Statement from the MD

My personal history in the refractory industry dates back to my start as a part time job during my college days working as laborer / apprentice brick layer progressing the years working with contractors, engineering companies, OEM’s, material manufactures on a myriad of applications including process design, material development and manufacturing, refractory inspections and technical advisor roles including testing of refractory materials., technical development and other critical technical support in the refractory industry.

My history in Asia started with a few projects in the typical places, Hong Kong, Japan and China, but eventually ended here in Thailand in 1996 where I worked as an operations manager at an international owned contractor that specialized in insulation, scaffolding, refractory and fireproofing.  Ultimately, I was assigned to a problem project in Map Ta Phut where my employer at the time had serious issues with refractory linings supplied by a local manufacturer and installed by an internationally owned but locally operated contractor (refractory) installer where most if not all of the linings were rejected to both installation and material issues. My job was primarily to make the existing linings work not only through the warranty period of two years but through the end of a six-year (long-term) maintenance program.

Long story short, this maintenance program allowed the end user to utilize their equipment using substandard materials coupled with exceptionally poor installation practices for well beyond the expected operational time while keeping the units running for the expected durations with minimal emergency down time due to refractory issues.

To accomplish the task of long refractory life, the training of a multitude personnel in acceptable installation practices which were expected to accomplish these goals. Training included multiple supervisors who have learned what was required to perform these long-term objectives and operational goals.

Another critical part of the process was the verification of materials and actual installations to ensure that the refractory that was replaced met the design criteria that was expected which would provide long term solutions. This meant testing of refractory materials prior to installation. Testing personnel of the installation crews and testing of as installed materials.  This part of the process was difficult since Thailand does not have adequate refractory testing facilities to meet the rigid standards of API 936. The few companies in Thailand that perform refractory testing all have issues passing an audit related to the requisite standards that have been requested for them to test. While some of these testing companies claim to have ISO certification, none of them fully comply with the protocols that are required by the main testing standards that are cited today. Therefore in 2017, an automatic cold crush tester was purchased and sent to Thailand to verify the physical properties for the sheer volume of samples required by one end users In the meantime, Industrial Specialist (Asia) Co., Ltd. was requested by other end users and material companies to perform refractory material testing.

Since 2018, Refractory testing has become a major part of Industrial Specialist (Asia) Co., Ltd. business but we provide additional support for our customers in the way of technical support, project supervision, technical advisor, refractory training, and consulting.  Recently, I have taken over as the “acting” managing director and we are looking at expanding our customer base to support refractory installation throughout Asia since it appears that not much has changed since arriving here in Thailand in 1997.

The contracting companies are following a similar philosophy as they did 25 years ago and all the while end users want more operational time with less down time and cost especially for refractory materials. Fortunately, the saying “the more things change; the more they stay the same!”  indicates that Asia especially Thailand needs the service of Industrial Specialist (Asia) Co., Ltd. even more today.