Coatings & Linings Pipeline Rehabilitation ANTICORROSION PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS www.aps-corporate.com May 2015 Issue 13 NEWSLETTER Specialized in Quality – Since 1978 I’m going to start this month by being terribly Brish and commenng on the weather and Wow! – what a difference a few weeks can make. I was last in Dubai in late March when the temperature was sll quite reasonable with it being a pleasant experience to sit outside in the evenings and here we are in May and clearly summer has arrived with a vengeance. The changing of the seasons is of course a predictable affair, but nevertheless, there are always those who invariably each year say “gosh – I don’t remember it being quite this hot quite so early last year”. And yet of course, it was. An appropriate opening I hope, as the theme of our Newsleer this month is that of change and our orientaon to and percepon thereof. Change “orientaon” one supposes, being a posive as opposed to change “disorientaon” being the obvious and less desirable effect. We all of us live in a dynamic world in which nothing, as the saying goes, stays the same. At least not for very long, thus we all of us have to learn to deal with and orient ourselves to change in our personal and work lives prey much on a daily basis. In the majority of cases these changes are relavely small and oſten hardly percepble, causing lile upset or consternaon and therefore being easily adopted and woven into our daily rounes. Occasionally however a major and totally unpredictable event, such as the death of someone close to us happens which quite literally rocks our world seeming impossible to adapt to and causing us, for a me to become unsure and unbalanced or “disorientated”. In the work environment, it is the responsibility of the management to try to introduce major changes in an orderly and logical manner thereby minimizing the trauma for all concerned and to, as appropriate, broadcast the reason for such changes in advance thereby hopefully creang an atmosphere of understanding and avoiding such feelings of insecurity and disorientaon. Running a business is a bit like sailing a complex yacht and it takes connual adjustments to seek the best course. APS is certainly no excepon and in our quest to progress and bring new vigour into our business, we have all witnessed a number of important changes over the last eighteen months or so. Some of these have been impercepble. Some, such as the appointment, promoon and leaving of senior staff, have been of the more dramac nature. None I would hope however, has caused anyone’s world to be rocked and all of these changes I would equally hope, will be seen to be beneficial to the general wellbeing of APS. Somemes, in business as in our personal lives we might become frustrated because having planned for change and having done everything that we feel we need to have done to enable change to occur, it nevertheless seems to deſtly defy those efforts. On those occasions we may have to look more closely at the circumstances to determine if more effort is needed or, as is oſten the case, more me is required for the seeds of change to take root. On some occasions, it may be that an employee might see the opportunity for change where it could be beneficial, with either a small or large implicaon to the effecveness of the business. In such cases, I think that everyone should be encouraged to put their ideas forward in whatever manner they feel comfortable with. It’s a simple fact that we are all of us, in a posion to be the implementers of change as well as the recipients of its effects! Sneak Peek in this Issue: Message from the Chairman • Message from the Chairman • News & Events • News & Markeng • APS New Employees • HR Corner Le salon VST – Ville Sans Tranchée France June 2-3 15th Asian Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Engineering Exhibion Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 2-4 Expo APA 2015 Bucharest, Romania June 15-17 WEFTEC 2015 Illinois, USA September 26-30 Subsea Asia 2015 Jakarta,Indonesia November 4-7 ADIPEC 2015 Abu Dhabi, UAE November 2015 Upcoming Events
Special ized in Qual i ty – Since 1978 Special ized in Qual i ty – Since 1978
I’m going to start this month by being terribly British and commenting on the weather and Wow! – what a difference a few weeks can make. I was last in Dubai in late March when the temperature was still quite reasonable with it being a pleasant experience to sit outside in the evenings and here we are in May and clearly summer has arrived with a vengeance.
The changing of the seasons is of course a predictable affair, but nevertheless, there are always those who invariably each year say “gosh – I don’t remember it being quite this hot quite so early last year”. And yet of course, it was.
An appropriate opening I hope, as the theme of our Newsletter this month is that of change and our orientation to and perception thereof. Change “orientation” one supposes, being a positive as opposed to
change “disorientation” being the obvious and less desirable effect.
We all of us live in a dynamic world in which nothing, as the saying goes, stays the same. At least not for very long, thus we all of us have to learn to deal with and orient ourselves to change in our personal and work lives pretty much on a daily basis. In the majority of cases these changes are relatively small and often hardly perceptible, causing little upset or consternation and therefore being easily adopted and woven into our daily routines. Occasionally however a major and totally unpredictable event, such as the death of someone close to us happens which quite literally rocks our world seeming impossible to adapt to and causing us, for a time to become unsure and unbalanced or “disorientated”.
In the work environment, it is the responsibility of the management to try to introduce major changes in an orderly and logical manner thereby minimizing the trauma for all concerned and to, as appropriate, broadcast the reason for such changes in advance thereby hopefully creating an atmosphere of understanding and avoiding such feelings of insecurity and disorientation.
Running a business is a bit like sailing a complex yacht and it takes continual adjustments to seek the best course. APS is certainly no exception and in our quest to progress and bring new vigour into our business, we have all witnessed a number of important changes over the last eighteen months or so. Some of these have been imperceptible. Some, such as the appointment, promotion and leaving of senior staff, have been of the more dramatic nature. None I would hope however, has caused anyone’s world to be rocked and all of these changes I would equally hope, will be seen to be beneficial to the general wellbeing of APS.
