Excellence

It is a word that has a positive ring to it. It means: “The quality of being outstanding or extremely good; an outstanding feature or quality.” Excellence is the opposite of mediocrity, apathy or laziness, and it all starts with a positive mindset. We were treated to a glimpse of the pursuit of excellence during the recent company TCAG strategy meeting. It was exciting to see the “vision” our Sales, Engineering, Project Management, Accounting, Operations, Construction and Quality departments had for the future development of our organization. It is even more exciting to see the momentum building as we accomplish goals and move forward. I count myself to be very fortunate to be able to work with such a dedicated, hardworking and talented group of people who give their best effort each and every day. They are people who go the extra mile to do the right thing and won’t settle for less than their best.

Continuous improvement

The idea is to fundamentally improve the way we do everything… all the time. It is clear that at every opportunity we are moving to continuously improve in every corner of our organization. Tank Connection is not waiting to see where the bar is going to be set in the tank industry so we can follow a trend; we are pushing the limits of excellence within our organization so we can be the trend. As a business in today’s ever changing world, it matters more than ever that each person in our organization maintains a mindset to pursue excellence every single day. Systems such as ISO 9001 are very good, but they are not a replacement for quality people, doing a quality job. Our people will make the difference. The TC Quality Policy says it very well, “Tank Connection personnel are committed to the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement in all of our business operations to fulfill the needs of our customers.”

Enjoy the journey!

This the best bolted liquid storage tank offered in the world today, without exception. It is Tank Connection’s “A” quality RTP (rolled, tapered panel) product line. TC designs, manufactures and installs this liquid storage tank design for water and wastewater worldwide. “A” quality bolted storage tanks do not utilize external web stiffeners, also known as webbies.

We also offer a lighter tank design that utilizes webbies. It is called our “B” quality product line.

Any bolted tank products offered by competitors that utilize web stiffeners are at best “B” quality storage tanks. As an example, bolted tanks that utilize glass or vitreous enamel coatings and 1-2 webbies are considered “B” quality. The more webbies used, the lower the product rating for liquid storage containment applications. Glass tank designs that utilize more than 3 webbies will rate no higher than “C” or “D” quality.

Need facts? Call the experts at TC and always “Specify the Best!”

FENASAN XXII Feira Nacional de Saneamento e Meio Ambiente, Sao Paulo, Brazil – August 1st through 3rd.

The growing demand for Tank Connection products throughout Latin America, and more specifically in Brazil, prompted our recent participation at the FENESAN in collaboration with our regional affiliate, O-tek. The three day event fostered tremendous interest in our RTP (rolled, tapered panel) product line, with special emphasis given to our proprietary LIQ FUSION 7000 FBE coatings. Tank Connection selected the world’s leading coating experts at Akzo Nobel to develop the LIQ FUSION 7000 FBE system as a direct replacement for traditional glass/porcelain enamel coatings – offering 40 times the impact resistance; and more importantly, the ability to be recoated in the field which results with extended service life.

We wish to extend our sincere appreciation to all of those who visited with us during this event. Tank Connection continues to gain recognition in the global marketplace as the most innovative storage containment specialist, and the Fenasan is an ideal environment for sharing these latest developments with our valued customers.

An example of the top performance dry bulk storage systems offered in the world today. Yes, they are aesthetic in appearance, but more importantly they are designed for long life and low maintenance requirements.

The adjacent picture is bolted RTP (rolled, tapered panel) construction. These tanks were all erected
from grade level, utilizing a specialized jacking process. It is the safest tank construction available on the face of the planet.

These systems come in all shapes and sizes to meet your project requirements. TC also offers the same designs in field-welded and hybrid tank construction for select storage applications.

As we head into the fourth quarter, Tank Connection and affiliate companies are beyond busy. Based on client demand for our products, we continue to add to our employee base. Shipment levels are unprecedented. By September, we had crossed the 450 employee mark across the affiliate group of companies. We continue to incur record incoming levels, the best employees that subscribe to the company mission and the best clients to serve in the industry. We are excited about 2012, as we see a number of market segments colliding with TC products and services. No doubt 2012 is going to be a wild year and at TC we are engaged to make our clients successful on every project.

Tank Connection storage products and services have become #1 in the tank industry. Our dry bulk storage products are unmatched in the industry worldwide. In North America, we dominate integrated dry bulk storage applications. On the liquid side, we continue rapid market share growth as our liquid storage containment tanks continue to be become recognized as the best quality available worldwide.

We continue to follow a simple equation: Best Design, Best Storage Systems, Best Coatings, Best Construction Services and Best Experienced Service Team. Thank you for making TC the company of choice for your integrated storage systems.

