Dec 9, 2004 the Odessa/Midland area hosted its first Quality Awareness and Recognition day. Some 200 employees, spouses and family members were on hand to partake in the celebration. The evening began with an exceptional treat of music from the Satin Strings, the Permian High School Orchestra. This talented troupe of 20 musicians (with cellos in hand) wandered through the audience as they entertained the crowd.

Dick Werner, president of Smith Services, emphasized the importance of an effective process to make quality and continuous improvement happen throughout the organization. He went on to show that Smith Service’s quality process has identified millions of dollars in PONC (Price of Nonconformance) since Jan 2000, and that the dollars saved by avoiding errors is not the primary benefit of the process. The most important long term benefit is providing quality products and error free service to our customers.

The guest speaker, Karl Ivanhoe from ChevronTexaco, confirmed Mr. Werner’s point. He went on to say that the delivery of quality products and services is more than an expectation; it is a condition of doing business with ChevronTexaco. Mr. Ivanhoe described what ChevronTexaco looks for when auditing a supplier’s processes to ensure that quality happens. The great news is that we are doing it!

Mike Leys, senior vice president of operations, recognized two Quality Work Groups for their identification of PONC for the Odessa/Midland area:

·          Inventory Reduction QWG

o       Vance Ford                  Co-facilitator

o       David Taylor                Co-facilitator

o       Bob Nohejl

o       Harlan Faulkner

·          Equipment Maintenance Improvement

o       David Ervin                  Facilitator

o       Johnny Valenzuela

o       Pat Lopez

o       John Chaffin

o       Roger Andrews

o       Andres Madrid

o       James Scheen

o       Jodie Lucero

Mr. Leys went on to recognize the Odessa/Midland personnel that have been active on our product development teams, the effectiveness of this process and its overall importance to the future of our Business Unit. Thanks to Vance Ford, Gary Pfannenstiel and Danny Cruzan for their contribution.

 Bobby Compton and Kevin Waldon were recognized by Vance Ford and David Taylor for their Customer Service Excellence. Mr. Taylor went on to identify the Quality Improvement Teams that have been established for this area and laid out plans for future QIT development.

 Duane Samford kept both the evening and the program on track as an outstanding Master of Ceremonies. He reiterating the important role that each person in Smith Services has in making quality and continuous improvement a part of the way we do our jobs and run our business. Mr. Samford concluded the evening’s events by recognizing the individuals that were response for organizing this outstanding event: Danny Cruzan, Jana Drake, Brad VanCleave Donna Carleton and Bobby Compton.

 Congratulations to all the Smith Services folks in Odessa and Midland.