Kimray’s new Gen 3 Liquid Level Controller is the company’s newest innovation, but the family-owned, Oklahoma City-based company has operated since 1948 and celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.
Interview with Dustin Anderson, vice president of sales and marketing.
Can you explain the niche Kimray serves in its industry?
Founded in 1948, Kimray is a world-class manufacturer of control equipment used extensively in oil and gas production in North America and around the globe. We are family-owned, and we have been headquartered in Oklahoma City for our entire history. We believe in serving our customers, our team and our community. And we believe in doing the right thing for its own sake. We treat everyone with the respect they deserve, giving them the support they need to develop as professionals and as people. Providing good work and a stable life is the heart of our business.
Our name is synonymous with quality in the oilfield. From our first three-inch pilot-operated back pressure regulator to our catalog of thousands of upstream and midstream products, we put our name behind every single one. We’re proud to be trusted across the oil and gas industry. We’re excited to celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, and we contribute that success to the invaluable work of our teams and customers across the globe.
How is the Gen 3 liquid level controller changing your industry?
Precise liquid level control is key for energy producers. As oil and water separate inside a production vessel, they need a controller to signal the right time to send these resources downstream for the next processes. The Gen 3 uses Kimray’s patented pilot plug with a compact, versatile new design to do just that. It delivers accurate level control, even when the oil and water have similar specific gravities. It also provides versatility because it can be set up in many configurations and easily changed. This gives upstream operators a reliable solution they can easily customize to make their work more efficient. We expect wide adoption of the Gen 3 across all major oil and gas plays.
Other products pushing innovation forward at Kimray?
We are working on three areas that are ripe for innovation: zero-emission products, improving our working environment and incorporating robotics. One big goal energy producers have today is reducing their emissions and prioritizing sustainability. To help them meet this goal, all our new product designs focus on helping producers optimize production while reducing emissions with options like non-vent, outside air supply and electric power.
We also look to innovate inside our company to improve the working conditions for our team members. Recently, we implemented a large-scale upgrade to our air-conditioning system in our manufacturing areas to keep our teams more comfortable and less exposed to the Oklahoma summer heat.
We have also made a large investment in robotics in an area of our campus called Territory 8. In this facility, our automated machining systems use a 2-D vision system to machine raw product castings in one continuous process. These systems provide safer working environments for our team members, and they run around the clock, increasing our efficiency so we can create products quickly and get them to the customers who need them.
Why is pursuing innovation important to a company’s growth?
The energy industry has been around for well over 100 years, and it touches nearly every aspect of modern life. But it is constantly changing. The best operators are looking for standard solutions, but they also want partners who understand their problems and look for ways to make it easier, more efficient and safer to operate. We are dedicated to providing that and to being here for the next 100 years to provide stable jobs for our team members, innovative solutions for our customers and active support in our communities.
We believe that the best innovation happens when you get talented people together and give them resources to grow and develop. Many of our team members have long careers at Kimray. However, those that are with us just a short time are able to take what they’ve learned here and put it back into their local communities to continue pushing Oklahoma forward.
