Can you tell us about the history of Yokogawa?

Yokogawa was founded in Japan 100 years ago, in 1915, to manufacture basic electrical measuring instruments. It grew over time and eventually partnered with Foxboro in the United States. Later, Yokogawa developed its own Distributed Control System (DCS), Safety Instrumented System (SIS), and Supervisory Control (SCADA). Today, Yokogawa is a $4 billion company operating in 56 countries with 19,700 employees, with more than 70% of the company’s activity taking place outside Japan. Yokogawa Corporation of America has its headquarters in Houston, where one of the company’s largest engineering centers in the world is also located. The instrument factory, which is in the process of expanding, is in Newnan, Georgia. In addition to its plants in Japan and the United States, Yokogawa also manufactures in Singapore, China, the Netherlands, Germany, and Brazil.

How are businesses changing in Mexico?

Yokogawa believes there is potential to establish a larger operation in Mexico. We have already been successful with a project at the Cadereyta refinery, part of the DUBA program, whose engineering design will be done in Mexico. Yokogawa is also a leader in the gas production processing market. Initially, Yokogawa’s main market in Mexico was the refinery business; however, we now see opportunities in production as well, given the need for improvements in marine facilities.

What are the particularities of working with Pemex?

In the private sector, the selection process tends to prioritize quality and total costs for the entire cycle. Pemex, on the other hand, has a highly competitive bidding process that is contrary to the way most gas and oil companies are structured today. International oil companies such as Shell or Chevron tend to select preferred suppliers for strategic bids. They conduct very rigorous evaluations and usually invite only two or three qualified bidders. They also establish purchase agreements and develop standard processes and workflows, which reduces project costs and risks. This also helps standardize their suppliers worldwide. In Mexico, each Pemex refinery has a different control system, and it is very costly to search for and train the necessary personnel. Many national oil companies, such as Saudi Aramco and Statoil, are following the new approach of selecting suppliers based on knowledge rather than cost. I believe that the reform of Pemex’s procurement process will be very positive.

What is Yokogawa’s capacity in marine facilities?

Yokogawa supplies instruments and control systems on platforms or floating production units. This includes our DCS, safety system, instruments, and other equipment, such as fire protection systems. There are companies, such as FMC, Cameron, GE VetcoGray, and Aker, that manufacture all the equipment that goes underwater. We can easily interact with underwater equipment through our control systems, which effectively connect underwater measurements with control measurements in platform systems. There are also novel wireless technologies for collecting and transmitting signals underwater and through it in case of cable damage. We are evaluating transmission technologies using radio, acoustic, and optical waves.

In the underwater world, on the other hand, everything is done with remotely operated vehicles, ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), which are essentially robots operated from the surface. The ROVs are tethered, but the new vehicles, the AUVs (Automated Underwater Vehicles), are free and can inspect and connect to underwater equipment on their own; they are like drones. AUVs are a new technology, developed in the last decade, that wirelessly obtain data from different systems.