Altex Industries Inc. is celebrating 25 years in business. What started humbly as a small shop manufacturing business and a small field services business is now a thriving local business with more than 1,000 on the team in peak season.
When the doors first opened, Altex provided shell and tube heat exchanger manufacturing along with services for the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors in Western Canada. As the years went on and the team grew, so, too, did the services and products. Today, Altex is proud to provide shell and tube heat exchangers, air-cooled exchangers, sulphur condensers, waste-heat boilers and Helixchangers, alongside installation, cleaning and maintenance services for equipment in the field. No job is too complicated or remote.
As the team says, “We love a challenge and we’re here to help you work through the stuff of nightmares!”
Despite its success today, Altex’s start was tenuous. Yet, it was those very trials that empowered a firm foundation that took the company in a stronger direction.
Dave Reich, president, explains, “An early version of Altex had existed since the 1980s, but due to financial issues, the business came up for sale from a receiver. Our ownership group saw both the value and potential Altex had and acquired the assets and location to form a completely new organization.”
Durwill Dennis, CEO, adds, “With strong visionary guidance and support, the new Altex flourished with a very rapid and exciting growth rate. Aggressive reinvestment and timely strategy sessions have certainly helped, but it couldn’t have been done without strong banking support, from day one, from Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB). Another key partnership has been the Boilermakers Local 146 here in Edmonton, which supports our shop and field operations in Alberta. Complimentary to this is our affiliations with other trade unions/locals in Alberta and throughout Canada that provide access to talented tradespersons to support our activities at client sites. Rounding out our key partnerships are our valued suppliers and clients, as without their support we could not deliver our products and services.
The growth was steady. What started in the shop as a handful of people working out of a 12,000 square foot facility on three acres has now turned into 150 full-time people utilizing 100,000 square feet of facility over 15 acres of land.
“In the field – we jokingly called it four guys in a truck. The truck was the transport, the lunch break room and the office. Now in the field, we are proud to say we employ people from coast to coast to coast in Canada (B.C. to the arctic to offshore platforms in the Atlantic) simultaneously with over 1,000 people at peak times.”
The industry changes rapidly, and Altex is committed to keeping pace.
Dennis notes, “Throughout the years, we have experienced more competition and great pressure to be the most cost efficient vendor for our clients. We continually strategize as a company to deliver this while staying true to who we are, without compromising what our clients have become accustomed to for our extra support.”
Strategizing is rewarding with a team on board and all working towards a common goal.
Reich is happy to add, “Working with all these great people is incredibly rewarding, and it is very satisfying to design and manufacture complex products and work with our clients onsite to solve their challenging time constrained service requirements.”
While many have heard the name “Altex” before, most are surprised when they learn the breadth of products and complexity of services on offer. Even a trip to their website cannot fully capture all the capabilities.
“Our offerings are never limited to our present offerings online,” Reich points out. “With our technical and operational expertise, we provide solutions in a variety of industrial areas to assist our clients.”
He elaborates, “In the field, we consistently work with our clients to provide innovative solutions to keep their plants working as much as possible. We call this ‘avoiding the downtime trap’. For example, one unique challenge that we solved collaboratively with a client was in a pulp and paper mill. These sites are notoriously difficult for replacing equipment, as the buildings do not support easy maintenance. This particular challenge was to replace a heat exchanger on the sixth floor of the mill. Short of cutting a hole in the roof, this was originally thought impossible.”
The “impossible” was simply one of those challenges Altex loves to solve.
Reich continues, “Our staff, together with the mill staff, came up with a solution where we partially fabricated a unit on the ground floor (partial for weight restrictions) and then articulated it up floor by floor using the mill’s internal cranes and a unique lifting device designed by Altex. Eventually the unit reached the sixth floor and we completed it, installed it and commissioned it successfully.”
This is far from the only innovative success story. Dennis shares, “We have a field client that has large vertical tower units with multiple trays inside. The client wished to change the trays to a newer, improved design, but this posed a significant handling issue inside a large tower that is 100 feet high. Altex designed, fabricated and certified an internal crane that was assembled through an access port, which allowed the work to be completed safely and efficiently.”
The innovations happen internally as well as client facing. Thanks to the corporate culture, the team always feels empowered and supported to make decisions that improve conditions for themselves and the clients. For example, on the Altex manufacturing floor, their engineers, welders and machinists worked together to improve a corner joint on pressure equipment such that the quality of the joint was greatly improved and the completion of the weld was done in roughly half the time. The collaborative approach was initiated without the involvement of senior management, although upper management was made aware of it later. The initiative improved all the players’ work conditions and enhanced the product for Altex and all of their clients.
Altex celebrates its people as a team. At the annual winter gala, recognition awards are handed out after being voted on by the staff. Plaques of the winners are proudly displayed in the office lobby.
“However,” Reich says, “what we are most proud of are the up to four scholarships we offer to our employees’ children who are attending post secondary education. The applicants submit their field of study and discuss what the scholarship will mean to them if they win, and what volunteer activities they are doing simultaneously with schooling. A committee reviews all the applicants and up to four winners are identified. The winners are asked to attend the winter gala with their parents to receive the award. We are very proud of this program, and it has been well received.”
As they reflect on the years gone by and the years ahead, Dennis concludes, “Our success, honestly, has been a real group effort. We have had tremendous and ongoing support from ATB, our clients, vendors, the unions we are signatory with and most importantly, from our loyal, hardworking employees and their supportive families.
“While we don’t know what the future hold, we can tell you that in true Altex style, it will be exciting and innovative! We strategize a couple times a year with key employees to ensure we remain on track with our growth, goals and values. We also ask our entire staff from time to time, through a questionnaire, what they would like to see next. So stay tuned, it will be great!”