Analyzer and Sampling System Engineering Services

So often, we’ll be asked to come in and look at a system after some period of time where the system has failed to live up to expectations, I would say. Often, customers will see symptoms of some underlying root cause.

We often see that the initial design and systems have been made according to certain P&IDs. When we look into the real-time systems and at the facilities themselves, they are not representative of the drawings.

Time delay is certainly the most common issue we see on-site, but we also face other problems like condensation, crystallization, and filter clogging.

In the end, we want to see the whole picture of the assembly and check the root causes that lead to the problems.

What that means is they’re not getting the results and measurements they need. That can affect regulatory compliance, process or product quality, and safety. A lot of the analyzers are there to provide safe operating conditions for the process unit, so whenever any of those are compromised, the analyzer isn’t providing the service it was purchased for.
The objective is to make their sampling system reliable and decrease maintenance costs and production costs. Customers didn’t know that they could reach out to Swagelok and have somebody come in and talk to them about these things.

We’ve invested a lot over the last 10 years in developing our field engineering program and our expertise in analytical instrumentation. We can help the customer with initial feasibility studies, design of the sample system, potential guidance on analyzer technologies, and post-installation validation of the system.

We’ve always been problem solvers for customers, but in the past, what we were asked to do was to help them specify parts and products to enable them to build a system that would perform in a certain way, and we never had the full picture.

I’ve been working on this program for 14 years. When I started working with Swagelok as a consultant, we obviously didn’t do these kinds of things they do now. It’s a nice feeling to see all this happening now, and I can sail off into the sunset knowing that I’ve left a good thing behind me.

What’s changed now is that the customer is saying to us, “We need to achieve this outcome.” And we are able to say, “Based on our understanding of best practice, our experience, and a bunch of engineering calculations that we’re going to do, this is the right way to do it.”

I think a lot of our customers would be surprised if they realized just how heavily Swagelok has invested in our people, our processes, and our tools to be able to do this work for the customer.

What we’re seeing now is that a lot of the capabilities and core competencies that were previously only available here at the global headquarters are now going to be available locally at the sales and service centers.

We have field engineers all over the world. We have over 200 sales and service centers located around the globe. Each service center would have a field engineer that we can rely on to help support our customers locally.

We have also developed tools to allow us to support customers remotely with systems like RealWear and HoloLens.

So, instead of fixing a system that was designed, built, and installed by somebody else incorrectly, there’s a big opportunity to design it correctly in the first place, fabricate it properly, and make sure it’s installed correctly so the owner-operator gets immediate benefit from that installation.

If we can get more engaged at the front end, I think the customer can only win.