Evolution of latest internal latch wellhead system puts ease of use at the forefront
From the very beginning, the field was the focus.
Whether it was what customers were relaying to our field personnel or what our field personnel were relaying to our engineers, simpler, faster, and ease of use became the rallying cry behind the design of the DMLX-S.
Clay Blackwell and Eddie Guzman were two of the main people leading that charge.
Blackwell, a project engineer for Stream-Flo who specializes in the field and spent his first two years in our service department, says his role in developing the DMLX-S through R&D work and its rollout was shaped by the “zero defect design approach” instituted by lead engineer on the project Peter Derks.
“In a sense, we wanted to be able to roll it out without any defects,” explained Blackwell. “That way when it goes to a customer, it works 100 per cent the way it’s intended to.”
It’s an ambitious goal for a commercial product to work 100 per cent of the time.
But it was one the group was serious about achieving and put in the required legwork to do so, with 31 people in total — primarily head service techs from across our American branches — contributing their feedback to the design.
“I really think that helped Peter (Derks) put a good design together,” said Blackwell. “Then it made it a lot easier for me and Eddie (Guzman) to roll it out and R&D it and then put it on the customer’s front door and hit a home run.”
For Guzman, our field superintendent based in Beeville who played an important role in developing the system’s running procedures and then training our techs on them, seeing the home-run success of DMLX-S to date has been exciting.
“I feel very proud of what we’re doing,” said Guzman. “We haven’t had issues at all, it’s very reliable equipment.”
Eddie Guzman (left) and Clay Blackwell have reason to smile after the strong success DMLX-S has seen in its first few deployments. The pair were instrumental in ensuring field considerations and execution were a priority in the system’s design. (Microsoft Teams)
Thoroughly tested
The extensive in-house testing that was conducted during the developmental phase of the DMLX-S is a big reason why the system is operating so flawlessly.
“Part of our R&D process is once we put it together, we’ll give it to them and see if they can break it,” says Stream-Flo President of Operations Sean Wilcock. “When R&D came back and said, look, we love it, we love the tools, we love the process, the running procedures, everything, that’s great feedback.”
It’s feedback that customers are starting to echo.
“The biggest selling feature of the DMLX-S I would say is its reliability and being able to repeat it over and over again,” added the field-focused engineer Blackwell. “As of right now we’ve had zero issues out in the field with it, for the most part I feel like most of the customers have been loving it from what I’ve been told.”
Another key aspect of why the DMLX-S has seen such success has been the guidance field superintendent Guzman provided to those who are responsible for installing the system.
“Being a superintendent, I like what I’m doing, so I make sure we get as — nothing’s perfect — but as perfect as we can,” said Guzman. “So we show and train our techs on how to be successful in the field, and we put a lot of effort into it.”
Eddie Guzman works on one of our DMLX-S systems. (Clay Blackwell)
‘Very easy to install’
For Stream-Flo Product Line Manager Steven Buchinski, the person ultimately responsible for the DMLX-S and all it heralds, setting our service team up for success was paramount as they began the process.
“It’s ease of use from our service technicians that are running it,” said Buchinski of the internal feedback he’s received so far from the group. “The system was designed with them at the design table and doing that has yielded a product that is very easy to install and very nice to work with.”
Which, as Buchinski is quick to add, all began because of the total team approach the field focus design was borne from.
“Working with the service technicians, getting inputs from manufacturing, getting inputs from supply chain, combining that all together into a failure mode analysis and designing out potential problems before they were ever problems,” said Buchinski. “That’s the key here.”
Wilcock, president of operations for Stream-Flo, says the DMLX-S shows that the company is listening to the market, listening to its customers, observing what technology it is customers want to apply, and delivering those solutions by improving the wellhead without complicating the engineering side.
“We’re not standing still,” said Wilcock of the latest evolution, which he is excited for more customers to get their hands on. “Pretty much every department within the company had an impact on this, so it’s kudos to the whole team.”
The DMLX-S installed on a customer site. (Clay Blackwell).
‘Drill, drill, drill’
As the DMLX-S prepares to take on a more prominent role in the pressure control portfolio of Stream-Flo, Guzman says it’s the right system at the right time.
“Nowadays, customers, they want to drill, drill, drill,” said Guzman. “At the end of the day, the DMLX-S, it’s faster equipment, it’s just more efficient for them, you know?”
We sure do.