A PUBLICATION OF FORUM ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
3
Forum Focuses on SOX
6
New ROV Tooling
8
Downhole Gets Down
Winter 2014
Open Forum
Winter 2014
Volume 4 Number 1
C E O
Open Forum is published for Forum Energy
Technologies VIPs — our employees and
our customers.
Submit company news tips, human interest
stories, community involvement information,
photos and other items of interest to the Editor:
Contributors:
Graham Adair, Nick Atkinson, Neil Brent,
Donovan Campbell, Kevin Clothier,
Wade Jackson, Melissa Joseph, Maury Mills,
Mandy Morters, Danielle Newcomer,
Ali Papenfuss, Kipp Schmitt, Callie Smith,
Katie Stannard, Stephen Walton
IN THIS ISSUE
13 SOX Compliance is Forum’s Focus
15 New Executives Join Our Team
16 Subsea Introduces New 3G Tool
17 P&I Hosts Management Workshops
18 Downhole Opens New Offices
19 Newsmaker Speaks Out
10 Forum Shows at Offshore Europe
10 Employees Use Shelters for Safety
11 Forum Contributes to Good Causes
▼
As we begin 2014, I would like to thank everyone for their
hard work last year. On several fronts, 2013 was a difficult
year for us as market factors did not work in our favor and
we had to adjust our business accordingly. I appreciate your
understanding and cooperation with the changes we have
had to make.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue.
If we missed something you sent — or news you
wished you’d sent — please let us know. We’ll be
glad to include it in the next issue.
Donna Smith
Director of Marketing & Communications
920 Memorial City Way, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77024
[email protected]
281.949.2514
C O R N E R
Speaking of changes, in this issue of Open Forum you will meet two
new executives: Prady Iyyanki, our new Chief Operating Officer, and Bill Boyle, the
Senior Vice President of Subsea Technologies. Both bring a wealth of experience and
fresh perspectives to Forum from major industry players. Learn more about them on
page 5. If you haven’t met them yet, I hope you have an opportunity in the near future;
I am excited about the value they will bring to Forum.
2013 was our first full year of being a public company, which meant there were many
compliance requirements to meet. Many of you were directly involved with meeting
these targets and I am fully aware of the effort required across departments and product
lines to accomplish these tasks. It is a major achievement for Forum to be a publicly
owned company traded on the world’s leading stock exchange, but a great deal of
responsibility goes with that.
We also highlight in this issue the expansion of several facilities that position us
for future growth, as well as the upgrading and consolidation of global operation
locations across our product lines. As we grow, economies of scale and collaboration
across product lines will be essential to our success.
Forum has come a very long way since its inception in August 2010, and I take great
pride in being associated with the large number of people who have made this happen.
As we continue to grow, there will undoubtedly continue to be new challenges that we
have to overcome along the way. There is no doubt in my mind that we will become a
great company, because we have the people who can make it happen. Each of you has
a role to play in this future growth and success. As we build Forum, let’s be sure to
make safety and the highest standard of ethics our firm foundation.
ABOUT THE COVER
Forum’s Dubai staff shows off their new
consolidated location for Drilling, Subsea
and Downhole (from left): Edwin Cabitac,
Vasu Kotwal, Tuku Mollah, Feras Salameh,
Vinod George, Mohammed Ali, Bing DelCruz,
Arathi Kumar, Priya Lulla, Jane Fernandes,
Wade Jackson and Joe Edwards. Not pictured
are Steve Conniff, Colin Gray and Jojo Paul. See
the Facilities Updates story on page 7.
If your office has initiated a process or procedure you are especially proud of, please
let the editor of Open Forum know so that we can share it with our fellow employees.
Regards,
Cris Gaut, Chairman and CEO
FORUM ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
920 Memorial City Way, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77024
“Management is responsible for setting
the tone at the top and for establishing
and maintaining Forum’s internal controls
over financial reporting.”
Forum Focuses on Sustained SOX Compliance
Members of the Flow Equipment internal control committee gather for their quarterly meeting.
Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
became law in July 2002 following the
accounting scandals of Enron, WorldCom
and other corporations, U.S. public
companies have had their work cut out
for them. The legislation was passed to
protect investors by improving corporate
financial reporting and disclosures. It
requires publicly traded companies to
implement additional internal controls
over financial reporting and includes
provisions to prevent auditing conflicts
of interest and define strict criminal
penalties for noncompliance.
