Eztek

All systems go

Based in Aberdeen, Eztek is an experienced provider of highly engineered electronic and software solutions for a range of needs in the oil and gas industry.

From perforation, correlation and safety panels to intercom and camera inspection systems, with a specialisation in hazardous area products such as compact and robust data loggers. The company supplies its comprehensive portfolio to a range of service companies as part of major projects.

Robin Hunter, sales and marketing manager of Eztek, outlines the company’s main operations: “We supply wireline equipment, safety panels and keys, rig intercom systems, camera inspection systems for on-and-offshore, data acquisition systems, cable assemblies, and a vast number of hazardous area products that are built to meet customers’ individual specifications.

“We also have an industrial workshop range that incorporates industrial computer and data acquisition systems, pressure loggers and camera inspection systems primarily designed for pressure testing cells. As a design company, our main strength is in the bespoke service we offer; we frequently have clients approaching us who already use our standard equipment and want a variant on its capabilities and  we can work with them to meet their exact requirement.”

Eztek was founded in 1993 in response to demand for the design and manufacture of electronic equipment for local industries, including paper manufacture, food processing, whisky distilling and oil exploration. Since then the business has grown to serve most of the major oil companies across the world, including those in the US, and often supplies some of its own competitors. Eztek benefits from having the ethos of a small and dynamic workforce, which uses extensive knowledge in the field to provide customers with expert service from design to delivery in the shortest time possible. To facilitate Eztek’s growth, the company plans to move into purpose-built premises by mid-2010.

The organisation’s adaptability is its mainstay; many key oil and gas operators are attracted by the fact that all of Eztek’s products can be adapted to suit their own needs. Most recently, the company has gained two lucrative contracts worth over £250,000. The first is for the supply of £180,000 of offshore cable assemblies for use in hazardous conditions to a well management company based in Aberdeen. The second is for the installation of 16 industrial computer systems, worth £70,000, for workshop use at a leading oil service company’s premises in Aberdeen. The deliverance of both of these projects is imminent.

Though primarily based in Europe, Eztek is approached by customers from around the globe and it has plans to expand into the Middle Eastern market, as Robin explains: “For the future of the company we are looking to promote and improve our product sales in the Middle East and some of our latest products have been specifically designed for use in this key area. For example, one of our newest data loggers has been created for use on the great number of land rigs that are present in the Middle East, where they need to log data without the persistent presence of an engineer. Our system is a stand-alone, battery operated data logger which produces a real-time graphical display and has the potential to be left for weeks between capturing data.”

Aside from this decisive move, Eztek generally gains new markets by the process of existing clients approaching them with the changing demands of the oil and gas industry. As situations in the market change, customers come back to the company with new requirements, enabling Eztek to be one step ahead of competitors. The current economic crisis and the low price of oil has had a great impact on the oil and gas industry as well as those supplying to it, with many companies facing a downturn in both business and enquiries.

Eztek however, has found that the need for development and research remains a key aspect of the industry and, as such, it is continuing to succeed in its area of expertise. To enhance its credentials, Eztek is hoping to become ISO accredited by the end of this year and the company is extremely dedicated to the health and safety of its own multi-skilled staff, as well as those using its products.

Looking to the future, managing director Bert van Tuijl outlines his vision: “Our initial goal over the next few years is to increase our turnover from £1.2 million to over £2.2 million by 2012. We plan to achieve this by tapping into the Middle Eastern market, which is such an important region for us due to the fact that there is no evidence of a decrease of investment in areas such as Egypt and Libya. We have the facilities to create a product ideally suited to the environment in those locations.”

Eztek

Products: Electronic, camera and data systems