For over 30 years, Auburn Rentals has led the way in manufacturing high quality, executive class well site relocatable structures for engineers, geologists, and other experts working in the demanding oil and gas industry.
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Often moving from one drill site to another, workers in this field are kept away from home for days, weeks, or even months in rugged terrain. To meet their needs, products from Auburn Rentals are intelligently designed and constructed to provide all the accommodations of home in spacious, well-planned interiors which provide not only a comfortable atmosphere, but all the necessary functionality.
“For most of our clients, this is their home away from home,” comments Mike Neufeld, Manager, Manufacturing and Projects at Auburn Rentals. “The more you can make it the same as their residence, the better off you are.” Along with high quality finishes and thoughtful, well-designed work areas, executive-class buildings that feature all the comforts of home. From full-size fridges and microwaves to coffee makers, can openers, three-burner stove tops, ovens and – literally – the kitchen sink, the company’s units boast everything a true home away from home needs – even flat screen LCD televisions, quality BluRay / DVD players, Bose sound system and satellite receivers.
Complementing amenities such as entertainment systems, the company has done everything possible to maximize comfort within the units themselves. These include workstations that are up to 24 feet in length. Bedrooms boast a queen size bed with two night stands, giving the user walk-around ability, much the same as their home setting. Roll shutters, quality built-in vacuum systems, and other custom design features are all available in units from Auburn Rentals.
“The biggest thing that sets us apart from the competition is that we have the largest floor plan, bigger than anybody else,” says Norm Chauvette, Chief Financial Officer and General Manager. By expanding exterior dimensions by more than three and a half feet over those of its nearest competitor, Auburn Rentals has significantly boosted interior space. “When you’re fighting with 720 square feet, that extra 43 square feet really makes a big difference – we are maximizing every inch of space in our units.”
Along with quality finishes, modern amenities, and all the comforts of home, buildings from the company are also designed to be highly mobile and extremely practical. As one of the few manufacturers to create products with level floors, Auburn Rentals helps to marry the necessity of living in a relocatable structure with the practicality of being in one’s own house. Auburn units “having a fully level flat floor going from the bedroom to the bathroom makes a big difference for the end user, especially if one has to get up in the middle of the night; you don’t have to watch for steps,” says Chauvette.
Fully Mobile Units
The units from Auburn Rentals boast many other key points of difference as well. Realizing that geologists, engineers, and others working on well sites frequently travel from one location to another, the company has also designed its mobile products with an eye on functionality and optimal efficiency. Oil and gas clients often drill at one site for a number of weeks, then pick up everything including the rig, drive miles to another location, and resume drilling, all of which takes time.
“Some of the Auburn units are completely self-contained, meaning that the client has instant hot water, a 400 gallon water tank, and a 600 gallon septic tank all built into the unit, which allows the clients to be fully operational immediately upon unit arriving on site. It’s exciting that Auburn Rentals is one of the industry leaders in self-contained units, saving the end user on costs,” explains Chauvette.
Responsible for a wide range of floor plans, the company has designs specific for certain disciplines. These include the Super Single Engineer, the Super Single Geologist, the Three Person Executive Suite, the Four Person Wet Sleeper, the Orientation / First Aid / Office, the Rig Manager, the Command Centre, the Security Unit, and more. Depending on the floor plan, standard features include full appliance packages, a built-in barbecue, non-slip roof membrane, satellite dish and HDTV, workstation, coffee makers, toasters, and more.
Auburn’s relocatable structures are designed and customized for these diverse professions in order to accommodate their specific equipment and needs. Unlike some companies who wait years to implement changes, Auburn Rentals listens to the needs of its client base and implements innovative design changes every six months, changing colour, layout, and other features. Auburn Rentals remains the largest privately owned manufacturer of executive class well site units and as such, the company can introduce changes quickly and effectively.
“We are constantly evolving,” states Neufeld. “We take the feedback from any one year from our client base and then come up with specific changes.” If enough practical changes are warranted – such as the need for a remote location for a USB port, for example – they are noted and introduced with the company’s next rollout of units. “Since the company is privately held, we can make those decisions on the fly, even changing designs partway through the manufacturing process, which would be unheard of in a large corporation. We have a very flexible manufacturing system which allows us to do that.”
A History of Quality
Incorporated by company President Mr. Guy Bouvier back in 1982, Auburn Rentals has grown not only its client base, but the size of its facilities and number of employees. Today, with about 88 staff – 65 working on the plant floor alone – the company continues to operate out of its 36,000 square foot facility in Edmonton, Alberta. With ten stages of production including in-house welding, cabinetry, finishing trades, and sheet metal, Auburn Rentals continues to maintain the values and goals set forth by its founder, including manufacturing quality products in a safe and timely manner, striving for cost-saving measures to improve the bottom line for clients, exceeding industry standards, working with customers, and fostering a team atmosphere within its operations to help the company move forward while improving efficiency.
Bouvier – a certified plumber by trade – has a background as an inventor, an entrepreneur, and a process specialist, with a focus on improving assembly lines and automation. Today, with a full welding / fabrication shop, overhead cranes to minimize manual material handling, a 64 foot semi-automated framing table system, a fully automated CNC cutting system, a skate / rail system, computer inventory control programs and more, Auburn Rentals’ team of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and welders takes on all tasks with professionalism. Always aiming for quality, the company’s walls are constructed using two-by-six inch framing with R20 insulation, fire-rated drywall, and quality HVAC systems.
The company has earned a reputation for high-quality products with great floor plans, which has led some customers to approach the business for custom-built buildings. This is just another way that Auburn Rentals believes in going the extra mile to meet the requirements of clients like Cenovus, Husky, Suncor, and many others in the demanding oil and gas industry. As a privately owned enterprise with its own in-house design, manufacturing, quality control and safety initiatives, Auburn Rentals remains at the forefront in creating the finest executive class well site units available.
“When you canvass our competitors in the industry, we are seen as being a tough competitor raising the bar high,” says CFO/GM Norm Chauvette. “We are continuously reinventing to stay ahead of the markets demands. We pride ourselves in the vision, ‘if you are going to live away from home, you might as well live in the best Your Home Away From Home.’”
