The EIC’s U.K. Pavilion (blocks 1339-1739) is one of the largest at OTC, comprising 52 leading businesses exhibiting their wide range of skills and technology honed over four decades of operation in the North Sea. In the current challenging environment, technology and innovation are essential for accessing reserves safely and cost-effectively while minimizing negative environmental impact.

ALE Heavylift

ALE Heavylift comes to OTC 2017 after having recently performed the world’s heaviest commercial lift using a land-based mobile crane during work on an FPSO integration project in Brazil, lifting a module weighing more than 3,000 tons.

And although the company is famous for innovating on a huge scale, most notably with its Mega Jack that’s designed to lift structures of staggering weight (up to 60,000 tons), its latest technological solution is its Lightweight Service Crane.

The Lightweight Service Crane is formed of light modular parts that can be assembled by hand. Each part can fit in an elevator or be transported over walkways or stairs, making it ideal for use on projects where space is limited and access is difficult. The crane is one of the first of its new range of lightweight cranes and lifting structures, all of which are certified for offshore, subsea and onshore operations and are capable of lifting equipment and modules.

Atlas Professionals

Atlas Professionals, which provides specialist recruitment and human resources services to the energy and marine industries, has recently launched a new online portal to assist its clients’ crew management needs. Atlas4Clients is an online solution that solves the issues of compliancy, sourcing qualified professionals in real time and reducing overall client costs.

Developed in-house, Atlas4Clients is tailor-made for its customers’ needs. With its three main features focused on planning, developing a prequalified pool of professionals and ensuring compliancy, clients are in full control of their crew management data.

Atlas Professionals is sponsoring a U.K. Pavilion reception Wednesday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m. Visit stand 1539-D to enjoy a first-class networking opportunity as well as a chance to relax and unwind.

Barton Firtop

Strainer package manufacturer Barton Firtop is using its time at OTC 2017 to ensure delegates know about the importance of strainer screens, an often overlooked yet critical component whose failure can cost projects millions of dollars.

A single strainer screen failure can seriously damage equipment such as compressors, pumps or control valves, and cost a project more in downtime, lost production and repairs than the value of the entire strainer package for the whole project.

Yet on the majority of projects, calculations to prove strainer screen design strength aren’t even requested.

Unlike many strainer manufacturers that cannot substantiate their designs, Barton Firtop provides proven design calculations for screens with simple and complex geometry as well as live flow testing.

PJ Valves

Specialist valve manufacturer PJ Valves (PJV) is now very much part of the local scene, having opened a new piping business, PJ Piping, in Houston in 2016, which supplies specialist pipe fittings, flanges and other piping components.

Throughout the downturn, PJV has taken an innovative and collaborative approach to optimize its clients’ operations, changing the dynamic of its customer relationships to one built on partnership.

The result? Several of its clients are operating successfully with less than one-third of the resources it would typically take to execute a valve-related project.

By partnering with the client and determining the reasons behind its valve specification, PJV was able to leverage its knowledge to deliver a solution that included changing the material of origin on a recent FPSO project. This resulted in savings for the client of about $1.5 million.

PJV has proven that innovation can be as simple as taking a fresh view on how companies engage with the supply chain to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.