August 2019 | Vol. 8

5 Things You Need To Know

Bringing You The Latest Industry News

FEATURED THIS MONTH

  • AUMA’s Newest ASP
  • Inventory Management Optimization
  • Maintenance Shutdown Planning
  • Mitigating & Preventing Safety Hazards
  • Eastern Controls’ 2019 VA Summit

Welcome To Our Monthly Newsletter!

In this month’s issue of “5 Things You Need to Know” we discuss what it means to be AUMA’s newest Authorized Service Provider! We also discuss the importance of accurate tank gauging measurements in tank and terminal facilities, as well as how you can involve the Eastern Controls service team in planning for your next shutdown. Finally, we discuss mitigating safety hazards and highlight our 2018 Valve Automation Summit to gear up for our 2019 event!

AUMA’S NEWEST AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER & PROVIDER

AUMA has invested in the training and development of Eastern Controls as their newest ASC/ASP. Read more below on what this means for you!

AUMA has been developing and building electric actuators and valve gearboxes for over 50 years and is one of the leading manufacturers in the industry.Worldwide users that rely on AUMA’s sophisticated products range from power to water treatment to petrochemical.

Eastern Controls has a strong reputation for being a premier service provider to the process and manufacturing industry in the Mid-Atlantic region. Our reputation and knowledge of the products aided in AUMA’s decision to invest in Eastern Controls as their newest Authorized Service Center & Service Provider!

AUMA has invested in just a few representatives as designated parts and service providers in the country. Eastern Controls service technicians and other personnel will go through extensive training to deliver the best experience for the customer.

As the Mid-Atlantic’s designated Authorized Service Center, Eastern Controls is now able to support needs for spare parts such as new motors or drives quicker than ever before.

Can Eastern Controls help you with your needs for a new actuator motor, or perhaps spare parts for a gearbox? Reach out to our dedicated AUMA support team to learn more or schedule a visit today! Click here to submit your contact information!

Eastern Controls can respond to service and parts requests faster than ever before!

Page 2

Inventory Management Optimization

Endress+Hauser offers complete tank and terminal management protocols. This piece gives you a high level view!

When was the last time your tank and terminal facility was modernized? Are you using the latest instrumentation and technologies available to improve your material transfer operations?

Material transfer operations in modern tank and terminal facilities can include a mix of legacy processing systems, new technologies, and tank monitoring software.  If the facility is older and has not been updated at all, there could be millions of dollars in unaccounted losses.  Conversely, shortchanging and overcharging customers can lead to loss of business, among other issues.

Several considerations should be reviewed to improve measurement techniques to reduce unaccounted revenue. Collecting a variety of data points will help produce more accurate inventory management accounting.

Things that should be considered, understood and possibly improved upon are:

  • Accuracy of the measurement instrument
  • Signal conversion process
  • Unit conversion to volume
  • Unit conversion to mass, weight and currency

Once these steps have been evaluated and frequency of transactions, quantity of transactions, and product cost have also been considered an informed assessment will reveal where operational improvements and upgrades should be made.

Click here to read the full white paper from Endress+Hauser!

Unnaccounted losses can add up to millions of dollars and unsatisfied customers.

Page 3

Preparing for the Planned & Unexpected

Eastern Controls is seasoned in seasonal and emergency plant shutdown work. Read more on how our service technicians adapt to changing conditions!

Eastern Controls’ service department is no stranger to planned maintenance protocol. Our service technicians have a combined 75+ years of experience and industrial process service technicians.

Since 2008 Eastern Controls has been one of the largest ValvFast control valve manufacturing centers in the United States. Our multi-million dollar equipment inventory allows our technicians to respond to emergency situations – faster. Eastern Controls was hired to calibrate instruments but proper preparation enable the ECI team to react quickly to what they encountered when on site.

The initial scope of this job only included instrument calibrations but a turbine in the plant broke down elevating the situation to an emergency outage.

The team included on the job consisted of factory-certified instrument technicians and MARC Certified valve technicians working in tandem to make sure the plant was up and running without exceeding the scheduled outage period.

To read more about the preparation that led to this success, click here!

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Page 4

Preventing & Mitigating Safety Hazards

There are ways to prevent potentially catastrophic disasters. Read about one method with four simple steps!

Safety is critical on a day-to-day basis for industrial operations.  As we’ve learned from natural disasters over the years, preparation is key to mitigating further risk.  Mitigation and prevention of man-made risks such as fires, explosions or hazardous materials incidents are steps companies can take, to protect themselves against possible incidents.

There are four steps to minimize your vulnerabilities:

  • Mitigation
  • Preparedness
  • Response
  • Recovery

For this article we will refer to gas and flame detection as our safety measure.

Mitigation are the steps you can take to reduce or eliminate a hazard. One way to do this would be to implement a fixed gas and flame detection system throughout the facility. Taking great care to

install these detection points strategically will prepare you for the next phase.

Preparedness is knowledge and training as it pertains to operating and understanding the gas and flame detectors. Understanding of alarm types, calibration protocol, and detector settings/sensitivity, allows you to deploy the proper resources in a timely manner.

Response.The reaction to what your gas and/or flame detectors are telling you is when you truly test your understanding and apply your preparation tactics.

Recovery is a state we hope to not reach but is sometimes unavoidable.A solid recovery plan is the key to bringing these steps full circle.Lessons learned here will help modify and improve the previous three steps.

When was the last time you evaluated your safety protocol?

Safety doesn’t happen by accident.

Page 5

Eastern Controls’ 2019 Valve Automation Summit

Last year, 2018,  was our first Valve Automation Summit at our Ashland, VA office and we’re excited to host it again this year!

In 2018, Eastern Controls hosted our first Valve Automation Summit for our customer base in Virginia. The turnout and feedback was so positive we are bringing it back again with fresh content and hands-on workshops!

At our 2018 VA Summit we highlighted three manufacturers’ technologies and capabilities. First, our Valve & Automation Specialist, Kyle Dougherty, discussed control valves and positioners with attendees from chemical, pulp & paper, R&D and power gen companies. This seminar was loosely modeled after our popular Control Valve 101 training course.

Our second seminar piggy-backed off of Mr. Dougherty’s valve discussion and lead into the automation of valves using REXA’s electraulic actuation technologies.He went into detail on the precision, accuracy, and conditions to which these actuators can perform at.

This turned into a very hands-on session where attendees were able to experience the ease of setting the REXA actuator.

Our third session of the day was lead by our MSA Regional Sales Manager, Tim Wolk.MSA, is a leader in the fixed gas and flame detection market and for this event Mr. Wolk discussed the Ultima X5000 gas detector and the Chillgard 5000 refrigerant leak monitor.

Follow us on social media and stay up to date on event details and for the opening of registration! We hope to see you there!

Join us for our 2nd VA Summit in Ashland, VA!

Page 6