Tagging LDARtools for Training, Testing and Fun

In an effort to create a testing environment that closely matches the reality out in the field, we’ve made some improvements to the LDAR Think Tank office.

Our Special Projects Manager, Derrick Mauk, went around the compound designating “units” and hanging LDAR tags. He used our SMARTflag program to set up routes with GPS coordinates, plotted to maximize efficiency.

“We’re planning to have hundreds of these scattered all over the place,” says Derrick. “We’re even planning on hanging one on Sam (the goat). That’s a DTM right there (Editor: not because of the elevation, but because of the difficulty of keeping Sam still).”

The benefits, aside from allowing Derrick to have a little bit of fun, include more in-depth activities when we host training sessions here at the LDAR Chateau. It also lets John test our software programs to produce more accurate scenarios.

And, as our CEO, Rex Moses, promised in an earlier blog, Derrick’s tagging activities will help develop a database that we will use to design, test, refine and perfect our most exciting software product ever: Chateau!

At LDARtools, we’ll always do our best to find a better way. We’ll also make it fun for everyone involved.

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LDARtools Employee Spotlight: Jada Campbell

The hectic pace at the LDAR Think Tank is sometimes in contrast to the nonchalant way we take everything in stride. We’d have production at the shop ramping up, but you’d still hear everybody chatting about things like boxing, computers or their life stories.

Jada Campbell, our Customer Support, may have been taken aback with the laidback atmosphere we’ve adopted. Our Culture of Fun may have been alien to her coming from a 9-year stint at Shell in Deer Park. She’s an LDAR industry veteran and she’s still trying to get used to the new environment.

Who can blame her? She worked as a Data Processor, where extreme pressure is a constant companion. “Because LDAR is time-driven, each day was a day closer to the end of one schedule and the beginning of another,” says Jada. “There was no time to breathe between schedules.”

When she came on board last month, she noticed the stark difference immediately: “Here at LDARtools, that pressure is gone. It is more precision-driven. You have to slow down and think about what you are doing, instead of rushing to make the deadline,” says Jada.

Asking what she’s learned so far in the short time that she’s been working here, she says: “I have learned that each day doesn’t have to be a “rush” to be over with.  I have also learned how some of the programs work and why they work.  That is what drew me to this job.  I wanted a different challenge.”

Well, Jada, you’ve come to the right place. We love the challenge of constantly making things better in this industry.

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From the LDAR Think Tank CEO: LDARtools is Raising the Bar in 2015

Happy 2015 from LDARtools!

We are more excited about 2015, the future of LDARtools and the LDAR industry in general, than we have ever been.

A major driver of that excitement is that 2015 is going to be the year when we roll-out Chateau, our new comprehensive LDAR Database Management Program. Our phx21 analyzer has changed the standard for what an LDAR detector should be. Chateau will do the same thing for the Database and Database Management side of our industry.

Seventy-six LDAR professionals, many of them members of our LTI Design Team, have contributed their insights, feedback and suggestions. Even more importantly, they have been generous with their encouragement and support.

Our friends have every reason to expect great things: phx21 was revolutionary; it raised the bar for innovation, value and creativity.

Chateau will do even more. In fact, I believe that it will transform what you expect from your Database and enable you to manage your LDAR program in new and exciting ways.

We will be announcing the specifics of how Chateau is designed later in the year. You will be amazed.

For instance:

  • You will have access to 14 different Profile Settings that you can use to manage if and when a component can, should or will be available to be monitored. Chateau will enable you to harness these Profile Settings to avoid a chronic LDAR management failure and ensure that your Emissions Calculations are what they should be.
  • You will be able to choose from 16 different Status Conditions that an LDAR component can be in at any given point in time. Chateau will enable you to track and maintain all 16, or it can allow you to manage your program with as few as 4 Status Conditions. Simplicity or Sophistication: the choice is yours.
  • There are 29 different reasons to perform Method 21 monitoring on an LDAR component. There are powerful reasons for having a Database that can track and manage those different reasons for you. Chateau does.

And these are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Chateau has more than 50 customizable features with more than 120 possible settings. In addition, the user will have (secure and reliable!) control over the 160 different rule specifications.

