Bellville, TX – The June/July issue of Energy and Mining International Magazine features an article on Audubon Engineering. The article is based on an interview with Brian Maddox, Audubon co-owner and managing partner. In the interview, Maddox states, “We have been able to work with ProjecTools over the last four years not only as a project software provider, but also as an alliance partner. Ultimately, [that] makes us more efficient.”

The article touched on the importance of utilizing new technology as a “critical part of strategic development of any rapidly growing business.” Maddox notes the benefits of utilizing ProjecTools Project Software to “improve efficiency and minimize costs.” The article states that Audubon uses ProjecTools to connect different areas of Audubon to “ensure consistency, accuracy and availability from commencement of procurement through the project lifecycle,” as Maddox says.

In response to the article, Jerry Morgan, ProjecTools CEO said, “Everything Brian Maddox said about ProjecTools is what we try to convey to the market. It is reassuring to hear clients say ProjecTools is an alliance partner, because that is what we strive for.”

For more information about ProjecTools or this announcement, email ProjecTools media contact.

See the body of the article below courtesy of Energy & Mining International.

“There are some firms that limit the types of services they offer, and then there is Audubon, which makes a habit of adjusting to its clients’ needs and fostering an environment where flexibility is embraced. “We are an energetic and flexible company with a passion for getting projects done and having fun along the way,” Managing Partner and Co-owner Brian Maddox says. Its ability to remain flexible and offer total solutions through its affiliates and strategic partnerships sets Audubon apart from competitors.

“It is Audubon’s goal to provide its clients solutions that provide the greatest return for the investment on their assets and developments,” Maddox says. Instead of coming to the table with a single solution to a client’s problem, Audubon will offer several solutions and work with the customer to select the best option.

With a presence in the United States, West Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, Audubon can provide engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning and support services to the oil and gas, petrochemical, refining, and power generation markets worldwide.

Seven active managing partners lead Audubon. The partners recognized a need for a company to serve modestly sized projects in the oil and gas petrochemical sector. “There was a gap that existed in the industry as many of the engineering firms focused exclusively on the mega projects being executed by the super majors,” Maddox says.

Today, Audubon serves a diverse customer base, ranging from smaller firms to the major oil companies as well as national oil companies worldwide. “We serve customers that are looking for us to provide complete solutions for them,” Maddox says. “We don’t have any one customer that makes up more than 20 percent of our portfolio at any time and we are well balanced between the onshore and offshore industry segments. That is why we’ve experienced growth through cyclical time periods.

“The key to our success, and our No. 1 asset, is our people,” he says. “Our growth is attributed to our philosophy of attracting key individuals to the organization who embrace the entrepreneurial spirit within the company. We’re proud of every one of our employees.”

Technology and an emphasis on continual process improvement are critical to the strategic development of any rapidly growing business. “Technology tools are of key importance when you’re trying to align the technical, procurement and the business sides of the company,” Maddox says. “We have been able to implement tools across all areas of the organization improving efficiencies and minimizing costs.”

One example of the successful implementation of a technology tool in the organization is ProjecTools, a web-based project management software suite that has helped Audubon experience and manage substantial growth in the last four years. Instead of developing its own software applications, the company chose ProjecTools, which helps connect different areas of Audubon to “ensure consistency, accuracy and availability, from commencement of procurement through the project execution lifecycle,” he says.

“We’ve been able to work with ProjecTools over the last four years not only as a software provider, but also as an alliance partner,” he says. “Ultimately, [that] makes us more efficient.”

MAXIMIZING ASSETS

“Audubon has witnessed many changes in its market, but among the largest is the price discrepancy between oil and natural gas,” Maddox says. “This has led many onshore gas producers to go after richer developments. We see customers steering away from the ‘drier’ plays.”

For instance, a large number of Audubon’s clients are exploring the Bakken formation in Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan, and in the Eagle Ford Shale formation in Texas. “The liquids from these formations are proportionately tied to the price of oil; therefore, the return on the investment is substantially higher than fields not possessing the higher quantities of liquids,” he says. “The moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico certainly changed the operating environment.”

Now that the moratorium has been lifted, “It is imperative that the industry and regulators work to diligently rebuild the complete supply chain in the Gulf of Mexico,” Maddox says. “If only the mega projects and producers are released to work in the Gulf of Mexico, small and mid-sized service firms will struggle to compete in a large complex supply chain. We believe there is a possibility that the industry will experience a consolidation of operators and investors due to the increased liabilities and perceived bureaucracy associated with permitting,” Maddox says.

