Connections: Pipe Fusion Trends and Insights from a Land Down Under

Pipe fusion innovations, opportunities, and challenges facing industrial sectors don’t concern one nation: it’s a global issue and one ripe for discussion. Host Daniel Litwin tapped two Venezuelans to help him out for a peek inside the Australian pipe fusion market. McElroy Australia’s Sergio Arellano, International Sales Manager, and Sergio Yibrin, International Tech Service Manager, brought their wealth of industry knowledge and expertise to Connections from that great land below the equator.

A mechanical engineer by trade, Arellano worked in Venezuela’s oil and gas industry before transferring to Perth, Australia, in the early 2000s. He joined McElroy in 2012 as their International Sales Manager. Not to be outdone, Yibrin is also a mechanical engineer with a deep background in hydraulics and electric house assemblies. He came to Australia in 2013 and joined McElroy a year later, helping companies with after-sales services of McElroy products.

“Australia is a very big country, but we only have 10% of the population the U.S. has,” Arellano explained. “All of our population is concentrated, mostly, along the coasts. There are few big towns or populations inland. We also have a lot of resources that require operations to take place inland, so some of these operations can be very remote.”

But with Australia’s population growth rapidly expanding, Arellano explained that many utility projects such as water and gas distribution, pipelines, and sewage, are underway to handle these new needs.

Yibrin said that due to the remoteness of some of these vital operations, there are high costs associated with running them, including renting and maintaining equipment. “Productivity and efficiency are key in this market. And therefore, McElroy shines in these areas with the incorporation of the iSeries , the Vault, the Datalogger 7, and the TracStar.”