business & market news
18
Tube Products International January 2012
Riser specialist appointed technical director
of Magma
Magma Global Ltd, manufacturer of the
m-pipe carbon/polymer pipe for harsh
subsea applications, has appointed
Steve Hatton as its commercial director.
Mr Hatton joins Magma from Acteon
Group Ltd, where he was vice
president and principal director of its
riser engineering company 2H. With
almost 30 years’ experience in subsea
equipment and riser systems design,
he graduated from Newcastle Upon
Tyne University and then worked for
Vickers Offshore, John Brown and
Cameron Offshore Engineering, where
he was predominantly involved in the
detail design of riser systems and
riser EPC contracts. In 1993 he was
jointly responsible for setting up the
company 2H where, as a director,
he has driven the business in riser
system and subsea hardware design
and analysis.
Martin Jones, Magma Global’s CEO,
said, “We are delighted that Steve has
decided to take on this important role
at Magma. We have worked closely
with him for several years and have
been impressed with his breadth of
knowledge, experience and grasp of
the positive impact m-pipe will have in
solving some of the challenges facing
subsea exploration and production.
We expect Steve to have a significant
influence over our development and
delivery of m-pipe, our strategic
direction and growth.”
Commenting on his appointment,
Mr Hatton said, “It is an exciting time
to be joining Magma; my experience
at 2H and wider industry relationships
will give a great foundation to help
move the business forward very rapidly.
I believe m-pipe offers the potential
for a significant improvement in the
way we design, manufacture, install
and operate critical riser systems. It’s
time for us to look to new materials to
solve some of the tough challenges the
offshore industry faces; materials which
will reduce risk and installed cost of riser
systems.”
Magma Global Ltd
– UK
STINA awards certified producer status
The Steel Tube Institute of North
America (STINA) has announced that six
companies who produce steel tubular
products have passed its audit process
and earned the right to display the
STINA Certified Producer mark on their
products.
These six companies are the first to
have successfully passed the rigorous
audits and product testing administered
by Intertek, one of the largest providers
of auditing, inspections, testing,
quality assurance and certification of
companies’ products and processes.
All of the facilities certified are producers
of steel hollow structural sections (HSS).
Two of the companies were able to
qualify more than one manufacturing
location.
The certified facilities are: Allied Tube
(Morrisville, Pennsylvania); Atlas Tube
(Chicago, Illinois; Harrow, Ontario;
Plymouth, Michigan); Bull Moose
Tube (Trenton, Georgia; Elkhart,
Indiana); Searing Industries (Rancho
Cucamonga, California); Southland
Tube (Birmingham, Alabama); and Vest,
Inc (Los Angeles, California).
The companies underwent a series of
internal audits and product testing to
assure their processes, manufacturing
procedures and products adhere
to ASTM and other recognised
manufacturing standards.
The Steel Tube Institute’s Producer
Certification Program is an on-going
process. Once a company has passed
the initial assessment, it is subjected
to up to two visits a year by Intertek,
who will audit and test the company’s
raw materials, production processes
and post production test reports,
and obtain samples of manufactured
tubes for testing at their verification
centre.
Bill Wolfe, STINA’s executive director,
said that the testing procedures were as
demanding as any he has experienced
in the steel industry: “Intertek’s years
of experience were evident during
the process, and their comments and
suggestions to our member companies
were insightful. It was not only the
testing procedures, but the additional
information and recommendations
they provided that made their audit
processes so valuable.”
Achieving producer certification
gives the recipient the right to use
STINA’s Producer Certification Mark,
not only on its products, but also on
its website, annual reports, advertising
and marketing materials, company
letterhead, signage and emails. A second
group of companies are applying for, or
are currently going through, the process
of certification.
Mark Bula, STINA’s HSS director,
discussed the programme’s initial goal:
“Bill Wolfe and the leadership of STINA
set out to establish a higher standard of
integrity for the products our industry
produces.” Mr Bula went on to discuss
how the Producer Certification Program
achieves that: “ASTM specifications set
the primary standards for our industry.
But until now, they have been voluntary
standards, and they’ve been self-
certified. The STINA Certified Producer
Program adds an independent, third
party certification. That’s a significant
difference. It raises the bar to a new
level.”
Steel Tube Institute of North America
