SMD

Source: Manufacturing Digital

Date :10/12/2007 10:54:10

SMD expands its subsea expertise offering turnkey solutions for all trenching and Work Class ROV requirements, Soil Machine Dynamics has an increasingly diverse portfolio of products

Written by Lucy Mowatt and produced by Mark Skillicorn

With a history dating back to 1971, Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) is a Newcastle-based company with knowledge of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) manufacture and subsea trenching. However, Dr Alan Reece established the company initially as a consultancy firm, which provided information for those looking to undertake subsea tasks.

SMD grew rapidly though, acquiring Pearson Engineering and started to produce ploughing equipment and parts. However, it was not until 2003 that SMD acquired Hydrovision, which prompted a complete diversification of the business. Since then, it has been split equally between two main focuses; trenching and ploughing equipment manufacture, and Work Class ROVs.

Mark Collins, SMD’s current sales manager explains: “When SMD bought Hydrovision it got a broader portfolio of oil & gas customers. Although it had always been on the fringe of oil & gas, supplying large trenching ploughs to offshore operation companies, Hydrovision changed the focus of SMD, developing its product and client range in a number of new industries.”

These developments have been relatively straightforward because SMD is a privately owned company - John Reece, the current owner, is the son of the founder. Mark Collins states that being privately owned means SMD does not have to worry about shareholders and can make decisions quickly. “Basically, it allows us to be dynamic and to decide if we want to seek other kinds of business.”

John Reece is also very heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of SMD. He is a qualified engineer and still works on the design side of the business. A large percentage of the 70 full-time employees at SMD have good degrees, either in engineering or related areas, including those in sales roles. Depending on the projects undertaken the workforce can reach sizes of 120 people with the addition of local contractors.

To support the expertise of its workforce, SMD is also investing in modernising its Turbinia facility on Tyneside. The large site is in the process of being expanded and developed; there will be new design offices, a new main office and the workshop - which is essentially an old shipbuilding facility - will undergo major refurbishment. This should be completed by March 2008 and staff from SMD’s other site in Walker will be integrated onto the Turbinia site.

Major projects

SMD is currently undertaking projects for CTC Marine and Oceanteam, a company in the Netherlands. The world’s largest ROV, called UT1 and weighing 60 tonnes, is being built by SMD for CTC. This revolutionary piece of free flying equipment has 2.1MW of power and can support itself in the water, moving with the use of large hydraulic thrusters. This will be accompanied by an even more powerful tractor trencher, RT1, which will be completed in 2009.

A heavy-duty power cable and umbilical plough is also being constructed for Oceanteam, which will be delivered next year. As well as these major projects SMD has a number of orders for smaller ROVs. This includes a scientific WROV system for MBARI in California and a system for the Russian Navy. It also has an ongoing relationship with Subsea 7 for the supply of WROV systems. SMD has delivered vehicles to all corners of the globe including China, Vietnam, Japan, USA and Europe.

Mark Collins explains that part of SMD’s industry is dependent upon oil and gas prices. “As prices go up, oil companies like to spend money on development of fields, in turn prompting operations companies to spend money on new capital equipment. We’re in the market to manufacture that equipment. As such, we might see a boom for two or three years, but even if pressure remains high, capital investment subsides because the technology they buy is used for a long period of time.” He goes on to say that the last two to three years have been very positive for SMD, and the future looks to continue in the same way.

In order to combat future fluctuations in market conditions, the business is looking to diversify its already varied product range. SMD is considering becoming involved with subsea mining. The telecoms market is picking up again too. Following the saturation of the market with fibre optic cables in the 2000/2001, interest in laying cables declined. However, with recent developments in media and telecommunications, the need to lay cables is increasing again. SMD intends to become involved once again in this development and utilise its expertise in this area.

Simulation technology

As the equipment manufactured by SMD is almost exclusively made to customer specifications, it’s obvious that the company constantly focuses on R&D. Mark Collins says: “Quite a lot of the time, because of the type of contracts carried out, we build whatever customers are looking for. As such, we do some R&D for a period, depending on the timescale before we start designing equipment.” This also means that the company can rely upon its past developments to find out what will be effective in a particular situation, as it has completed an extensive range of projects.

Significantly, SMD has developed simulation technology within the last year. “We’ve invested a lot of money on a training school that we’ve built on the Turbinia site. This is a standalone centre with a dedicated training manager; there is a mock-ROV control room, and within that there is a mock-ROV control console. Customers who have purchased SMD equipment can go in there and practice operating a SMD ROV system in a subsea environment.”

This will prove to be a useful training tool for those working with SMD equipment. Not only this, but Mark Collins explains that it can be used for mission planning: “It can also be used by our clients to plan new missions. They can import different subsea environments and see how feasible their work is.”

This is the first stage in the development of a range of simulation systems. SMD is looking to install simulator systems in real ROVs so that training can take place when conditions are not favourable offshore. Eventually this will develop into combined simulator-real systems. This will combine computer generation with the actual position of the ROV in 3D space and allow operators to fly in very poor visibility, even permitting ‘point-and-click’ automatic mission flying.

Responsible business

The company also holds the ISO 9001 certificate, which guarantees the quality of its products. Mark Collins explains that the company has a quality manager, who assesses what is working for the business, listening to customer feedback and responding accordingly. This can be followed up by a workshop, which responds to the company’s needs and encourages employees to learn the best ways of working and to ensure consistency.

There are also growing concerns about the impact of subsea vehicles upon the environment. In the past, subsea equipment used hydraulic mineral oils which could result in contamination of surrounding areas. Newer equipment takes the environment into account and mainly uses biodegradable oils. “We also try to get supplies locally,” Collins explains. “A lot of our suppliers are around Tyneside and in the UK. We try to support UK businesses and, where possible, avoid importing from overseas.”

This local focus extends to the company’s policy on social responsibility. It works with local charities by getting actively involved, as well as by donating funds. It is also contributing to local talks about urban regeneration around Newcastle’s old shipbuilding areas; it is giving input into how infrastructure can be improved as well as suggesting the installation of new units for start up businesses in the area. “SMD is working with local councillors because we’re doing quite interesting work at the centre of it all, so we try to help where we can.”