2022 Thought Leaders: Kathryn Wood-Enriquez

What opportunities do you predict for the growth of your industry in 2022?

Having been involved within this industry for more than 30 years and having witnessed, like everyone else, the greatest pandemic in my lifetime, I am personally committed to a high level of participation in the local manufacture of engineered control and safety valve products in Australia. Our team is focused on increasing our local manufacturing capabilities, so that we can be less reliant on imported products and provide more delivery flexibility on special material valves and custom-engineered designs. Everyone is being affected with supply chain issues, so we need to become more resourceful, as a company, an industry and as a nation.

We are also investing in infrastructure to support more local assembly, testing and after-market service — particularly in relation to the highly specialised types of valves that we sell, such as turbine bypass, anti-surge and very high pressure cavitation and noise control valves.

We also consider that there is a great opportunity for our industry as a whole in renewables. With a proven track record in the supply of valves and process instrumentation within a number of thermal solar, geothermal, biomass and hydrogen plants, we — together with our suppliers — can be counted on for application expertise and project execution.

What are the three biggest challenges or threats facing your industry in 2022?

In these times, there is a serious threat to our industry: that decades upon decades of knowledge is being lost. Our greatest challenge is securing experienced and educated staff who are driven by achieving results and are committed to delivering a high level of technical support and service to our clients, from within an ever-diminishing pool of qualified engineers.

We need a raft of people to be ready to embrace the skill sets and application experience of those who have had the opportunity to ‘practically’ learn their craft. Now with Australia re-opening its international borders, it is crucial that we be granted the opportunity to employ qualified people in the field of chemical, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering, from overseas.

The second challenge to some of us who operate within this industry is that many customers are no longer focused on specifying and procuring well-engineered, high-quality products. Rather, there has been an increasing trend of buying solely based upon the price, not understanding that a low price and high, or even good, quality do not go hand in hand. I believe that for the long-term prosperity of our country, we need to build reliable process plants that are designed for long-term operation. Decisions for procurement should therefore have a heavy weighting from the engineers who are employed in the business.

The third challenge is how we manage our prices to market, with the ever increasing cost of materials and exorbitant freight costs. The whole world is living within unprecedented times, both as a result of the pandemic and also global political issues that are affecting supply chains. We have been thumped with air freight cost increases of up to sevenfold (and sometimes more) over the original prices of only four to six months ago. Who has to bear this cost? The buyer or the seller? Contracts have been negotiated and awarded, only to sometimes end up in a place where no one wants to be — back at the negotiation table.

Essentially, appreciating the need to place orders earlier (than usual) provides us time to evaluate other transportation methods, in order to achieve an acceptable outcome for both parties. A win-win situation is our aim.

What are your thoughts about remote working technologies and supporting staff?

During the pandemic, we allowed most of our staff to work from home; with only essential manufacturing, assembly, service and stores staff being required to attend work. It was largely successful, with many employees stating that they achieved more from working in a ‘quiet’ environment, whereas, those working from home with young children around (and homeschooling) wanted to return to the office for peace and quiet. I believe that going forward, we will allow some of our staff (mostly those employed in engineering roles) to periodically ‘work from home’. We have a very efficient IT network and can communicate with each other via a multitude of technology platforms. Still, this will never be permanent for us; there is no better way to achieve a cohesive and productive working environment than being together, face to face. And that goes for meeting with our clients and suppliers too.

CEO and Managing Director of Powerflo Solutions Kathryn Wood-Enriquez has been in the engineered control valve industry for over 35 years. With an expansive knowledge of control valve design, sizing and application, Kathryn focuses on engineering long-term solutions for the most difficult of control applications.

Image: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Alessandro Biascioli