This year marks Specialized Automation Services’ tenth anniversary. The Grand Junction, Colorado company has a lot to celebrate after its first decade in business; the firm has grown to become a major player in its industry.
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A full scale electrical and instrumentation contractor, SAS now boasts branch offices in Denver, Colorado; Alexander, North Dakota; Houston, Texas; and Farmington, New Mexico – and its footprint continues to expand.
SAS got its foot in the door doing work for major exploration and production companies, as well as smaller, independent companies in the oil and gas industry. Word quickly spread, and a growing list of industries began to seek out SAS’ expertise, from manufacturing and water treatment, to OEM, warehousing and more. Today, SAS provides a complete suite of services for industrial automation across a wide spectrum of industries.
The company’s specializations include electrical power and control installations, process control instrumentation, automation programming, commissioning, and start-up services for the energy industry. Its services cover industrial electrical and automation, oil and gas production and transportation, automation systems, water and waste water treatment facilities, as well as a handful of additional sectors that require electrical and automation applications. Moreover, the team can handle a wide range of situations, from new construction and existing facility modifications to maintenance.
Industrial electrical services include switch gear and transformer installation, motor controls and power, lighting systems, alarm systems, compressor controls, process controls, telemetry units for natural gas wells, and PLC control systems. The team is also on call 24 hours a day for electrical troubleshooting, repair, installation and refurbishment.
Electrical services are provided by Master Electricians, Journeyman Electricians, apprentices and I & E technicians, all of whom are registered with the state in which they are working. This expert team is “able to take a project from design to start-up, or simply fill in the gaps as part of a multi-vendor team,” the company website states.
The company’s power distribution capabilities include: Complete electrical distribution system design (at any voltage level), MCC and switchgear specification, low and medium motor starting and control, generators and UPS backup systems, VFD specification and configuration, power transformer specification and protection, system grounding and equipment bonding, lighting systems, heat trace, and resistive grounded systems.
SAS also boasts a UL listed custom panel shop. Widely considered the most credible – and coveted – North American certification in the sector, the UL designation demonstrates that panels have met rigorous quality standards. In addition, all SAS panels are built to NEC and NEMA standards to ensure that customers are fully satisfied. The company designs, fabricates, programs, and installs these distribution and control panels across a variety of production and industrial settings. The team can also upgrade or modify existing control and distribution panels, either onsite or in-shop. Also, by partnering with Control Microsystems, SAS is able to provide SCADA products and support. As an approved Siemens Panel Builder Partner, SAS uses Siemens components in addition to components from other major manufacturers such as Yaskawa, KimRay, Allen-Bradley, Fisher, Omron, and Phoenix.
In the control systems area, the SAS team can handle single and multiple PLC system design and installation, PLC programming and implementation, graphical users interfaces (both PC based and stand-alone), instrumentation and process design and installation, fire and gas detection design and installation, complete automation system networking and installation, SCADA Systems, Wireless Radio Links, and Optic Links.
When it comes to power studies and system evaluations, the company can take care of load flow, voltage drop, single and multistage power factor correction, protective device evaluation and coordination, motor starting, voltage sag, transient disturbances, power management and load shedding.
SAS has earned a place as a leading instrumentation and control provider across a range of settings. Its capabilities in this area include instrument installation and calibration, the ability to deal with a full range of instrument manufacturers and applications, on site EFM calibration, quarterly EFM certification, on-site calibration services, and on-site gas analysis. This mobile gas analysis is available for virtually any industrial or oil and gas application. “We are capable of handling all your gas analysis and calibration requirements,” the SAS website states. The company’s gas analysis equipment is covered by the NIST standard, and all calibration equipment is certified yearly. In addition, the team can provide detailed electronic reports and/or running data acquisition. As the company says, “We are capable of monitoring all data required from any pipeline or well site for trending needs or statistical process control.”
SAS also maintains a Contract Management department. The company can provide engineering, technical, project management and essential support personnel – individuals or entire teams – for every stage of a project lifecycle, whether short or long-term contracts, or staff assignments around the world. The department also provides follow-up services after the initial recruitment, including pre-employment requirements, contract compilation, immigration requirements, and mobilizations – virtually anything needed to ensure a seamless transition. When a client needs to fill an important senior position, SAS will even conduct a targeted, international search to find the right candidate for the job.
No matter what service SAS is providing, safety comes first. Safety related capabilities include turnaround safety planning, writing confined space plans, developing LOTO and blinding plans / procedures, writing and issuing safety plans for high-risk work, atmospheric monitoring, daily field auditing of personnel and equipment, conducting safety meetings, investigating all accidents (as well as incidents and near-misses), managing injury cases, training contractors on safety plans, and permit writing.
The team relies on a variety of procedures to ensure on-site safety. A dedicated Manager of Field Safety Services monitors all of the company’s current and upcoming projects and promotes dialogue between employees and customers to make sure projects are carried out safely and efficiently. Furthermore, with training requirements and skill sets differing widely from one worksite to another, Safety Technicians are carefully chosen to meet the specific parameters of the individual project.
Automation is a key asset for modern businesses. New technology can certainly be challenging – even intimidating – but taking it on is a must in today’s competitive environment. SAS summarizes the situation well: “The question every company must ask itself is, ‘By installing new technology can I increase my production or cut my costs? Or, even better, can I do both?’”