The dry bulk sales group at Tank Connection has an amazing wealth of knowledge to assist you with your projects. We encourage our customers to contact us for assistance from the very beginning stages of their project. We can assist with questions such as:

• What is the most economical size (height and diameter) for my needed capacity?
• What is the most economical type of support for my project (i.e. skirted, legs, structure, etc.)?
• What is the smallest diameter tank that can utilize a truck drive through skirt design?
• Is it better to go taller or larger diameter for a bulk storage application?
• What is the largest diameter tank that can have a hopper?
• What can I do if my product is difficult to flow?

These questions, as well as a wealth of others, can be answered by the members of our sales team. We can assist with making sure your tanks are the most economically designed without sacrificing the high-quality that your project demands. Most people wouldn’t dream of designing their own car before going to purchase one… it’s not any different for tanks. Call the experts at Tank Connection and let us assist you with your next project!

Webbie / Web Stiffener / Web Truss

Call it by whatever name you prefer, but it is still just a cheap “erectors set” of bolt-together stiffeners.

At Tank Connection, we only prescribe a very limited use of webbies on stainless steel bolted tanks. There is no justification of its use that makes it a good choice for the customer, outside of this application. It is the cheapest type of support utilized on the cheapest liquid tanks offered in the industry today. To make this situation worse, the
use of webbies is out of control by tank suppliers trying to increase their profits by making the tank PDT (plate design thickness) lighter. In some cases, we are witnessing webbies used on every horizontal ring!

The adjacent picture is a “brand x” tank that utilizes a webbie support.

Does this look like a “well engineered support system” to you?

Progress

Following another very successful quarter at Tank Connection, I would like to let you know about what is happening in our quality department. Since this is the first quarter following our recent successful ISO 9001:2008 certification, you may be surprised to learn that we have been fine tuning the tracking, measurement and review of our major performance indicators since before we were even certified. The measurement methods have been scrutinized, enhanced and improved ever since the implementation started. The point I want to make here is that we aren’t waiting for a better opportunity or another quarter to make the improvements that we can make today. It is not another department, or another person or even another manager who is supposed to make an improvement. Changes are happening to our business system now and they are happening virtually every day. These changes will allow us to streamline our processes so we can eliminate work that is ineffective. We can make changes that make our existing processes more effective, and we can improve processes that have been a problem in the past. This isn’t just about the Quality Department. Areas throughout Tank Connection are directly supporting or are being impacted by these often small changes. Small steps, will lead directly to big improvements in the way we work each and every day, and will reach the bottom line.

Dynamics of improvement

When people make the right changes, for the right reasons the dynamic that follows will have a lasting and positive impact that resonates through an organization, a community, a country and as far as you can imagine. It is a privilege to work with so many creative and positive people who strive for excellence in everything they do. Every one of us should strive to be part of the process of developing better ways to approach our work. Ideas that may not even seem possible when they begin to take shape can become something great. Those ideas are being developed and cultivated right here, right now. The dynamics of continuous improvements that are currently taking shape will continue to expand and lead to more action that will be increasingly effective throughout our organization. As we take each step, the things that have limited us in the past can be overcome. As one thing leads to another, these improvements will make Tank Connection even more competitive on a global scale. The net result is that there will be a bright future for all of us.

“Tank Connection personnel are committed to the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement in all of our business operations to fulfill the needs of our customers.” Enjoy the journey!

— Matt Hamilton

Prior to developing our own aluminum dome product line, TC and our affiliate companies built a significant number of “other brand” domes. Although we did have some issues in fit-up and panel stain issues, for the most part we had few issues with other dome suppliers.

When Tank Connection decided to enter aluminum dome fabrication, we decided to improve every aspect over other products available in the industry.

The results have been excellent. Tank Connection has numerous aluminum dome projects in the field and a growing backlog. Under objective review, we have clients that have picked our dome design over the other “brand x” supplier.

As we have prescribed in TC literature, we think we can prove that we are building the best aluminum geodesic dome designs in the industry today. Compare our dome design to others at www.AluminumDomes.com. We offer some significant advantages:

• Heavier beam/strut design with flange stiffeners
• Best batten bar sealing design and mechanical attachment
• Best spun aluminum node cover design with mechanical attachment
• Best safety access design
• Expansion pier design (patent pending)
• Easily containerized & shipped worldwide
• Competitive price leader due to company vertical integration

Protec – Congratulations to our dealer in Doha, Qatar as the award recipient for six tanks with TC aluminum domes.

• Qty (4) – 30.79m x 7.49m (101.01’ x 24.58’) with Aluminum Domes – Capacity 5,130m3 (1.3M gallons)
• Qtr (2) – 39.84m x 8.67m (130.72’ x 28.44’) with Aluminum Domes – Capacity 10,010m3 (2.6M gallons)

Project Location: Qatar