Section 302 of the Act, for example, governs
disclosure controls, requiring management
to certify that what they are disclosing
to the public accurately represents the
company’s financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows for that period.
Further, Section 404 requires company
management to assess and prove with
documentation that an effective internal
control structure and financial reporting
procedures are in place — for different
product lines and locations system wide.
This is no small task for a 1.5 billion dollar
company like Forum.
The Process
“Management is responsible for setting the
tone at the top and for establishing and
maintaining Forum’s internal controls over
financial reporting,” said Vice President
and Controller Kipp Schmitt. “How we get
there is with a lot of work from a lot of
people. We have to lay out basic internal
financial reporting controls for every
location we have. And for every quarterly
reporting period, everyone responsible for
these controls has to sign off. Those giving
their approval may include the local
controller or accountant responsible for
that location, as well as the operations
team members, from warehouse and
manufacturing to inventory management
and purchasing. Most of the companies we
buy are privately held and have not been
subject to SOX or may not have had a
heavy emphasis on accounting controls
or proper segregation of duties. Applying
these SOX requirements to the newly
acquired businesses adds to the challenge.”
For Forum, the focus of testing for proper
financial reporting controls has been in
four key areas:
• Segregation of duties
• Inventory control
• Delegation of authority
• Account reconciliation
Segregation of duties: This category of
internal controls is designed to ensure that
tasks are segregated among individuals.
Ultimately, this helps to prevent errors and
fraud. For example, separate employees
should approve the use of a vendor and
pay the vendor. For many locations, this
can be a challenge as these procedures
continued on page 4
Open Forum
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
3
SOX Compliance, continued from page 3
provide a new way of thinking about how
to perform the tasks. In some instances
where the location is too small to have the
employees required to perform the separate
tasks, then other mitigating controls are
implemented.
Inventory control: Proper counting programs must be implemented for inventory
control. For most locations, a cycle counting
program is implemented where inventory
is counted several times during a calendar
year. This helps the company know that
inventory is being properly managed and
accounted for. To comply with SOX, Forum
has required that a full physical inventory
count be taken if cycle counting controls
are shown not to be fully working or if the
counts are resulting in too many adjustments.
Further, the overall management of inventory at that location would be reviewed to
understand the root causes for the adjustments. For SOX, whether cycle counts or
full physical counts are used, all adjustments
must be properly documented and approved.
Delegation of authority: An important
part of SOX compliance is ensuring that
proper channels of approval are maintained,
as well as approval levels for individuals.
You may have noticed a Finance department section on ForumConnect for DOA
documents. These documents include the
dollar amount an individual may approve
for Accounts Payable and the individual’s
authority level for customer contacts and
quotes, expenses, inventory purchases, and
capital expenditures. The dollar amount of
an individual’s authority is determined by
their job responsibilities. Even the CEO has
a limit of authority, and transactions above
those limits must be brought before the
board of directors.
Account reconciliation: To comply with
SOX and to ensure that our books and
records are properly maintained, Forum
has required that the accounts within the
4
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
Open Forum
conducted in 2012. Testing continued
during 2013, which was the first year
Forum’s external auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), got involved.
Before PwC signs off when we file our
annual report in March 2014, SOX will
require Forum’s CEO and CFO to certify
that our internal controls are designed and
running efficiently.
accounting records be reconciled regularly
and timely. In general, a reconciliation is a
process to confirm that two records are in
agreement. For example, an inventory reconciliation would ensure that the dollar amount
per the accounting record is in agreement
with the very detailed inventory sub-ledger,
where inventory is listed by location and by
part number. This area of SOX helps the
company know that its accounting records
are accurate and properly supported.
Our Progress
As Open Forum reported in the Summer
2013 issue, we started the process of
assessing the effectiveness of our internal
financial controls structure and reporting
procedures in 2011 with the formation of
Forum’s Internal Audit (IA) department.
To ensure that all locations were SOX
compliant, three people from IA went
to help the field with control design and
documentation. The first round of testing
for compliance control effectiveness was
Before our CEO and CFO sign off, they will
look to two committees — the Disclosure
Committee and Global Internal Controls
Committee — for certification. The
Disclosure Committee reviews our public
financial statements, and the members of
this committee would know if something
is omitted or incorrect based on their
responsibilities at Forum. These members
must sign an internal certification stipulating that the financial statements are
accurate and there have been no instances
of fraud or violations of laws and regulations,
among other things. The Global Internal
Controls Committee (GICC) is comprised
of division vice presidents and controllers,
and representatives from Internal Audit,
Legal and other areas. This committee has
its own subcommittees where even more
individuals are included in the process of
monitoring Forum’s internal controls.
