TEI Rock Drills hosted an open house Sep. 27-29 at its Montrose, Colo., headquarters. As is customary at this annual event, the energy and enthusiasm surrounding the presentations and demonstrations was only matched by the exuberance and enjoyment of the always-a-good-time social activities.
A plant tour kicks off the proceedings, and it gives employees an opportunity to show off the different sections of the factory and the various tasks and projects they’re working on. It’s a great inside peek at what goes into the manufacture of the assorted pieces of drilling equipment.
Classroom-type sessions were both educational and entertaining. Attendees got insight from company founder Bill Patterson on TEI’s research and development efforts and its technological advances, including an extendable feed system for its TD50R limited-access, track-mounted drill rig. Gordon Jackson, with South African distributor DD&E, discussed underground mine applications, including gold, platinum, diamonds and uranium. Chuck Houghton of Hawe Hydraulics covered hydraulic issues from A to Z. Jeff Hermanson captivated all with his stories about the 20 years he’s spent working on the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota. Terry Burnell of Mountain Highwall Concrete Inc. shared methods for installing hollow bars for foundations in a wide range of applications and conditions. And Brian Kassel of Asheville Bit & Steel Co. offered salient advice on how to get increased production and longer life out of down-hole hammers.
Drilling folk tend to be of the hands-on variety, and this event is right up their alley. The outdoor equipment demonstrations are presented in basically a free-form style. All the equipment is out there, and TEI’s experts are ready – and more than willing – to help with anything a visitor might possibly be interested in. There’s no hands-in-the-pocket tire-kicking going on here; you grab the controls and see for yourself how it feels to operate the drilling equipment.
For an even better glimpse into the TEI open house, go to the “Video Spotlight” section at ND’s website (www.thedriller.com), in which TEI’s vice president of marketing, Joe Patterson, gladly gives you the nickel tour.
And as soon as they’re available, we’ll get you all the details on next year’s open house.
ND
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