Featured Story

Running the engineering department on an aircraft carrier during the first Gulf War prepared Bruce Ames for a lifelong career that kept him busy in all types of industries— paper, power, trucking, and more. Now, a lubrication engineer with ExxonMobil, he uses his diverse skills to develop programs to help his customers save money, energy, and time. By Michelle Segrest - Contributing Editor

The food industry will spend $1.8 billion per year for valves over the next five years. (1) Many U.S. food companies have become truly international and make valve decisions in the U.S. for installation in the rest of the world. Four of the top six purchasers are U.S based. By Bob McIlvaine - The McIlvaine Company

On a recent trip to Arizona, the Valve World Americas team took a behind-the-scenes factory tour of the Ceretta Candy Company in the city of Glendale to see the many different ways components such as valves can be used throughout a candy manufacturing plant. By Candace Allison

Providers of water management services strive to help businesses reduce costs and improve the efficiency of their water and wastewater infrastructures. However, their success depends on effectively tackling the challenge of water pressure regulation and head loss. All too often, this entails having heavy and cumbersome technology, which restricts the installation options and creates unwanted operational challenges. By Neil Poxon - Oxford Flow

For more than 130 years, the Arizona Public Service Company (APS) has powered Arizona’s growth, prosperity and innovation. APS continues to be the state’s largest and longest serving electric utility, providing 2.7 million people with safe and reliable energy. Palo Verde Generating Station is the largest source of carbon-free electricity in the United States, with 6,400 MW of generating capacity and one gigawatt of renewable energy. By Candace Allison & Sarah Bradley

When it comes to working with customers to solve lubrication and engineering problems, Adam McMurtrey relies on a lifetime of experience that goes all the way back to his childhood. For ExxonMobil’s Mobil Serv program, he works closely with industries ranging from lead mines to chicken rendering plants—always with energy efficient lubrication at the forefront of every solution. By Michelle Segrest, Contributing Editor

Valve World Americas had the pleasure of speaking with Larry Wilkerson, Supervisor of Air Fugitives at the Andeavor's Golden Eagle Refinery in Contra Costa County, California. He was delighted to discuss how he ended up in an environmental role, the main cause of leaks at the plant and the measures that are taken to prevent them from occurring.

Valve World Americas had the pleasure of speaking to John-Paul Schmidt, Piping Stress Leader at Dow Chemical, about working with clients to design projects, calculating risk, common challenges with equipment, as well as the best and most challenging aspects of the job. By Jody Hewitt

A small company president’s role involves much more than sitting in a corner office. Jody Millsap gets his hands dirty. “My personality is not that I can be content sitting in an office,” he said. “I like to interact with the customers, help with sales calls and getting my hands on the equipment. President is just a title. You have to be a jack of all trades. I like to be out doing stuff and staying busy.” By Michelle Segrest - Contributing Editor

As the world’s largest chemicals company, BASF operates hundreds of sites in over eighty countries. Making sure these sites – which are often highly integrated – run safely and efficiently is naturally critical to BASF’s profitability in highly competitive global markets. Strategic procurement initiatives are therefore in place that both safeguard the supply of valves as well as reduce the total cost of ownership, explains Mr. Holger Suhren, Global Category Manager Valves. By David Sear