Published November 2007
Around the Clock
By Scottie Dayton (page 40)
When industrial plants need emergency service, they rely on a small firm in Northern Maryland to get them back up and running.
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Responding to plant emergencies — no matter when — is the niche of Jet Blast Industrial Services Inc. in Baltimore, Md.
Owner and founder Tim Wilson learned early that while some companies chased larger plant shutdowns and bid only on big jobs, he could develop long-term customer relationships by providing emergency services on a consistent basis.
His foresight has enabled Jet Blast, under president Ed Jefferson, to grow consistently and retain customers through good and lean years. Clients range throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic area. Jet Blast gets 80 percent of its business through 20 percent of its customers, mainly power generation plants, chemical refineries, and large municipalities. To beef up the slower winter months, the company earned its General Services Administration (GSA) number, and bids government projects.
In 1985, Inc 500 considered Jet Blast, founded in 1979, one of the fastest-growing U.S. companies. At the same time, Wilson was meeting with his bankers in what was probably one of the best and worst years in company history.
Good, bad, and oh-no
Growing fast was an accomplishment and a detriment. “Almost from the beginning, we had the waterblasting contract at local power plants,” says Don Morningstar, director of purchasing and safety. “When we bid the job in 1985, we figured Jet Blast was a shoo-in, so we aggressively went after the industrial vacuuming part of the contract. We got it, but our waterblasting bid was rejected.”
The bank financed more than a million dollars worth of combination vacuum trucks from Vactor Manufac-turing, but the work, which should have generated an estimated $2 million annually, produced only $200,000 the first year. Wilson refused defeat and fought back.
At the time, Jet Blast had more than 100 employees at its Baltimore, Philadelphia and Hopewell, Va., locations. Wilson sold the out-of-state branches and focused on profitability in the Maryland area. He scaled down the fleet and ordered supplies only as needed.
Above all, he was completely truthful with all vendors and paid off their accounts a little at a time. The company rebounded and learned a valuable lesson. Whenever slow times arrived during the next eight years, accounting called suppliers to explain the financial situation, and the company was never cut off. Today, Jet Blast has 42 employees, 30 of whom work in the field.
Finding the best
Being open all day, every day, presents the challenge of finding and keeping quality employees who can tolerate unpredictable schedules. Jet Blast improved its turnover 200 percent in the last five years by developing an intense pre-screening program. Before new hires set foot on a job, they are exposed to three days of what the work involves.
As in most companies, the human resources director first makes certain applicants meet all the necessary qualifications. They are then shown an in-house video explaining what they can expect from Jet Blast, and what the company expects from them in terms of availability and scheduling. Next, the office manager does a pre-interview, restating the availability issue.
Applications are faxed to a company that does background checks, interviews applicants again, and verifies their driving records, which must meet a three-point deduction limit set by Jet Blast’s insurance company. If the applicants pass, they undergo drug and alcohol screening and respiratory tests.
If they pass those, they take the Department of Transportation physical. “If hired, they receive a day-and-a-half of orientation training that teaches and sells them on safety,” says Morningstar. “We use hands-on, interactive, and video training with written tests. Finally, our new employees are fitted for and issued safety gear and company pagers.”
Doing a good job is important, but keeping a client in the waterblasting industry requires an exemplary safety record.
Disposable safety
Many service calls involve cleaning in corrosive environments. “When an employee suffers a chemical burn on the job, the customer doesn’t want you back because that event goes on his company’s safety record,” says Morningstar. “To expand our ability to do more of this hazardous work, we adopted a ‘Use it and lose it’ attitude.”
Previously, employees had their own expensive acid suit, boots, shoulder-length rubber gloves, hood, and apron to protect them from corrosive liquids. However, burns didn’t occur while the men were working, but when they took off or put on their suits, which had undergone a shower.
“After every job now, the PPE comes off and goes into the trash,” says Morningstar. “When workers suit up, it’s always with new equipment. This policy has gotten us a lot more work because customers aren’t nervous about having a recordable injury in their plants.”