The GICC meets quarterly to discuss the
key internal control focus areas, quarterly
self-certifications, internal audits that have
been completed, and any issues found
through other means. This committee must
sign off that Forum’s internal controls are
working in minutes of their meetings and in
quarterly letters. Some of our product lines
have individuals in Forum field locations
sign off on that letter as well.
In addition to the new procedures and
committees that have been created, Forum
also instituted self-assessments of internal
controls. The self-assessments utilize an
continued on page 5
Two Executives Join Forum’s Senior Management Team
Forum is starting off the new year with two
new additions to the senior management
team. Prady Iyyanki has been appointed
Chief Operating Officer (COO) and
William “Bill” Boyle has been named Senior
Vice President – Subsea Technologies. Both
will be based in Houston.
As COO, Prady will be responsible for
leading Forum’s global operations and
driving growth and operational excellence
across the organization. He brings years of
international business, process improvement
and manufacturing experience to Forum,
most recently serving as President and
CEO of General Electric’s (GE) Oil and
Gas Turbomachinery Equipment business
segment headquartered in Italy.
Prady spent more than 16 years with GE
in multiple management roles. He has a
Bachelor of Science in Engineering from
Jawaharlal Nehru Technology University in
India and a Master of Science in Engineering
from South Dakota State University.
A native of Scotland, Bill has more than 30
years of experience in various Oil & Gas
sectors. He has led numerous subsea operations within Stena Offshore, Coflexip Stena,
Prady Iyyanki, Chief Operating Officer
Bill Boyle, Senior Vice President – Subsea
Technologies
COO
Prady Iyyanki
President, P&I
Wendell Brooks
SVP Drilling
SVP Subsea
Bill Boyle
SVP Downhole
Sid Smith
SVP Prod Equip
Carl Daniel
SVP Flow Equip
Chris Dorros
SVP Valves
Steve Twellman
Technip, Subsea 7, Wood Group and, most
recently, Clough. Bill graduated from
Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen
with a BSc degree in Quantity Surveying
and is a Chartered Surveyor.
compliant can be more daunting than you
might think. Since 2010, we have grown
from about $750 million in revenue to
about $1.5 billion.”
together in 2010 to the many acquisitions
we’ve made since then, implementing
standard financial reporting policies and
procedures takes a lot of work from many
different people. We are very close to the
finish line, and now we need to execute our
year-end controls to achieve year-one SOX
compliance. Once we pass this milestone,
the focus on compliance won’t go away.
In March we’ll start our 2014 audit plan
to begin working toward 2014 SOX
compliance.”
SOX Compliance, continued from page 4
online tool that uses a check list to review
controls quarterly. Individuals can log in,
review the key controls that should be in
place and working, and then must sign off
that the controls are working properly. This
tool can be very helpful when a new location
and/or new employee comes on board.
“I feel much better knowing that many
people are reviewing these numbers before
we file Forum’s financial statements,” Kipp
said. “With our aggressive acquisition
program, and our multiple locations and
product lines, ensuring that we are SOX
According to Internal Audit Director Neil
Brent, no significant deficiency or material
weakness has been found in the work done
by everyone to this point. This was highlighted at Forum’s most recent audit
committee meeting in December. “We’ve
been working on this since 2011,” he said.
“For any company that has grown like
Forum, from five companies that came
Open Forum
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
5
New Multi-Class Torque Tool Pushes Technology
By Stephen Walton
Technology within the ROV tooling world
is constantly evolving. The first generation
of torque tools used by ROV operators
was simple hydraulically operated tools;
the second generation added sensors that
provided detailed operating information
to the operator on the surface. Now
Forum Subsea Technologies has pushed
the technology forward, developing a
third generation (3G) torque tool. This
tool not only has the ability to feed
information to the operator on the
surface, but it also can reconfigure while
deployed to cover a range of operations,
which previously would have required a
number of tools to be deployed with the
ROV or costly trips to the surface to
reconfigure the tool.
