VRC to Hold New Valve Repair Event

“Like the rest of the valve industry, the world of repair and maintenance is evolving rapidly,” says Kevin Kemerer, vice president and general counsel of Precision Valve & Pump Services. Kemerer, 2012 chairman of the Valve Repair Council, comes from a third-generation family-owned business that has seen the evolution first-hand over the years.

“From technologies that have brought smarter ways to track and maintain to increasingly demanding schedules to new regulatory dimensions for operations around the world, repair and maintenance professionals face a new world. To react to that world, they need up-to-date information and knowledge about what’s happening,” Kemerer explains. “This new VRC meeting is designed specifically for our segment of the valve world,” he adds.

The one-and-a-half-day event will present an overview of what’s happening, then address specific issues. For example:

• Vinod Sharma, Exponent, will address business risks and brand liability.
• Bill Wall, Granite International, will discuss bolt torquing.
• Mike Mangea, Chalmers & Kubeck North, will present a training presentation on limit switch torque switch L120.
• Brent Schepps and Cory Foster, idsTag, will bring attendees up to date on RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.
• Rich Davis, Flexitallic, will discuss how fugitive emissions issues affect the industry.

In addition, a highlight of the event will be a tour of VRC member United Valve’s 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art shop in Houston by owner Greg Johnson, former chairman of the VRC and current chairman of VMA’s Education and Training Committee.

The first day of the event will also include an opportunity for vendors to the repair industry to showcase their products and services in a table-top exhibition open during the day’s lunch, afternoon and evening social events. The events are designed not only to allow attendees time to interact with vendors, but also to network among themselves.

The repair meeting is open to both VRC members and non-members and a special room rate of $99 is offered from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 for the Marriott Houston South of Hobby Airport, where the event will be held. The registration fee for the 1.5 day event is $425 for the first person attending from a company, and $325 for subsequent attendees from the same company.

For additional information, including exhibition opportunities, please contact Angela Hingston-Oliver at ahingstonoliver@vma.org or call at 202.331.8105, ext. 312. To view the agenda or to register, please visit www.VMA.org > Meetings & Events > Valve Repair Meeting & Exhibits. To make hotel reservations, call 703.943.7979 and reference “VALVALA.”

Genilee Parente is managing editor of Valve ­Magazine.

WHAT IS THE VALVE REPAIR COUNCIL?

During the last few decades, the rise in the number of valve and actuator repair and rebuild shops has resulted in numerous facilities that operate without adequate quality control procedures, use substandard parts and do not have access to OEM specifications. In 1989 VMA member companies saw a need to promote both safety and quality in valve and actuator repair. As a result, the service operations of VMA members banded together to create the Valve Repair Council (VRC). VRC membership is open to all VMA members—or companies that would qualify for membership—that have either in-house service operations or out-of-plant service facilities, as well as their authorized independent facilities.

The Council’s Objectives

The VRC was formed to provide all qualified repairers and rebuilders of flow-control equipment that repair to OEM specification with a way to meet the following objectives:

• To promote safety through ­proper repair and rebuild
• To establish and promulgate guidelines for proper repair and service
• To educate manufacturers, rebuilders and customers on the importance of proper service and the dangers inherent in substandard service
• To provide a forum for the legal exchange of information that will advance quality and integrity of service
• To promote open discussion among OEMs, repair shops and users on problems relating to maintenance and repair
• To cooperate with standards’ development bodies and regulatory agencies in the development of appropriate standards and regulations pertaining to service

Who Can Join?

To qualify for membership in the VRC, a company must meet the following criteria:

• Be a member of VMA operating an in-house service operation or out-of-plant service facility, or be an authorized independent facility of a VMA member
• Have formally operated a valve or actuator repair facility for a minimum of two years
• Rebuild to original manu­facturers’ specifications
• Use OEM parts or parts manufactured to OEM specifications
• Adhere to written quality control procedures appropriate to the markets served and acceptable to VRC
• Use service personnel qualified in accordance with written requirements of manufacturers whose products they are authorized to repair
• Permanently tag repaired valves and actuators, indicating by whom and when repaired; when alteration to OEM ­specifications has occurred, the ­original descriptive information is replaced with current information
• Provide written warranty covering materials and workmanship
• Retain adequate records of all service work performed
• Carry appropriate product ­liability insurance
• Not engage in the purchase and resale of surplus valves or actuators (defined as valves and actuators that have left the OEM’s distribution chain) or have a subsidiary or affiliate that engages in the purchase and resale of surplus valves, or actuators.

For more information about the VRC, please email Marc Pasternak at mpasternak@vma.org or call 202.331.0104.