State-of-the-art facility provides increased production and testing space, improves process flow, and allows for growth of customized cable engineering solutions.
Cleveland, OH, USA, December 15, 2022 – PMI Industries, Inc., a global leader in engineered solutions for underwater marine cable connectors and subsea cable terminations, moves to a new, state-of-the-art facility in January 2023. The move increases production and testing space by more than two-thirds, removes manufacturing constraints, and improves capabilities, resulting in better lead times and inventory control.
“We are excited for the next chapter in PMI’s history with this modernization of our production and office spaces,” said Bob Centa, President. “We are expanding our design, manufacturing, and testing capabilities and expect to dramatically improve our operational efficiencies. The move positions us to grow in the industries we already serve, increase the product and service offerings to our customers, and expand our geographic reach.”
The new facility offers room for a streamlined process flow that will impact many aspects of PMI’s operations, including access to tools and equipment, material handling, and other logistics improvements. Increased space also benefits PMI’s in-house dynamic cable testing and analysis, a value-added step among the capabilities PMI offers. Many at-sea conditions can be simulated by PMI through its testing, which is used to find cable system vulnerabilities or confirm satisfactory performance before the cable is deployed. In-house testing is available as an independent service to third parties, as well as to the industries PMI serves: oil and gas; marine and seismic survey; naval and military; offshore wind, wave, and tidal and sustainable renewable energy; ocean exploration and research; and university and research institutes.
According to Centa, the across-town move will not adversely impact PMI employees, allowing the company to maintain access to its current talent pool and attract new employees to accommodate growth. Additionally, the larger facility, located at 990 Resource Drive, Cleveland, Ohio 44131, U.S.A., offers easy access for delivery and pickup due to its proximity to major highways.
About PMI Industries, Inc.
PMI, celebrating a history of 39 years in 2023, is a global leader in engineered solutions for underwater cable connectors and terminations, including assemblies and hardware. The solutions that PMI designs, manufactures, and tests are used on cable systems for impact and abrasion protection, to prevent bending and provide strain relief, and for dynamic and static cable protection. Its products include high-strength cable terminations and gripping products, towed array and seismic survey lead-in and umbilical terminations, and cable assemblies and hardware. Industries served include: oil and gas; marine and seismic survey; naval and military; offshore wind, wave, and tidal and sustainable renewable energy; ocean exploration and research; and university and research institutes. For additional information, visit www.pmiind.com.
Ongoing improvements in 3D printing are helping PMI explore new ways to provide engineered solutions that meet customer needs. PMI is improving quality control, prototyping crucial components, and experimenting with designs that will reduce assembly time by taking advantage of 3D printing’s additive manufacturing technology.
“The PMI engineering team has used additive manufacturing to make solid three-dimensional objects from a CAD (computer-aided design) file for several years. Because fabrication materials are improving and becoming more cost-effective, we are investigating more ways we can apply the technology,” says Terrence Mathis, PMI Manager, Engineering-Cable Protection.
Engineering team members are managing small projects to improve mold fabrication, potential part casting, compression dam manufacturing, and more.
Analyzing tolerances and variations to improve quality assurance
PMI is using 3D printing to test engineering tolerances of manufactured parts, such as plugs and rings used in a variety of applications. The time needed to measure internal and external features of parts, and ensure their proper fit, can add hours to the quality control process and affect product yields. Also, it can add time-consuming iterations to production if changes occur late in the design cycle.
“Some complex parts have over 20 features that can take four or more hours to inspect,” Mathis says. “Different tools may be needed to measure each section. Depending on the production quantity, it can add a lot of time. Through tolerance optimization, PMI has the potential to improve manufacturing time and reduce cost.”
Prototyping components that customers need to remain operational
PMI is using 3D printing capabilities to prototype crucial components, such as its precision precast compression dams used in DAM/BLOK™ electrical splice kits.
Many of PMI’s field-installable products incorporate helical gripping rods as part of the kit. At times, it is necessary to reterminate a PMI product—sometimes while out on the ocean–to replace helical rods affected by excessive corrosion, or to refurbish the cable connector.
PMI manufactures the DAM/BLOK™ electrical splice kit as a full-ocean depth pressure splice for cable connections. However, there are over 100 existing DAM/BLOK electrical splice kit designs, not including splice kits that can be custom designed for customers. Despite the degree of customization, each kit includes several crucial components, including precision precast compression dams.