A key stage of the 3G tool development
was to add functionality to enhance the
operating software. The tool’s two key
features are the simplified user interaction
with the software and closed loop feedback
to improve control and accuracy. The tool
addresses two of the main driving factors
in the industry moving forward. Firstly, the
requirement for improved productivity and
efficiency, which the tool offers with its
ability to do a range of tasks once deployed
to the subsea worksite. The second driving
factor is the increasing demand for personnel within the rapidly growing industry,
which means it is essential that tools are
straightforward and intuitive to use.
In addition to the improvements made with
the software control algorithms and GUI,
there are a number of innovative mechanical
developments in the tool. Torque tools
require a range of torques when deployed
subsea, which was previously achieved by
returning to the surface to change out a
gearbox or motor. Competitors have developed products that use a hydraulically
6
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
Open Forum
The new multi-class torque tool is currently
undergoing qualifications.
switched gearbox. While this is an acceptable solution, the gearboxes have a
tendency to lock up during operations,
necessitating a return to the surface to
remedy. Forum engineers have designed
a new hydraulic motor that is effectively
two hydraulic motors combined into a
space envelope no larger than the existing
hydraulic motor. One motor is operated
for low torque, a second for medium, and
both can be combined for high torque.
During testing we discovered that super
low torques could be achieved by driving
one motor against the other, which
provides an unprecedented operating
range and absolutely no risk of locking
up during operations.
For torque tool operations, different
torque ranges require different socket
sizes. In the past, cumbersome external
change-out modules or spring loaded
‘nested sockets’ have been used. Spring
loaded sockets are a reasonable solution,
but when docking onto a tree it is not clear
which socket is being used, which could
result in the wrong torque value being
applied and subsequent costly damage to
a subsea structure. To overcome these
deficiencies, Forum engineers developed
an innovative mechanism that changes
sockets by simply rotating the nose of the
tool. Clear markings on the outside can be
seen by the operator to identify the torque
range. To change the range subsea, the
torque tool is returned to its deployment
storage housing and a function activated
from the topside control software.
Forum engineers are currently putting
the prototype 3G torque tool through a
gruelling qualification programme and
are aiming to have production units for
sale in the second quarter of 2014.
facilities updates
2013 was a busy year for Forum facility updates, consolidations and new construction around the world.
In Houston, we consolidated four offices
into one to create a new Drilling and Subsea headquarters off the Sam Houston Parkway. The new location (Fallbrook) occupies
two floors of the new three-story building,
bringing together Houston area sales people,
engineers, accountants and support staff for
Drilling, Downhole and Subsea in a single
facility.
In Broussard, LA, a new 150,000-squarefoot building has just been completed for
drilling products manufacturing. The new
facility, which replaces an old plant, has
the latest equipment and will improve
efficiencies and work flow.
Elmore City, OK, expanded again, adding
10,000 feet of covered manufacturing space
to handle larger production equipment
manufacturing.
The Dynacon facility in Bryan, TX,
expanded to add capacity by extending
the weld shop 10,000 feet, adding a new
12,000-square-foot assembly building
and a new paint/blast building, as well
as a new testing and spooling area.
We opened a new distribution facility in
Pearland, TX, for Davis-Lynch products.
Besides improving efficiencies, the Fite
Road building has helped alleviate the
crowded conditions of the nearby DavisLynch manufacturing plant. Eventually,
the distribution location will handle all
Downhole products.
In Singapore, Drilling, Downhole and
Subsea offices combined into a new highrise building location. The new offices are
a big improvement over the old locations
and give both groups meeting rooms for
clients. A nearby shop accommodates
both product lines.
The crowded drilling facility in Dubai,
UAE, moved into a larger location nearby
and now accommodates Subsea and
Downhole products as well.
OJS increased the size of its Batam,
Indonesia, facility three-fold with a new
building that will help with the rapid
growth of the region. The new plant has
dedicated areas for project PQTs and new
product testing. All regional projects are
supported by onsite OJS Project Managers.
In 2014, updates are planned for Aberdeen,
Newcastle, and Corpus Christi and Stafford,
TX. Check future editions of Open Forum
for photos and details.
P&I Division Stages Management Development Sessions
By Melissa Joseph
Production and Infrastructure division
senior management hosted three management development workshops for plant
supervisors and managers, titled Foundations of Management (FOM), led by Joe
Fauth with Fauth & Associates International.
