“Now we’re closer to our customers, which means a quicker response time, and we have a service center to support them,” Medalie said in a telephone interview, listing exploration and production companies like Conoco Phillips, Devon Energy, Apache, Pioneer Natural Resources and Occidental Petroleum among PolyFlow’s clientele.

The 50,000-square foot plant is the first RTP facility in the Permian Basin, Medalie added, and it also will serve the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas and parts of Oklahoma. The CEO wouldn’t say exactly how much of an investment the second manufacturing operation represents for PolyFlow but he did say it has three lines of new equipment to double capacity. Thirty-five jobs will eventually be created.

“The plant is highly automated with very little labor needed. It’s capital intensive,” Medalie said.

Polyflow is increasing production of its multi-layer Thermoflex product line, which uses a proprietary technology to bond seemingly non-compatible polymer liners together for lightweight but strong pipes between 1 and 6 inches in diameter.

“We’ve really grown tremendously. We’ve tripled our business in the last two years,” Medalie said.

Thermoflex competes against pipes made of steel, polyethylene (PE), high density polyethylene, and other RTPs, which Medalie said are typically lined with PE and reinforced with fiber glass or other materials.

“We have a unique position with the inner liner of our pipe, which comes in contact with the hydrocarbons or fluid being moved” Medalie said.

Read more