Currently, PMI is testing compression dams to ensure it prevents outside seawater as well as leak water within the cable from passing through the splice to the electrical connection. This is especially important at increasing ocean depths.
Developing designs that reduce assembly time
PMI uses 3D printing to develop new standardized collar assemblies for its DYNA II cable hangers.
Customers who purchase PMI’s DYNA II cable hangers benefit from its tool-free installation and multiple degrees of freedom, which allow spreader rope loads to pass through with minimal effect on the lead-in and umbilical cables. Like many PMI products, DYNA II can be custom engineered into several configurable kits and accessories.
A collar assembly is just one of the components in a typical DYNA II configuration. PMI is using 3D printing to develop a new standardized collar to be used on legacy and new systems. The prototype collar is 3D printed in a wax resin, which is then cast in stainless steel. The collar serves a build-measure-learn function while saving tooling costs as PMI works to create an improved collar that benefits its customers.
Thinking outside the box to increase development speed
“Our customers turn to us for engineered solutions that include design, fabrication, and testing of subsea tow cables, hardware, assemblies, and protection,” Mathis says. “With a 3D printer, we’re able to take advantage in low-volume situations to revolutionize our development, design and replacement parts in ways that benefit our customers.”
PMI introduces their Hang-Off Termination at the 2022 International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum
PMI Industries is excited to be an exhibitor at the 2022 International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum (IPF), taking place April 26-28 in Atlantic City, NJ. The three-day offshore wind energy conference is bringing attendees from the global offshore wind industry to learn about the latest offshore wind and renewable energy technology and market trends.
As an exhibitor at IPF, we are sharing information about how our underwater cable solutions are supporting offshore wind technology. PMI underwater cable solutions, which are made in the USA, include:
- Terminations
- Dynamic and static cable protection
- Tow and seismic survey suspension systems
Introducing a new product
PMI is introducing a new cable termination solution: the Hang-Off Termination. Based on PMI’s proven EVERGRIP™ Termination technology, the new Hang-Off Termination securely clamps the cable to the wind turbine or platform base. It doesn’t use epoxy, making it faster, safer, and more efficient for offshore teams to install.
Among the Hang-Off Termination’s features and benefits are:
- Eliminates epoxy cure time
- Split design for ease of installation
- Earthing connection for safe grounding
- Scalable and interchangeable designs for dynamic applications
- Material and coating options
- Carbon-neutral installation
The Hang-Off Termination design is patent pending.
The PMI advantage
PMI, celebrating a history of 38 years in 2022, services industries focused in
- Underwater engineering solutions, manufacturing, procurement, and in-house cable testing
- Oil & gas and renewables
- Research institutes
- Government
PMI is utilizing our decades of experience in ways that benefit the rapid expansion of the offshore wind and renewable energy industries. Our goal is to help customers increase efficiency, reduce downtime, and improve installation and deployment times.
We would love to hear from you. Email Sales@pmiind.com or call (216) 881-4914.
Mr. Centa succeeds Bob Schauer who is retiring after 17 years of service
Cleveland, OH, USA, January 4, 2022 – PMI Industries, Inc., an engineering, manufacturing, and testing company with a global presence servicing energy, both fossil fuel and renewables, marine, research, and government industries announces the appointment of Robert (Bob) J. Centa, MBA to president. Mr. Centa succeeds Bob Schauer who is retiring after 17 years of service to PMI. Mr. Centa was most recently the Chief Financial Officer of The Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Working at PMI has been truly rewarding and I will miss the daily interactions with the team,” comments Bob Schauer. Mr. Schauer started at PMI with a focus on turning around an underperforming company. As president, he led the company through the oil boom and bust cycles, established an overseas office, all while growing the business during the Covid crisis. “I look forward to spending more time with my family, traveling with my wife, woodworking, volunteering at community organizations, and writing,” comments Mr. Schauer. Speaking on the retirement of Mr. Schauer, PMI Industries board chairman Scott Eucker comments, “The PMI family will miss Mr. Schauer not only from a leadership and inspiration perspective but as a friend. I thank him for all his tireless efforts and wish him joy and happiness in his retirement.”
Mr. Centa brings a broad business acumen and over 25 years of experience in leadership, strategy, operations, and finance in manufacturing and distribution, as well as a wide range of industries and companies as diverse as start-ups, family-owned, private equity, and large publicly traded. Mr. Eucker comments, “I am excited to welcome Bob to the team. His broad business experience and previous leadership roles will be an asset in our company’s growth.” Mr. Centa earned a Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati.
