Matrix compisites

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

Matrix Composites & Engineering

www.matrixengineered.com | + 61 8 9412 1200

The leader in its class Editorial: Harriet Pattison

With Matrix Composites & Engineering’s net profit after tax increasing by 467% over the corresponding period in the first half of FY2015 and having recently been awarded $32.2 million drilling riser buoyancy contracts, it’s hard to believe this company was only founded 15 years ago. Total World Energy speaks to CEO Aaron Begley who explains why its automation technology is leading the field and plans for expansion…

W ith more than 15 years’ experience manufacturing durable subsea buoyancy made from composite syntactic foam for the global oil and gas industry, Matrix Composites & Engineering is currently operating out of the worlds’ largest, most technically advanced syntactic foam plant in Henderson, Western Australia.

“The original business was founded by my father in

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1 9 8 0 , ” e x p l a i n s C E O A a ro n B e g l e y. “ B e g l e y I n t e r n a t i o n a l , as it was known then, was a heavy engineering business that focused on the domestic o i l a n d g a s s e c t o r. ” In 1999 Matrix Composites & Engineering was established out of the need t o d i v e r s i f y t h e C o m p a n y ’s o ff e r i n g s . B y t h e m i d - 2 0 0 0 ’s , Matrix had built its large h y d ro s t a t i c t e s t i n g f a c i l i t y which enabled the testing of

riser buoyancy to API 16F s t a n d a rd s – “ F o l l o w i n g t h a t , w e b e c a m e m o re w i d e l y re c o g n i s e d a s a q u a l i t y supplier of riser buoyancy p ro d u c t s , ” B e g l e y e x p l a i n s .

“The subsea buoyancy side o f t h e b u s i n e s s h a s g ro w n s u b s t a n t i a l l y a s a re s u l t o f a n investment in a new stateo f - t h e - a r t f a c i l i t y, j u s t s o u t h o f P e r t h . We s p e n t o v e r a h u n d re d m i l l i o n d o l l a r s o n a large automated facility

Matrix Composites & Engineering

and this has been a gamec h a n g e r i n t h e i n d u s t r y. “ We h a v e t a k e n w h a t i s traditionally a very manual p ro c e s s t h a t h a s n ’t c h a n g e d much for 30 years and automated it using mainly a u t o m o t i v e p ro d u c t i o n techniques. It has been very successful and has i m p ro v e d p ro d u c t q u a l i t y a n d c o n s i s t e n c y, a n d h a s h e l p e d t o re d u c e w a s t e , p ro d u c t i o n time and costs.”

M a t r i x ’s c o re b u s i n e s s n o w f o c u s e s o n f o u r k e y a re a s : p ro v i d i n g c a p i t a l d r i l l i n g equipment (CDE), SURF and subsea solutions, well c o n s t r u c t i o n p ro d u c t s a n d o ff s h o re s e r v i c e s .

I N N O VAT I V E & A U T O M AT E D The need for automation when executing large

p ro j e c t s i s e v i d e n t , e s p e c i a l l y w i t h re p e t i t i v e f u n c t i o n s which can lead to mistakes, a n d i n s o m e c a s e s , i n j u r y.

Begley explains the decision to automate its facilities was driven by the variability and inconsistencies often associated with manual l a b o u r.

“The biggest issue was simply the fact that we had operators performing re p e t i t i v e t a s k s i n a v e r y m a n u a l w a y. I t w a s d i ff i c u l t to automate but not i m p o s s i b l e , s o t h a t ’s o n e of the things we’ve done,” e x p l a i n s B e g l e y.

Matrix now has the largest composites syntactic foam plant in the world and maintains its position as a leading player in the subsea b u o y a n c y s e c t o r. “ We h a v e a l s o m o v e d i n t o

the SURF space using similar m a t e r i a l s a n d p ro c e s s e s a s o u r r i s e r b u o y a n c y p ro d u c t s .

We h a v e d e v e l o p e d a system we call IsoBlox™ – a buoyancy building block system for permanent a p p l i c a t i o n s w h e re t h e y need buoyancy to last up to 40 years, or for installation purposes,” Begley explains.

NOTEWORTHY PROJECTS I n J a n u a r y, M a t r i x a n n o u n c e d delivery of one of the largest installation buoyancy s t r u c t u re s i n t h e w o r l d t o H e e re m a M a r i n e C o n t r a c t o r s (HMC). The modular i n s t a l l a t i o n s t r u c t u re , weighing 103MT in air and p ro v i d i n g 1 0 5 M T o f u p l i f t w h e n i n s e a w a t e r, h a s b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d f ro m a m o d u l a r design, the buoyancy system

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CEO Aaron Begley – I s o B l o x TM. I t w i l l b e u s e d i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h H M C ’s i n s t a l l a t i o n v e s s e l , A e g i r, t o e n s u re t h e s a f e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f t h e F l o w l i n e E n d Te r m i n a t i o n ( F L E T ) a n d I n L i n e Te e ( I LT ) s t r u c t u re s o n t o t h e s e a b e d , 250m below sea level.

It is this advanced composites syntactic foam buoyancy system which has c e m e n t e d M a t r i x ’s p o s i t i o n as a technical leader in t h e m a n u f a c t u re o f s u b s e a b u o y a n c y.

The modular installation s t r u c t u re – I s o B l o x T M c a n b e re a s s e m b l e d i n t o an infinite number of d i ff e re n t c o n f i g u r a t i o n s t o m e e t a c l i e n t ’s c h a n g i n g

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“There has not been the level of automation that we’ve applied anywhere else in the world – no-one has even come close”

re q u i re m e n t s . I t a l s o a l l o w s for damaged elements to b e re m o v e d r a t h e r t h a n re p l a c i n g t h e e n t i re m o d u l e a n d i s a m u c h m o re c o s t e ff i c i e n t d e s i g n f o r t h e c l i e n t , as only one set of modules is n e c e s s a r y.