Sometimes, in business as in our personal lives we might become frustrated because having planned for change and having done everything that we feel we need to have done to enable change to occur, it nevertheless seems to deftly defy those efforts. On those occasions we may have to look more closely at the circumstances to determine if more effort is needed or, as is often the case, more time is required for the seeds of change to take root.
On some occasions, it may be that an employee might see the opportunity for change where it could be beneficial, with either a small or large implication to the effectiveness of the business. In such cases, I think that everyone should be encouraged to put their ideas forward in whatever manner they feel comfortable with. It’s a simple fact that we are all of us, in a position to be the implementers of change as well as the recipients of its effects!
Sneak Peek in this Issue: Message from the Chairman• Message from the Chairman
• News & Events
• News & Marketing
• APS New Employees
• HR Corner
Le salon VST – Ville Sans TranchéeFrance June 2-3 15th Asian Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Engineering ExhibitionKuala Lumpur Malaysia June 2-4 Expo APA 2015Bucharest, Romania June 15-17 WEFTEC 2015Illinois, USA September 26-30 Subsea Asia 2015Jakarta,Indonesia November 4-7 ADIPEC 2015Abu Dhabi, UAE November 2015
Upcoming Events
Coatings & Linings Pipeline RehabilitationANTICORROSION PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS
APS was awarded the HDPE close-fit lining of large diameter caisson pipe internals. These caisson pipelines are installed on the Malikai Hull for the TLP Malikai Deepwater Project by the client Technip-MMHE JV.Mobilization of crew and equipment is in full swing and the job is expected to commence by the 22nd of May.
On Wednesday the 20th of May a Strategic Alliance Agreement was signed by our Group Chairman Robert Walters, on behalf of APS and
A farewell lunch party was organized to celebrate the retirement of Ms Joyce Rego, who worked for APS for over 23 years. In the picture you see Graham
Young handing over a farewell gift, after a moving speech emphasizing the great value that Joyce had brought to our company. Thank you Joyce for your many years of service to APS. You will be truly missed.
CFL Goes Malaysia!
Strategic Alliance Agreement Cape - APS
Retirement Party
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fightiing the old, but on building the
new.”
- Socrates
June Celebrants
2nd Mohd Salleh Bin Awang, Engineering Manager
7th Yenti Binti Gapor, Logistics cum Admin Executive
8th Romeo Carpio, Estimation Department Manager
11th Veron Lim Bee Ling, Accounts Executive
18th Jim Morse, Production Manager
23rd David Henderson, Operations Manager PR
26th Steven Latimer, Divisional Manager PR
Public Holidays:
6th June 2015 - Public Holiday, the Yang Dipertuan Agung’s Birthday
5th June 2015 - PH Replacement – Office Closure
Crude Oil Price
Employee SpotlightName: Gilbert A. MagdamoPosition: Coating and Lining SupervisorYears with APS: 2 Years
Gilbert is happily married to Ma. Alice Jimenez and blessed with 3 wonderful boys. He grew up in Libis Binangonan Rizal Philippines. He has 15 years of experience in protective coatings and linings in the Oil & Gas industry. He worked on various projects in Myanmar, Thailand, Pakistan and Qatar before he joined APS as a Coating and Lining Supervisor.Gilbert enjoys spending time with his family. When he gets time to himself he loves to play basketball and netsurfing.Gilbert is reliable, hardworking and a good coach. He makes sure he delivers rapid performance when it comes to production and quality.Three career lessons he has learned: • Never be afraid of failure • Learn to let go • Don’t take life too seriously Gilbert believes that “No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the success of those who are under him”.
Tim Callahan, Divisional Managing Director on behalf of Cape Middle East. The agreement opens the way for a historic cooperation between the two companies in the Middle Eastern Region. Cape, a listed company on the London Stock Exchange, is an international leader in the provision of critical industrial services principally to the energy and natural resources sectors. Cape employs over 17,000 people working across 21 countries and in 2014 reported revenue of USD 1.1 billion. Robert Walters concluded at the signing ceremony: “Cape provides APS with an increased exposure to their existing client network and the possibility to make use of their operational bases throughout the Middle East and APS offers a broadening of specialized corrosion services to Cape, thereby substantially enhancing Cape’s capability to serve its customer in the Middle East”.
Special ized in Qual i ty – Since 1978 Special ized in Qual i ty – Since 1978
News & Marketing
International Pipeline Coating Conference 2015
Incentives and Rewards for Health & Safety June AwardeesThe Safety Committee awarded Mr. Surya Kumar this month’s safety award. Mr. Surya notified the Safety Committee that a First Aid box was missing in the workshop area. Needless to say that straight after this sharp observation a First Aid box was made available in the designated area.
Congratulations Surya!
Other awardee:Best Safe Worker of the Month: Abdul Rahman Jod
HSE Updates
APS participated in the International Pipeline Coating Conference 2015 in Dubai held April 22nd - 23rd.