Topics covered during this two-day FOM
program were: dealing with change,
managing stress, communication skills,
innovation and creativity, leadership
effectiveness, time management and the
Forum safety culture. Sixty supervisors and
managers attended the three workshops in
Norman, OK, and Sugar Land, TX.
Attending the Norman, OK, workshop are (from
left, front row) Chet Tucker, Preston Moore, Leonard
Coffman and Eric Freeman; (second and third rows)
Dave Childers, Tommy Dilbeck, Kristy Wilhoit,
Cassidy Dimick, Gene Sawyer, Amber Culbreath,
Jake Ferris, Andy Johnson, Jenny Osborne, Victor
Balderrama, Ashley Harnadek, Scott Graves,
Susan Williams, Brady Green and Tony Miser.
Additional management development attendees
in Norman include (left to right, first row) Johnny
Ferris, Jerry Hawkins, Wes Sherman and Stephen
Brinson; (second row) Sam Lippard, Mike Pate,
John Deinhardt, Darrel Lackey, Nancy Lindell,
Gina Hermes and Reginald “Reggie” Rhue; (third
row) Brian Gaddy, Justin Jarrett, Wes Campo,
Jimmy Dean, George Leasure, John Haines,
Jonathan Orner and Steve Erwin.
In Sugar Land, workshop participants pictured
are (from left, first row) Jason Legendre, Rod
Cardenas, Andrew Tran, Roy Farias and Eric Teoh;
(second row) Denny Knight, Michael Betancourt,
Hesbon Mbuthia, Sandra Herrera, George Calzada,
Mike Talementez, Suzanne Woods, Chris Durham,
Elsie Garcia and Raymond Alonso; (third row) Jeff
Minnich, Larry Wofford, Bill Swatsworth, Frank
Taylor, Cesar DeLuna, Pat Houlihan and Karen Hysell.
Open Forum
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
7
Forum Downhole Gets Down to Business
Our Downhole Technologies unit is getting
down to business in Houston and Singapore,
reorganizing, realigning and refining its
operations. Starting with Davis-Lynch, its
biggest business unit, Downhole is building
an organization to service all three business
lines and has opened a new distribution
center in Houston.
Houston Distribution Center
According to Downhole Technologies
Operations Director Donovan Campbell,
the Downhole business unit needed to
solve three issues:
• More effectively cataloging and controlling
inventory
• More efficiently meeting customer needs
in the North American market by analyzing and forecasting future manufacturing
demand, while maintaining the same level
of service excellence for which Davis-Lynch
is known
• Providing a scalable platform for future
Downhole units that would serve as a
center-of-excellence resource to help
them solve business problems before
they become operating issues
“It’s more than a distribution center that
we’re building,” Donovan said. “It’s a
scalability platform that will help Downhole
grow its multiple product lines by proactively
applying tools and systems to help manage
growth. This is an example of Downhole
leveraging the model that Forum’s Drilling
unit put in place, modifying it to suit our
own unique requirements. In so doing, we
used the institutional knowledge that Forum
already had developed to make progress
much more quickly and effectively. The
creation of the Downhole distribution
center is an excellent example of how
Forum’s individual product lines benefit
from being part of the broader Forum
enterprise. We have access to resources —
capital, knowledge, experts, etc. — that we
simply couldn’t realize on our own.”
The distribution center is housed in 87,000
square feet dedicated to Downhole. In just
four months, the operation expanded from
an empty warehouse and three people to a
staff of 23 and an inventory of $9 million in
float equipment, while implementing new
planning, forecasting, inventory control
and procurement systems for Davis-Lynch.
Donovan emphasized that this is not a onesize-fits-all solution and the operations
organization will tailor its services to meet
the unique needs of Downhole’s other
product lines.
“Our goal is to provide the right resources
to the right businesses at the right time in
their growth cycle to help them overcome
specific challenges or seize specific opportunities,” Donovan added. “We serve our
product lines — not the other way around.”
Downhole Singapore
Establishing Forum’s Downhole Singapore
office is another example of how the
company’s collective experience and
infrastructure enable each individual
product line to succeed in ways that it
couldn’t on its own.