About PMI Industries, Inc.
PMI, celebrating a history of 38 years in 2022, specializes in designing, manufacturing, and testing underwater cable hardware and assemblies. Servicing energy, both fossil fuel and renewables, marine, research, and government industries, PMI builds quality terminations, as well as supplies stoppers and cable grips, umbilical hardware, seismic and cable protection systems. Over many decades we have earned a global reputation for providing the right products at the right time, which ultimately reduces costs by increasing productivity and equipment service life. For additional information, visit www.pmiind.com.
For undergraduates from the Cleveland area, the Emerging Scholars Program offers a path to excellence
In the spring of 2011, a few weeks after he had accepted an offer of admission to Case Western Reserve, Terrence Mathis (CWR ‘16) opened a letter from a faculty member he had never met.
Stephen Haynesworth (GRS ‘87), an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, had written to congratulate Mathis and assure him that he had made the right decision. “When we at CWRU admitted you to the university,” Haynesworth told him, “we demonstrated our respect for your achievements and our confidence that you can succeed here.”
Cleveland, OH— PMI Project Engineer and Marine Energy Specialist Tyler Burger shares his thoughts on the future of cable maintenance and repair in offshore wind farms with Windpower Engineering and Development in the article “The future of cable maintenance and repair in offshore wind farms.”
The third of four Ramform Titan-class vessels, the Ramform Tethys, was celebrated in a naming ceremony at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding Co. yard in Nagasaki, Japan today.
PGS’ two first Ramform Titan-class vessels, the Ramform Titan and the Ramform Atlas were delivered in 2013 and 2014 and have delivered beyond expectations on all aspects, especially within safety, efficiency and productivity.
The Ramform Tethys, and the Ramform Hyperion, will be even better due to small modifications of equipment handling on the back deck and an increase in engine power to 26 400 kW from 23 040 kW on the first two Ramform Titan-class vessels.
“With the increased power output and the back deck modifications we are enhancing the Ramform Titan-class acquisition platform further. Productivity, safety, stability and redundancy are the key benefits of these vessels. Their ability to tow many streamers gives high data quality with dense cross-line sampling and cost efficient acquisition with wide tows,” says Per Arild Reksnes, EVP Operations.
The Ramform Tethys is the most powerful and efficient marine seismic acquisition vessel in the world, and along with the Ramform Titan and Ramform Atlas, the widest ships ever at the waterline.
The design dovetails advanced maritime technology to the imaging capabilities of the GeoStreamer® seismic acquisition technology. Her 70 meter broad stern is fully exploited with 24 streamer reels: 16 reels aligned abreast and 8 reels further forward, with capacity for 12 kilometer streamers on each reel. With such capabilities the Ramform Tethys has tremendous flexibility and redundancy for high capacity configurations. Increased work space and advanced equipment handling mean safer and even more robust operations. The Ramform concept design is made by Roar Ramde.
She carries over 6 000 tons of fuel and equipment. She will typically tow a network of several hundred thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 12 square kilometers, equivalent to nearly 1 200 soccer pitches, or 3.5 times Central Park.
For PGS and its clients, more rapid deployment and retrieval of equipment, as well as greater operational capacity will translate into faster completion of surveys and increased uptime in marginal weather. The period between major yard stays is also extended by approximately 50%.
The Ramform Tethys sets the new standard for seismic operations for the next 25 years.
Jon Erik Reinhardsen, President and CEO of PGS states in a comment: “The Ramform Tethys further strengthens our fleet productivity and together with the other Ramform Titan-class vessels will enhance our competitive edge. In the current challenging market environment we also experience more demand for our best capacity and Ramform Tethys will add to PGS ultra-high-end value proposition.”
NOTE: Pictures and more facts on the Ramform Tethys are available on www.pgs.com
For details, contact:
Bård Stenberg, VP IR & Corporate Communications
Mobile: +47 992 45 235
Cleveland, OH—PMI Industries, Inc. is proud to announce that as of January 16, 2017, it has been ISO 9001: 2015 with Design certified with regard to the design, manufacture and distribution of offshore, subsea cable hardware assemblies and testing services.
PMI is delighted to serve our customers even better through the well-defined and documented processes this certification requires. While PMI has always been committed to quality in its products and services, this certification ensures a more productive environment through faster identification and resolution of quality issues, among many other benefits.
“This certification is a reflection of our longstanding commitment to quality, continuous improvement and our customers,” said Bob Schauer, President of PMI Industries, Inc. “We’re very proud of the dedication put forth by the PMI team.”
