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Run a comb through your hair and apply a dollop of Coppertone® to your face: voila, presto, you’re ready for anything! Bring on the day, you can handle it—at least, that’s how it used to be. These days, most of us require a much more complicated beauty regimen, with North Americans spending upwards of $35 billion annually on makeup products alone. Between Instagram influencers, un-aging Hollywood celebrities, and the endless rows of cosmetics displayed at our local drugstores, it’s clear that the beauty and personal care industry is big business. But what has to happen before all...

As an example of how international engineering and performance standards can be applied to improving ship technology and functionality, the LNG bunkering vessel M/T Coralius is a fitting case.  Owned by Sirius Shipping and the Anthony Veder Group and chartered by Skangas (now Gasum), the Coralius, which completed her first bunkering operation in September 2017, contributes to an LNG infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region while boasting a fuel transfer system technology that is truly state-of-the-art.

Formed in 1978 the ASTM’s Committee F25 on Ships and Marine Technology still plays a pivotal role in developing new standards for the entire maritime industry and currently has jurisdiction over 100 standards. ASTM International works to improve the lives of millions so when it became clear that there were insufficient standards and inconsistencies in the construction of LNG bunkering hose systems it was inevitable that the marine industry would turn to them for guidance.

It might be at the time new technologies emerge in areas where there are incomplete knowledge and understanding. It could be when persistent problems reveal deficiencies in current system designs and field operating practices. Or, it might arise when a lack of comprehensive and universal standards is causing work inefficiencies – so much so that companies are needing to “reinvent the wheel” with each new customer application.

By employing Dixon’s intake manifolds, a Well Services company overcame catastrophic failures to its hydraulic fracturing fluid-ends, preventing costly operational downtime and repairs. The situation: Hydraulic fracturing operations are intense and time critical. The need for continuous and uninterrupted flow from the myriad high-pressure pump units within the “hot zone” near the well head allows little room for equipment failures.

As vice president of sales and marketing at Dixon, Scott Jones is tasked with promoting the company’s products to a global marketplace. One of Dixon’s most significant advantages over the competition, he says, is the company’s longtime emphasis on educating its distributor customers on how to properly assemble, use and re-sell its products. “We really look at training as being one of the key differentiators that we can provide to our distributors,” says Jones, who has worked at Dixon for more than 30 years. “It’s a priority for me.”