The Valve World Conference & Expo in Maastricht, The Netherlands, is off to a flying start. On Monday, 11 November, conference delegates and expo stand-holders already had the opportunity to meet during the evening reception at the NH Hotel and the next day both conference and expo were in full swing. Visitor numbers are good, as well as their level of involvement in the valve community.
From the expo floor we have already heard many positive sounds, which promises a lot for the remaining two days. The conference was opened by chairman Ray Bojarczuk, who welcomed the delegates, in particular all the new faces that were there, and said he
expects the conference will enhance the exchange of information within the valve community. After his opening words, Darren Knowles from Shell addressed the audience about procurement issues at Shell and invited suppliers to step forward and talk to Shell about their solutions to flow control issues. After that it was the turn of Karel Velan, founder of the
Velan company. Velan gave his views on global energy market developments and their effects on the world-wide valve markets. Despite globalisation and increasing competition from low-cost countries, Mr Velan emphasised the added value in dealing with a high-quality distributor or manufacturer.
There is also plenty of hands-on experience to be gained on the expo floor, where Mr Ingolf Klyde, a 30-year veteran of the offshore industry, is running a walk-in valve maintenance tutorial. Mr Klyde has brought along some valves that had suffered damage during service, and visitors are invited to try and identify problems and suggest solutions. Obviously there’s more to come so in the next two days we will keep you updated on further developments.