PMI partnered with Smithers Quality Assessments, an accredited quality and environmental management systems certification body, to achieve certification.
For more information about PMI Industries’ products and services for offshore oil and gas, please visit pmiind.com, and for more information about PMI Industries’ products and services in offshore renewable energy, please visit powerofpmi.com.
The launch of the Ramform Titan class marine seismic data acquisition ships by Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) mark a new era of subsea oil and gas exploration. The second of these vessels, the Ramform Atlas was launched in January, 2014. The Ramform Titan and Ramform Atlas are designed and built by PGS to be the most powerful and productive of their kind using the latest marine and electronic seismic technologies.
Every detail of these vessels was evaluated based on optimum productivity and safety including the cable management systems used to deploy and attach up to a 24-streamer array system. The towed streamers consist of several thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 3,000 acres (12 km2), or 3.5 times the size of New York’s Central Park.
The engineers at PGS have chosen the latest proven technologies available throughout the Ramform Titan-class ships, including the new PMI Dyna-Hanger II and Dyna-BSR cable management systems. These systems provide significantly higher load capacities to accommodate the demands of extreme towing loads caused by wider streamer arrays. As a bonus, the major components of both systems can be installed, or removed, in just minutes without special tools or extensive personnel training to increase on deck productivity and reduce downtime.
The Dyna-Hanger II cable management system uses exclusive patent pending designed symmetrical suspension arms with tool-less features and helical rods. It is designed with a hinged collar that snaps around the housing and is secured with just a quick-release pin. A specially designed housing prevents the attachment point from shifting on the lead-in cable while the collar design enables the cable to rotate freely under tension. It is capable of accommodating loads up to 100% of the cable’s rated breaking strength.
The Dyna-BSR bending strain relief system provides cable bending and abrasion protection, while enabling rotation of various cable attachments. It replaces traditional slip-on bending strain relief systems that use a one-piece body design. Instead, the Dyna-BSR patent pending two-piece system can be installed or removed at any time during deployment or retrieval procedures. It is designed with a reinforced polyurethane, two-part shell to provide added strength and flexibility. A unique fastener system quickly secures the shells together. In total, the system offers graduated stiffness to protect cables from off-axis loads through a wide range of angle combinations by maintaining a safe minimum bend radius.
“Everything on the Ramform Titan class was chosen for its contribution to our primary goals of providing optimal seismic productivity and crew safety,” according to Sverre Olsen, Technical Manager at PGS. “Every sub-system we have, builds on the total system to achieve our goals. PMI systems were chosen because they continue to meet PGS productivity and higher load requirements.”
“The successful PGS installation is a result of our conversations with customers about their challenges then developing cable hardware and support services to meet their needs,” said Bob Schauer, president, PMI industries. “We are focused on unmatched support for our customers. Whether it is easy-to-use hardware, engineering support or comprehensive cable testing services, we listen and then perform.”
The new Ramform Titan and Ramform Atlas put PGS further ahead as the leader in safe, productive and efficient 3D seismic acquisition.
Installation of the PMI Dyna-Hanger cable hanger and Dyna-BSR bending strain relief systems.
About PGS
Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) offers a broad range of products including seismic and electromagnetic services, data acquisition, processing, reservoir analysis/interpretation and multi-client library data. We help oil companies find oil and gas reserves offshore worldwide.
PGS was founded in Norway in 1991, with 2 seismic ships and some highly innovative ideas on how to reshape the industry. Today we share the same drive to innovate as inspired our founders, though the team is bigger:
- 14 offshore seismic vessels
- 21 data processing centers
- 35 offices worldwide, employing over 70 nationalities
PGS has a presence in over 25 countries with regional centers in London, Houston and Singapore. Our headquarters is in Oslo, Norway and the PGS share is listed on the Oslo stock exchange (OSE:PGS).
For more information, visit: www.pgs.com
About PMI Industries, Inc.
PMI Industries, Inc. provides underwater cable hardware products and services to customers worldwide including exploration, military, commercial and scientific organizations. The company supports domestic and international customers with comprehensive subsea knowledge, application assistance, custom designs and functional testing to assure performance and reliability in harsh operational environments.
The company was founded to solve cable and wire rope application problems. It introduced unique wire helix design to grip a conductor that provides the strength needed for assured cable connections while ensuring cable integrity.
For more information, visit: www.pmiind.com