The choice will be yours: you can have a simple, straightforward LDAR Management program that is based on pre-set options and stock rules OR you can craft your version of Chateau to manage your LDAR program as if it was just that: YOURS.

Simplicity or Sophistication at your discretion—that is the core value of Chateau.

And Chateau is coming in 2015!

We hope and pray that each and every one of our customers, our prospects, our competitors and our friends will have the most prosperous and blessed year ever!

 

Regards,

Rex Moses

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LDARtools Employee Spotlight: Chris Ledbetter

Chris Ledbetter, our Director of Software and Development, is a handy man. Armed with two engineering degrees (electrical and software), he’s been writing code since 1998 and building circuits when he was just 15. “It’s all just a puzzle, whether I sit down to design a board or write an application,” says Chris.

Here at the Think Tank, he’s holed up in his office making the best possible version of our LDARtools software. During his spare time at home, he’s playing inventor / mad scientist. His current project: an Arduino-driven process instrumentation device, a complex thermostat he built to control much more complicated gadgets.

The man just really enjoys hardware and software.

So what brought him to LDARtools? “I like what we’re doing here,” says Chris. “One time, I’d like to just go to the shop and watch them build the machines.” We think he wants to try his hand at building his own phx21.

If he’s not busy, we might just let him.

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Chris Ledbetter and his wife, Peta

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LDARtools: The Best of 2014

We’re thankful for everybody who has joined us along the way. It’s been a fantastic year, and we hope to keep bringing the best products and services to the LDAR industry.

Thank you everyone!

With the New Year upon us, the LDARtools family would like to tell you about what was the best part of 2014 for them:

Rex: The best part of 2014, for me, was the way it became a year of doing happy business with so many men and women who had been my long-term competitors, co-workers and employees. I had admired and respected these folks for almost 20 years.

In 2014, I enjoyed, more than I can say, helping them find solutions to the problems that have vexed us all for so long!

Kim: It’s been lots of fun to see all the growth this past year:

  • The relationships with our distributors continues to deepen.
  • Our end users group is expanding.
  • We’ve established the LDAR Think Tank.
  • We’ve added support staff in Dickinson.

At the center of each of these areas of growth was the terrific people we connected with.

Mike: It was very energetic and the pace continued to be fast over the last year! There are several new customers using LDARtools products, and it has been great for business.

This has meant more traveling for installations. I enjoy getting out to the sites and training new personnel on our products. The feedback from these new customers and even those who have used our products in the past, make our products what they are: superior.

I look forward to what the New Year has to offer our LDARtools family, as we expand our reach to even more customers with our outstanding products.

Erica: The past year has flown by. We have experienced amazing growth and it has been a blast to be a part of it:

  • We have amazing new customers, and have built stronger relationships with our established customers.
  • We put the phx21 on a new continent: Africa!
  • We added some great new members to our team.

I look forward to 2015 with great excitement!

Derrick: The year 2014 has been a year of major growth in my eyes. LDARtools has taken giant steps forward to become an industry leader in LDAR innovation.

Martin: 2014 has been exciting and challenging. Can’t wait for 2015!

Chris: It’s been great so far. I look forward to the New Year.

John: The year was all about change. Since coming on board, 2014 just kept getting better and better. This next one will be just as amazing.

Jada: My year of 2014 has been full of difficult and wonderful times. I look forward to 2015 for more wonderful times than difficult.

Amy: With the combination of LDARtools’ business growth and helping our CFO with additional duties, I have been kept very busy. That’s a good thing, right? May you have a blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year!

Tim: It has been a great year. The company has been expanding at a rapid pace. New challenges and learning how to resolve them made 2014 a very fun year.

Charles: Production has increased. Progress continues at a heightened pace. Improvements everywhere! 2014 was a blast!

Kevin: We’ve been having explosive growth! Looking forward to 2015!

Jeremy: The best part of 2014 would be reaching the 500 phx21 milestone a few months ago. I also got more tools to keep making improvements on our best products.

David: It’s an honor and privilege to be part of this great family and company. The year has been amazing.

Joe: I have had great experiences in 2014 as part of this great team and family that I’ve come to call my own.