Audubon also sees a strong future as it serves exploration and production operations in the United States and overseas. “The development of the supply of power to those firms will need to continue,” he says. The company, with offices in Malaysia and Nigeria and South America, has an international reach. “We are able to provide solutions in these focused markets,” he states.

Bellville, TX – ProjecTools announces expansion includes a new building, sign, fences and parking lots on the existing campus, three miles north of Bellville on the West side of Highway 36 N. The additional building will be the new home for management, sales and client services. The existing building will remain home for product development and technical operations. The new building will be 10,800 square feet of offices, conference rooms, and lobby.

The physical expansion comes in response to recent growth of ProjecTools application, services, and clients. Excavation is complete and construction is underway and set to finish at the end of August.

ProjecTools expansion project broke ground in mid-January when new sidewalks were installed, a fence was put up around the campus, and the slab was laid for the new sign. The sign will be a granite sign on a stone base featuring the ProjecTools logo. These parts of ProjecTools expansion are expected to finish by the end of May.

For more information about ProjecTools or this announcement, email ProjecTools media contact.

Bellville, TX – Houston Offshore Engineering (HOE) selected ProjecTools after looking for a system to manage documents and procurement effectively. ProjecTools Document Management and Procurement Software provides a flexible project-oriented configuration while allowing HOE to more strictly enforce their standards and efficiently execute projects. HOE foresees future expansion into other ProjecTools products.

HOE is a Houston, TX based engineering firm providing expert engineering services to support offshore oil and gas developments. While the company specializes in deepwater projects, their experience encompasses all types of marine projects.

HOE’s innovation in the oil and gas industry such as their Paired-Column Semi-Submersible is remarkable. Alongside engineering for the oil and gas industry, their alternative energy projects put them at the forefront of developing renewable energy solutions. They are involved in engineering deepwater platforms to support wind turbines off of Portugal and Korea, a thermal energy device for Hawaii, and an energy conversion device for the Gulf of Mexico.

ProjecTools is excited to partner with a company as respected and innovative as HOE. ProjecTools CEO, Jerry Morgan added, “Houston Offshore Engineering is a very respected name in the offshore business and we are excited to support their innovation in oil and gas and renewables.”

For more information about ProjecTools or this announcement, email ProjecTools media contact.

Bellville, TX – ProjecTools is the preferred project management application for Wison Offshore & Marine – the NEW name in Offshore.

Newly-formed Wison Offshore & Marine, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Wison Offshore & Marine and sister company of Horton Wison Deepwater, has selected ProjecTools to assist in managing the company’s offshore oil and gas projects. Wison has begun training and implementation in in ProjecTools Document Control Software and plans to implement all four ProjecTools bundles (Document Control, Cost Control, Engineering, and Procurement).

Wison Offshore & Marine specializes in the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) delivery of all types of deepwater floating drilling and production systems, both on a turnkey and lease and operate basis. To support this effort, the company has assembled a team of industry professionals who have been involved in the design and supply of deepwater systems since their inception and remains today on the forefront of further developing this technology to meet the challenges of today’s offshore projects.

Global Procurement Manager for Wison Offshore & Marine, Bryan Foushee remarked, “Wison Offshore & Marine realized early on that ProjecTools would be a great partner to assist us in growing and enabling our EPCI global management information systems.”

ProjecTools CEO, Jerry Morgan commented, “With Wison Offshore & Marine having quality systems in place from the beginning, they are poised to grow and thrive just as our other clients have.”

For more information about ProjecTools or this announcement, email ProjecTools media contact.

Bellville, TX – ProjecTools rolls out new time saving functionality for the Document Distribution Matrix (DDM). This major update is a response to customer input, which demonstrates ProjecTools commitment to customer service and continually enhancing the application’s user experience.

In the ProjecTools Home Page, users previously enjoyed easy access to all documents their account had permissions to view. In the DDM, users could filter and search for documents by project, document number, document title, revision purpose, and various supplier and purchase order options.

The updated DDM allows users to filter documents by release date and file types. Along with the enhanced filtering, the DDM has added expanding and collapsing information trees regarding document information with easy to use buttons to command the way your DDM information is displayed. As well as the ability to execute mass document downloads to compressed .zip files. All new functions are aimed at saving time, which allows clients to do more with less.

ProjecTools CEO and Chief Software Architect, Jerry Morgan, commented, “Our customer support is set up in a way that fosters application improvement, our development team is seriously capable of delivering.” regarding the DDM update. He continued to add, “Our clients are going to be pleased with what we have in store. I know I’m excited about where we are going.”

For more information about ProjecTools or this announcement email ProjecTools media contact.