CB Candid Conversation
March 24, 2016
The ISA Edmonton Section caught up with, Darrell Kowalyk, the VP of Sales at CB Engineering, for a candid conversation about the recent changes CB’s faced, the economy, and what’s he’s got planned for the ISA Automation Expo & Conference (AEC) in April!
CB’s undergone a lot of changes in the past few months. Can you get us up to speed this?
We certainly have. The biggest change was CB being purchased by a group called Flow Control Group (FCG). FCG is a newly formed fund under AEA Investors, one of the oldest private equities in North America. The mandate of FCG is to invest in distribution companies who supply products and service to the industrial market.
What really attracted us to FCG was their philosophy of managing and growing the companies they purchase. First, they believe on leaving existing management to operate the business. They also provide the necessary investment or expertise to help the business grow. Growth can come in two forms, either organically or through acquisition. So far, they have been true to their words.
On the investment front, we have added some new people to our company. For our outside sales team, we have added John McKenzie to our Edmonton office. John is going to be the Key Account Manager for a number of our larger customers. We have also expanded our service department and hired Mike Serediak as our Service Manager. Mike’s mandate will be to grow our service department and to create new service offerings for our customers.
As for acquisitions, we are actively looking for companies who will complement our business. They can be companies in our current “sandbox” of instrumentation and controls, companies that expand this sandbox, or even companies that start a whole new sandbox for us.
It’s definitely exciting times for us and we are looking forward to what the future holds.
What’s your perspective on change? How do you deal with it?
I love change. It keeps things fresh and provides opportunity for people to explore new roles, learn new things, and expand their capabilities. The worst thing any company or person can get is stagnant. Stagnancy breeds ruts, which become harder and harder to get out of. Companies or people who embrace or look for change are the ones who are happier and that grow.
The economic landscape is scary right now. How are you dealing with the downturn?
We are taking the time now to ensure our people, infrastructure and procedures are working for the current economy and ready for when it rebounds. On the people front, we are providing lots of opportunities for our people to get trained on technology and applications, and industrial processes. We are also investing a lot in our IT infrastructure and communication technologies so we can direct any inquiry to the right person the first time. Finally we are making sure our procedures are helping and not hindering our ability to provide quick responses.
What’s your prediction on when and how the economy will bounce back?
When do we predict or when do we hope? Neither is a really good strategy so we focus on what is in front of us today and not what may or may not happen in a year or two. Whether oil is at $100 or $25, our customers will always face challenges and be presented with opportunities. Our job is to understand these challenges and opportunities, and figure out if and how our products and services can help overcome the challenges, or allow our customers to realize the benefit from an opportunity.
With that said, it’s not our only job. One of our other jobs is to understand industries well enough so we can point out challenges or opportunities to our customers that they don’t even know exist. We have a huge global network of partners who may have figured out some novel way of solving a problem or creating a way to operate more efficiently. It’s our job to investigate these new applications and work with our customers to determine if the same application is viable here.
What can we expect to see from CB Engineering at the ISA Automation Expo & Conference (AEC) in April?
With all the changes that have taken place, you can expect to see a lot of new faces! We have a few new partners participating and a few new products on display. I think the biggest thing to expect from us is a new energy and focus.
We are also participating in the maintenance training seminars with our partner, VEGA. Participants will learn some key information on selecting nuclear sources as well as some experience configuring and maintaining VEGA instruments.
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