The 2017 ILTA – International Liquids Terminals Association recently concluded their annual meeting and trade show in Houston, TX. WOM, one of the 200 exhibiting companies, had a 10′ x 10′ booth displaying our ball valve product line at the two-day event dedicated to the storage and handling of refined hydrocarbons, such as gasolines, diesel fuels, and crude oil.
Hydrocarbon liquids require different handling equipment than natural gas, and there are always new industry regulations and best practices being adopted. This trade show exposes WOM to the end users, fabricators, and resellers who may be interested in our technology.
For the past couple of years, ILTA has scheduled presentations of a technical nature for interested ILTA members. Bill Lanning, API 6D Product Manager for WOM’s ball valve product line, was asked to do a presentation on “Technical and Regulatory Considerations for Selecting and Purchasing Valves”. This is a broad and potentially very boring topic. However, the WOM team was up for the challenge of keeping the audience engaged. Bill created a three-page typed paper on the subject and used a PowerPoint presentation to support and explain the paper. The main point of the presentation was that in today’s business environment, the end user of valves cannot afford to buy inferior equipment. The risk of liability and costs to shut down or replace a poor-quality valve exceeds the initial cost of higher quality valves.
The presentation seemed to be well received, several attendees requested copies of the PowerPoint to show their companies and strengthen the argument for buying better valves as a best practice.