
Orion Drilling is a full service drilling company from Texas, USA. They’re specialized in manufacturing and fabricating oil and gas drilling rigs. The company used to subcontract as much as 25% of their fabrication. Gradually over time Orion started suffering major issues due to the low quality of the subcontracted fabrication work.
Weld draw, the metal gap that welders encounter during fit-up, must be at an absolute minimum to facilitate welding and reduce welding time, to improve overall accuracy and quality, and to maximize Orion productivity. Maintaining a tight tolerance was becoming a constant issue starting to jeopardize greatly the quality of each finished oil rig.
Orion could no longer compromise on the accuracy and quality of the oil rig structures. The Texas-based company purchased the MPC 450 | 1200, HGG’s multi-profile cutting machine for pipes, square tube and flat bars. The MPC software helped Orion optimize their fitting and minimize welding volume. Unique algorithms are used to create smooth cross-overs between surfaces. E.g. the cross over from the four surfaces of a box section are extrapolated in order to create a smooth weld transition on the four no. radii.
Thanks to the smooth weld details and perfect fit length provided by HGG’s MPC 450 | 1200 pipe and tube cutting machine, Orion Drilling no longer needs to outsource to fabricators and their welders now do only what they are really good at – fitting and welding.