps. In the classroom, students learn all of the characteristics, applications and advantages of Composite Wrap:

Composite™ Wrap class

They are taught that Composite Wrap is a viable alternative to rehab products such as steel sleeves and mechanical clamps.
In small areas, Composite Wrap's carbon fiber strength and light weight is superior to fiberglass and provides operators with a quick and economical solution designed for permanent repairs.
Instead of requiring days for most mechanical applications of rehab products, Composite Wrap can fix a problem in hours, requiring few people, very little equipment, and no welding.
Hard to reach areas, or areas with minimal space where clamps and welding are not possible, are repairable with Composite Wrap.

After classroom instruction, each student learns how to apply Composite Wrap to a section of pipe in the hands-on lab section of the Training Center. To become certified, students have to pass a written test and successfully undergo performance verification by demonstrating their new skills to a qualified evaluator.

As days become longer and warmer, emphasis at the TDW Technology Center invariably shifts from training TDW technicians to conducting an annual schedule of classes specifically designed for TDW customers. Spring, however, will remain a time for the big hitters – TDW technicians - to prepare themselves for another championship year.

Visit us at www.tdwilliamson.com or call 918-447-5500 or 800-695-0535.