Not a day passes without Jet Blast employees doing a confined-space entry. Therefore, Morningstar routinely services the gas monitors from RAE Systems. “We’re probably the only company that bump tests its meters with gases before the guys leave on a job,” he says. Jet Blast also built a confined-space rescue simulator so new hires can operate the winch, raising or lowering a mannequin.
Training, however, goes only so far. “If the boss doesn’t feel safety is important, neither will the employees,” Morningstar says.
Branching out
Jet Blast is facing another crunch as industries leave the area. In response, Jefferson hired more salespeople with diverse backgrounds and has challenged them to solicit new clients. “It isn’t enough to have salespeople who know waterblasting,” says Morningstar. “We sought people who would look for new applications.”
Jet Blast worked hard to get its GSA number so it could bid on government contracts. “We have pursued this course for the last five years, meeting with some success and some failure,” says Morningstar. “Government work involves a steep learning curve that we’re still mastering.”
One way Jet Blast, a small firm, gets government accounts is as a subcontractor. “We’re the sole bidder in many instances, because not too many companies want to touch this type of work,” says Morningstar. “These contracts typically involve underground reservoirs that can’t be entered. We have to estimate how much material is down there and couch our bidding language very carefully. It’s a negotiation from day one to the end. Record-keeping is often more challenging than the actual work.”
The company seeks out government accounts in winter when other work slows down. The work enables Jet Blast to cover some overhead, keep its skilled workforce, and learn more about the projects. “Even if we make little or no profit, we are continuing to expand our horizons,” says Morningstar. “A company must be strong enough to absorb a few losses during the learning curve to maybe land that big account.”
Streamlining efficiency
The company also gains by operating efficiently. For example, standardization enables Jet Blast to limit the number of parts it stocks. The company uses waterblasters from NLB Corp., accessories from Jetstream of Houston LLP and StoneAge Inc., and some equipment from Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems Inc. Maintenance manager Craig Williams and a mechanic service the entire fleet in a 100- by 200-foot, three-bay garage.
“Craig prefabricates special jigs for jobs and re-engineers equipment to work better or be more user friendly,” says Morningstar. “For example, he truck-mounted most of our towing waterblasters to eliminate trailers coupled incorrectly, breakaways, and trailer brake malfunctions. He also relocated the waterblasting controls, enabling the guys to grab them from the ground instead of climbing onto the truck.”
Waterblasters are winterized with PEAK RV and marine antifreeze, formulated for potable water plumbing systems. “Should some antifreeze leak in a plant now, we don’t have a pollution issue,” says Morningstar. “You can drink the stuff.” Williams also relocated the antifreeze fill site to eye level to further reduce the risk of spills.
Jet Blast is working closely with its waterblasting vendors to help engineer anti-withdrawal devices. Morningstar sees the industry starting to educate customers about how these tools, which stop high-pressure hoses from whipping back at their operators, can prevent recordable injuries in their plants.
“We can spend $2,500 on an anti-withdrawal device and trash it cleaning one heat exchanger,” says Morningstar. “When water hits titanium tetrachloride, it converts to hydrochloric acid. Tooling doesn’t always survive that corrosive environment.”
Customers who understand the value of anti-withdrawal devices rarely question their cost or use.
Marketing maintenance
While emergency work has been the company’s forte and success, Morningstar sees scheduled maintenance cleaning contracts as its next growth spurt.” That is another way to keep our workforce intact,” he says. “We’d also like to have 100 percent of the work our customers require instead of 50 or 80 percent. We just haven’t grown to handle that level yet.”
Slow but continual growth involves buying new equipment, changing methodology, staying abreast of new technologies, and working with water- blasting manufacturers at the production end.
“We’re not trying to expand what we do into other areas,” Morningstar concludes. “Waterblasting and vacuuming represent the largest percentage of our work. We will continue to focus on those avenues and grow within them.”