“Downhole has chosen to focus on certain
areas of the world as part of a long-term
strategy where trends indicate increased
demand for the products we make,”
Donovan said. “Historically, Forum’s
business overseas has been done through
third-party intermediaries in which we are
one to two steps removed from the end
customer. In order to truly focus on strategic
areas of the world that are core to Forum’s
future, we need to establish our own direct
links to the end customer. Southeast Asia
is one of those areas.”
As a result, Downhole decided to establish
its own sales office in Singapore, where
a Forum Drilling and Subsea office and
warehouse already existed with much of
continued on page 9
Downhole’s new Houston Distribution Center features 87,000 square feet of wireless networking and bar-coded products that automate warehouse functions and
improve efficiency.
8
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
Open Forum
Forum Downhole, continued from page 8
the infrastructure Downhole would need
already in place. To set up its own operation in Singapore, Downhole worked with
one of Forum’s long-time distributors,
Global Oilfield Technologies (GOT), to
take on the existing operation there. To
establish Downhole’s presence, Forum hired
the nine GOT employees, bought back its
inventory, and migrated the employees,
inventory and light manufacturing equipment from the GOT office to the Forum
Singapore space.
“I cannot speak highly enough about the
energy of the Forum team in Singapore
that led the on-the-ground transition,”
Donovan said. “Jeff Ewen, the operations
leader, set the conditions for success from
the get-go. All of our Human Resources
arrangements, which needed a deep understanding of Singapore employment law, were
performed by his HR leads in Singapore
and the UK. All the accounting and legal
issues were handled by his controller. And
the coordination of the inventory and light
equipment move, on a timeline that allowed
production to continue and orders to go to
customers uninterrupted, was handled by
Jeff ’s operations manager. We would never
have been able to succeed without their
support. With it, we were able to complete
the entire business migration — people,
product and technology — in less than
three months from start to finish. Without
Jeff and his team, it would have taken us at
least a year to accomplish this same task.”
The move gives Forum direct access to
the vibrant and growing marketplace of
Southeast Asia, while bringing Downhole
and Drilling closer together globally,
improving the odds of realizing synergies
across both businesses for the company’s
greater good.
N E W S M A K E R S
▼
Send your tips about newsworthy Forum employees and facilities to Open Forum Editor Donna Smith. See page 2 for contact information.
Forum Expert Speaks at
EPM Conference
Forum’s Hyperion Systems Manager
Clint Holt (far left) was invited to speak
at the recent Oracle|Hyperion Enterprise
Performance Management (EPM) Conference in Houston as a subject expert for
Hyperion Financial Management (HFM).
HFM is part of a product suite referred to as
EPM. In addition to explaining who Forum
is and how we use HFM, Clint fielded
questions from attendees on installation,
maintenance and resolving various issues
with the software.
Open Forum
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
9
Offshore Europe 2013 Show Attracts Crowds
By Danielle Newcomer
Aberdeen's unseasonably warm temperatures brought out more than 63,000 people
to the 40th anniversary of Offshore Europe.
Held every other year, the show this year
saw an increase of over 25% from the 2011
event, with record attendees and 1500
exhibitors in six exhibition halls. Forum
Energy Technologies had a corporate
booth, as well as a Subsea Technologies
booth in the Deep Water Zone.
With two booths, Forum generated large
amounts of traffic during the four-day
show. The Subsea booth featured the ever
famous Showbot, while the corporate
booth showcased a vast array of drilling,
downhole and flow equipment products.
Forum held a customer event at the
Amicus Apple one evening with great
food and a cocktail making session.
Our new acquisition Blohm + Voss had
S A F E T Y
The busy Forum booth in the Deep Water zone.
Our Offshore Europe corporate booth showcases
Forum’s drilling, downhole and flow equipment
products.
a booth in the nearby German Pavilion,
giving both employee groups a great
chance to interact during the week.
Aberdeen and, in fact, has just committed
to consolidating our many offices in the
city into a new, larger facility.”
“Offshore Europe continues to be the
premier show for the oil and gas industry
in the North Sea,” said Marketing &
Communications Director Donna Smith.
“Forum intends to maintain a presence in
This was Forum’s second year participating
in Offshore Europe. For a list of our 2014
shows planned, please visit f-e-t.com or the
ForumConnect intranet under marketing.