Just last month, Matrix announced it had been a w a rd e d U S $ 3 2 . 2 m i l l i o n worth of drilling riser buoyancy contracts. A n u m b e r o f t h e s e a re f o r t h e supply of riser buoyancy f o r a l a r g e o ff s h o re d r i l l i n g contractor who has not p re v i o u s l y u s e d M a t r i x buoyancy but with its l o n g s t a n d i n g re p u t a t i o n f o r p ro d u c t q u a l i t y a n d

Matrix Composites & Engineering a r i g o ro u s t e s t i n g a n d q u a l i f i c a t i o n p ro g r a m , M a t r i x s e c u re d t h e d e a l .

T h e re m a i n i n g c o n t r a c t s a re f o r t h e a f t e r- m a r k e t s a l e of a 12,000 ft. ultra-light riser buoyancy extension and a 10,000 ft. buoyancy string for a newbuild drillship w h i c h i s c u r re n t l y u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n a t a s h i p y a rd i n Brazil. “ T h e re h a v e b e e n m a n y p ro j e c t s o f n o t e t h a t w e h a v e been successful in securing,” e x p l a i n s B e g l e y. “ S o m e o f t h e c o n t r a c t s w e ’ v e w o n a re for major drilling contractors o p e r a t i n g i n B r a z i l a n d We s t Africa. Last year we also supplied nearly 1,000 tonnes o f p ro d u c t i o n b u o y a n c y f o r two mid depth buoys used on t h e I c h t h y s L N G P ro j e c t , o n e o f t h e l a r g e s t L N G p ro j e c t s

on the planet, so that was quite a milestone.”

I N D U S T RY L E A D E R S As the global technical l e a d e r i n t h e m a n u f a c t u re o f s u b s e a b u o y a n c y, M a t r i x has certainly made a name for itself both locally and further afield in a short space of time: “In terms of scale, you could take every other m a n u f a c t u re r ’s f a c i l i t i e s i n our sector and put them into ours,” Begley explains. “On the flipside, if you then look a t p ro c e s s , t h e re h a s n o t been the level of automation t h a t w e ’ v e a p p l i e d a n y w h e re else in the world – no-one h a s e v e n c o m e c l o s e . I t ’s a v e r y d i ff e re n t p l a n t a n d h a s re a l l y b ro u g h t t h i s p ro c e s s into the 21st century as far as manufacturing this

p ro d u c t . “ B u t w e c a n ’t s i t o n o u r l a u re l s , t h e re ’s a l w a y s competition and we have s o m e c o m p e t i t o r s t h a t a re good at the various niches they operate within.”

The Subsea Expo, held in February this year in A b e rd e e n , h e l p s i n b r i n g i n g a vast variety of suppliers and customers together to both exhibit and network over a 3-day period.

“The Subsea Expo attracted many of our target market,” Begley explains, “with lots of key decision m a k e r s t h e re a n d p e o p l e w e c o u l d d i re c t l y t a l k t o a b o u t o u r p ro d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s . T h e re w a s a l o t o f c ro s s i n d u s t r y i n t e r a c t i o n , not just about talking to our immediate customers but

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talking to engineering services companies, other suppliers, t h e w h o l e c ro s s - s e c t i o n o f o u r s u p p l y c h a i n w a s t h e re and it was very valuable for us and we had a good experience.”

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT With its new and innovative facility located at its base in Henderson, Begley explains the company also has shop-fronts in both Houston and in the UK, strategically placed in close proximity to its clients.

“To cut a long story short, we believe we need a strong shop-

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front presence in places like Houston and the UK so our clients can get the same level of engineering and project management technical support and sales support as they would if they dealt directly with Australia. In some cases this can be more extensive as a result of local market knowledge,” he adds.

“We employ people from those markets, from the UK and US and that way we can sell the products, service the products and support the products as if the plant was there.”

Begley explains that next on the global footprint list is West Africa and an extended presence in the US - “In terms of expansion, we’re looking to bolster the scope of our support in the US and in the UK, whilst looking at ways we can more effectively service the Brazilian and West African markets.”

EXPANSION ON THE HORIZON Although there continues to be extensive media coverage circling the current oil and gas industry, Begley explains markets including the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, West Africa and Asia continue to run relatively unaffected – “There is definitely a scaling back of expenditure

Matrix Composites & Engineering and a re-setting of markets but ultimately, lower prices generally leads to lower levels of exploration. I think what we’re seeing as an industry is a push to drive better value out of the supply chain which will ultimately lead to lower costs for projects.”

The future for Matrix looks set not only to last but to thrive, reporting its first-half profit of $3.9 million, up from $700,000 in its last corresponding period, and following a 20.7% rise in revenue to $78.5 million.

Begley attributes this continued success to a surge in the production and sales of its products, a direct result of the increase in capacity and capabilities at its Henderson

“In terms of expansion, we’re looking to bolster the scope of our support in the US and in the UK, whilst looking at ways we can more effectively service the Brazilian and West African markets”

facility.

“We’ll certainly expand our global footprint,” Begley says of the future, “including the continued expansion into the SURF space. We do have a level of diversification that we’re looking at which may take us outside the oil and gas sector, however we won’t go outside of our core competencies, which is our ability to transform syntactic foams and thermal plastics into advanced engineered products.

“In terms of immediate f o c u s , i t ’s i n o i l a n d g a s a p p l i c a t i o n s i n t h e f o u r a re a s we continue to thrive: capital drilling equipment, SURF p ro d u c t s , w e l l c o n s t r u c t i o n p ro d u c t s a n d o ff s h o re services,” concludes Begley

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