This conference is technically focused and its attendees included many oil and gas operators, to discuss their latest projects and technical challenges associated with pipeline protection with the leading international technology and solution providers, presenting the latest advances enhancing pipeline coating and protection.
During the conference, Jim Dymock presented a paper on ”A Novel approach to the Rehabilitation of Sub-Sea Hydrocarbon Pipelines (IFL)”.
The event was also attended by Graham Young, APS Managing Director and Chris Burkill, APS Divisional Manager - Coatings & Linings.
APS is pleased to announce that Mr. Graham Young has been awarded the “NACE UAE Section Lifetime Contribution Award” for his long, dedicated and valuable service to the NACE UAE Section. The award was presented to Graham during the NACE UAE Corrosion Conference 2015. Congratulations Graham!
The NACE UAE Corrosion Conference 2015 was well attended with over 300 participants, mainly from the Middle East oil & gas industry. APS, Bronze Sponsor at the event, presented themselves as the Middle East’s leader in corrosion engineering and contracting service provider.
APS attended the WETEX 2015, the 17th Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition was organized by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).APS showcased the latest systems in Pipeline Rehabilitation.
NACE Award NACE UAE Corrosion Conference 2015 WETEX
Coatings & Linings Pipeline RehabilitationANTICORROSION PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS
As a reminder...this is YOUR newsletter. If you have something to share with us we welcomeall suggestions, announcements, etc. Please submit your comments to: [email protected]
Name : David HendersonDesignation : Operations Manager – Pipeline RehabilitationJoin date : May 3, 2015
Name : Zulhazlyshah Bin ZaharuddinDesignation : IT ExecutiveJoin date : May 5, 2015
Name : Nor Azian Binti RosDesignation : Administration ExecutiveJoin date : May 25, 2015
This month’s core competency theme is that of change orientation, defined as, “An openness to new ideas complemented by an enthusiasm for new developments and changes occurring at work”. For APS to maintain the success it has enjoyed for almost 40 years, change is essential as, in Charles Darwin’s words, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”.Our early newsletters spoke of a new beginning. Looking back over the last 12 or so months, it is clear that the organization and the way it operates is now very different and much better. Internal communications have been transformed as has our interface with the outside world via new websites, brochures and so on. Recruitment of new personnel has added to the dynamism of the business while internal transfers and promotions have reinvigorated many employees and boosted their job satisfaction. Through our continuous improvement efforts, we have bettered the quality of our offerings and increased efficiencies dramatically while also enhancing our safety consciousness. The list goes on!APS remains a dynamic organization which will continue to change in the months to come. On this subject, Dubai Municipality has finally issued planning approval for the Zetas site, paving the way for the long-anticipated extension of our DIP facility.Nevertheless, many do not like the thought of change. Examples of resistance to change are encountered on a daily basis. Those “petrolheads” amongst us will recall the recent reaction to the imminent departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Presenter of
the popular BBC Top Gear series, following a well-publicized “fracas”. An online petition indicated no fewer than 1,062,305 viewers were against this inevitable change.As a PhD Research Student, I studied the impact of change upon workforce members at all levels. A recurring theme emerged. Most trauma associated with change tended to be experienced before the change took place! People’s uncertainty and anxiety regarding the perceived consequences of change were the prime sources of their difficulties. By the time change took place, it was invariably not as bad as expected, and the new situation very quickly became the status quo. By thinking of the lead up to important changes in our lives, like starting a new job or moving to a new location, the truth of this observation becomes obvious.A 2013 Forbes article, similarly acknowledging the core problem as being prior concern about change, proposed useful strategies to overcome inevitable fears:Acknowledge the change. Accept the inevitability of change and recognize the business benefits.Acknowledge your fears. This is the first step to overcoming them.Accept your feelings and seek support. Expect and accept your feelings of fear and anxiety, and reach out to others -colleagues, partners, and friends- to make you feel better.Designate “worry time”. Set aside a time each day to focus on, and overcome, your fears.Communicate. Take note of planned changes communicated by the organization (e.g. via these newsletters, regular announcements and ongoing team briefings) and ask your manager for clarification if required.Stay positive. Remember that most change can produce opportunities as opposed to threats.Get involved in the change. Involvement in the change process will make understanding and acceptance easier, thereby encouraging greater flexibility.Keep working. Work will give a beneficial sense of purpose and accomplishment during any period of change.And for all you worried “petrolheads”, the good news is that a new Top Gear Presenter “dream team” has apparently been recruited, while Clarkson and his chums are reputed to be working on a new motoring series. Yet more change for the better!
With great pleasure, APS announced the promotion of Dennis Snijders to the appointment of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) with effect from 1 June 2015. In this newly created role, reporting to the Group Chairman, Dennis will broaden his responsibility for developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining the company’s strategic initiatives with an emphasis upon achieving sustainable business growth. He will be collaborating with Divisional Managers and Departmental Heads to facilitate the implementation of strategy and associated change while retaining his existing managerial responsibilities for Business Development, Marketing and Corporate Communications. Let us all congratulate Dennis on his new appointment and offer him our full cooperation and support as he assumes the responsibilities of his new role.