F I R S T
Storm Shelters Installed Just in Time
Throughout spring 2013, Forum had
storm shelters installed at our Guthrie,
Chickasha, Sulphur and Elmore City, OK,
locations. Since these offices are in an area
prone to deadly tornadoes, management
decided that storm shelters were a must —
and just in time, too! Less than two weeks
after the installation, a tornado struck
▼
Guthrie, and employees used the shelter
according to plan. All our shelters are
stocked with survival basics: bottled water,
first aid kits, flashlights, trash bags, buckets,
and pens and paper for roll call. Forum’s
Valve Solutions facility in Madison, Kansas,
is the next location in line for storm shelter
installation.
Workers finish Forum storm shelters in Oklahoma
(above) just before a tornado touches down
in Guthrie.
10
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
Open Forum
C O M M U N I T Y
F O R U M
▼
Forum Energy Technologies believes in giving back to the communities in which we work. Watch this space in each issue for news of our
civic involvement, and send your stories to Editor Donna Smith.
Forum Subsea Saves Children in the UK
On December 13, all Forum Subsea business
unit employees in the UK participated in
a country-wide fundraiser for Save the
Children, donating £1 per person and
wearing a Christmas jumper to support
the charity’s Christmas Jumper Day. The
organization helps save the lives of children
suffering from famine, war and natural
disasters in 120 countries. Even a £1 donation can make the difference between life
and death, as Save the Children delivers
food, water, healthcare, protection and
education to children and their family
members.
Houston Employees Step Out for Heart Health
By Melissa Joseph
The Houston Heart Walk Team included employees and their families.
Forum is proud to be a corporate partner of
the American Heart Association (AHA) and
its lifesaving mission of building healthier
lives free of cardiovascular disease and
stroke. To help support this mission, our
company was a sponsor of the AHA’s annual
signature fundraising event — My Heart,
My Life, Houston Heart & Stroke Walk on
Saturday, November 16, at Reliant Park.
Debbie Rolinson and Bill Lawson from the Findon,
Scotland office show off their holiday spirit.
Great Yarmouth Collects for Good Cause
Our Heart & Stroke Walk steering
committee and team captains, led by
Melissa Joseph, were Donna Smith,
Sumer Inman, Russ Hill, Donovan
Campbell, David Karl, Mayra Elizondo,
Denise Broussard, Lance Lewis, Kim
Albert, Ginger Worthington and Wade
Nairn. Forum teams encouraged employees
to invite their families and friends to walk
and raise funds for AHA to meet the
company’s fundraising goal of $15,000.
To achieve our goal, the steering committee
and team captains hosted a variety of fun
fundraising activities at our Houston
locations. These included AHA Speakers
Bureau presentations on heart disease and
stroke prevention, a “Share Your Heart”
donations campaign, cake contests and
bake sales, a heart-healthy chili cook-off
contest, a vendor-sponsored community
barbecue luncheon, raffles and AHA
wristbands, Jeans Day and Halloween
costumes day. Our finale fundraiser was
an online auction with 100% donated
items from community sponsors and
individuals. The terrific efforts of Forum
employees, friends and business associates
drew more than 150 walkers and doubled
our company goal, raising $30,597 for
the AHA to rank Forum #15 in overall
fundraising out of the 73 companies that
participated — an incredible achievement
in our inaugural year with the AHA!
The Houston Heart & Stroke Walk was a
terrific celebration of everyone’s enthusiasm,
engagement and unconditional support. We
walked for everyone who has been or may
be impacted by heart disease and stroke.
Great Yarmouth UKPS Offshore office employees,
represented here by Miretta Howard (left) and
Tonia Weldon, collect food and toys for the
Salvation Army’s Toys and Tins fund to ensure
everyone in the community has the Christmas
they deserve.
Open Forum
왘왘
Winter 2014
왘왘
11
FORUM ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
920 Memorial City Way, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77024
T H E
L A S T
W O R D
▼
PBV Goes to New Heights for Aramco
These valves were custom designed and
built for good customer Aramco at our PBV
plant in Stafford, TX. While Aramco is a
regular customer, the company normally
purchases large-size valves from other
vendors. When asked if we could produce
them, the team at PBV designed and built
the 36'' x 34'', 30'' x 28'', and 26'' x 24'' 150pound trunnions per Aramco specifications
in 22 weeks from start to finish. The valves
have a special drain arrangement and will be
used in Saudi Arabia. Hats off to everyone
at PBV who helped pull off this amazing
order!
Jessica Elevrud, Project Manager for the custom order, proudly stands beside the finished valves.