Michael: I’ve had a lot of new experiences and opportunities in the past year. I just feel extremely blessed.

Wakeel: I found a great job as part of the LDARtools family. It was a very good year for me.

Warren: It’s been a wonderful journey with all the new experiences. Plus, I finished building my first phx21!

Maureen: Being part of the LDARtools family for the past few months has been a true blessing. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with great people and contribute to this growing company for a few hours a week while having the time to focus on my own growing family.

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Last minute LDAR news from the Think Tank

Just before the year draws to close, we have a couple of things to tell you!

First off, Juniper Systems ends the year with a bang. The Archer 2 has received its Class 1 Div 2 certification, allowing it to be used for your LDAR program without the need for a hot permit.

The Archer 2 brings faster processing and better usability to the table. Your technicians now have a handy and reliable tool to complete their monitoring tasks.

Here’s Cris Cruz, IPREMS’ Purchasing Director, receiving one of the first shipments of Archer 2s from our very own Erica Gentry (LDARtools’ Sales and Purchasing Manager).

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Secondly, we’ve also been busy promoting and expanding the reach of LDARtools. In partnership with Sage Environmental, we visited Germany for the Valve World Expo (December 2-4, 2014). We had many inquiries about the phx21’s functionality, the LDAR industry here in the US, and the expanding equipment leak requirements in Europe.

Here’s a breakdown of the presentations we’ve had:

  • Getting the most out of the site’s LDAR program
  • Assessing field emissions and performance of plant equipment
  • Innovative applications of LDAR program data
  • Updates on the impact and overlap of the EPA Low-E requirements on the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries subject to the US FDA requirements for valve and processing equipment

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[Trade-In Offer] c2 Bluetooth device as LDAR stocking stuffers

This Christmas season, we’re happy to spread some cheer and help out your LDAR program at the same time.

One of our most valued Distributors traded in 48 competitor Bluetooth devices for c2s. So we decided to extend this offer to everyone:

For just $393.75, any TVA Bluetooth device can be traded in for a brand new c2!

Please contact sales@ldartools.com or call 1-877-788-1110 ext. 2 for more details.

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LDARtools’ creative approach to recruitment

We’re not called the LDAR Think Tank for nothing.

LDARtools’ hiring process is traditional with a dash of innovation. We still receive resumes and invite prospective Technicians in for an interview. We talk to them about their background, and learn about their motivations. Then, we ask them to build a robot.

As Rex explains in the video below, the Robot Test is very simple. It also says a lot about an applicant.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZwO9c6eWKs]

Technical know-how lets you build the robot. Ingenuity allows you to lift the fruit and carry it.  Problem-solving skills are important to us and we want to see what applicants can do.

In the end, robots are fun and they’re a neat pastime. As a hiring tool, it helps us get the best of the best.

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[UPDATE] Here’s another approach an applicant took to move the gourd:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1phVR4laaeQ]

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LDARtools’ Top Technical Blog Posts of 2014

It’s already December, folks! We’ve had a full fun year, and while we’re excited for 2015 (SpanBoxLite!), the month’s not over yet.

phx_logoThis week, we’re running a retrospective post on all the insights we’ve had on the LDAR industry, safety and general improvements we can make on our programs. Check out our list below and let us know what you think.

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LDARtools New Technician Spotlight: Joe Schneider

Recently, Joe Schneider painstakingly assembled his first phx21 (#1493) from the sled to the South End Overmold. After he was done, “I took pictures and was praised by everybody here,” he says. “I love the job. I love the people I work with and I’m just excited to be here.”

Before he joined LDARtools, Joe’s industrial experience included painting and sandblasting. His most recent employment involved managing a sports bar and selling firearm accessories during the weekends. Both seemed relatively good jobs, but he wanted more. “I was looking for a career and to be around good people,” Joe says. “And I’ve always loved working with my hands.”

This desire to work with his hands brought him to LDARtools.

Patience and attention to detail—traits that Joe’s previous jobs taught him—coupled with the intensive training that we provide here at the Chateau helped him build his first phx21.

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Born and raised in Texas’ gulf coast region (Friendswood), Joe Schneider enjoys golf, pool, hunting and fishing, but what he really wants to do is scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

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