Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 32--8/08/2007)

Business is booming for
new Kenmare oilfield
service rig manufacturer

By Caroline Downs

Another million dollar rig ready to roll . . .Thirty of MW Industries'
employees take a moment to celebrate the completion of a service rig
for Ham's Well Service of Westhope. MW Industries has been
manufacturing rigs in Kenmare since March 2006 and has plans
to expand local production to meet the industry's high demand.

MW Industries just may be the biggest company you haven’t heard of yet in Kenmare.

MW Industries Oilfield Equipment Manufacturer, with the "MW" representing founders Bob Mau, Tom Mau and James Wiedmer, builds service rigs for the oilfield. Production takes place in the factory along U.S. Highway 52 on the north side of Kenmare that was previously used by Commercial Group West to fabricate modular buildings.

Wiedmer and Tom Mau both serve as vice presidents of the company, with Mau also overseeing operations in the shop. The company employs more than 30 people from Kenmare, Carpio, Northgate, Bowbells and Stanley. An additional 10 workers from Minot, Burlington and Sawyer commute daily in company vans for their shifts.

MW Industries began operations as its own entity in March 2006. "Before we were MW Industries, we built or refurbished six rigs in the past five or six years for Eagle Operating," explained Tom Mau. "Now, we’ve completed three of our own rigs. Our goal within a year is to be at full production at ten to twelve rigs a year."

He paused and looked out his office window at the manufacturing floor. "It just takes time to get up to full manufacturing speed," he said.

The company has already received patents for some of the components they developed in the Kenmare shop, including the drawworks. "And our derrick is one of a kind," Mau said. "There’s one in the field now and a second one will go out within a month. It’s wide-based, for the wind up here. A lot of customers are interested in our derrick. In fact, our derricks, drawworks and a lot of the options we offer are our main selling points."

Rigs made by MW Industries sell at $900,000 to $1 million. "That’s depending on...what they want to put on them as add-ons," Mau said.

Today, MW rigs are working in Texas and Nebraska, as well as North Dakota. The company will exhibit one of its rigs at an oil industry show scheduled for October in Lafayette, Louisiana. "We feel pretty certain it’ll probably be sold before it even gets there," Mau said. "There’s no waiting time."

The fact that rig could be headed for the oilfield by October 15th is significant at a time when most customers are on a waiting list. "If someone were to order a rig today, you’d be looking at March or April for delivery," Mau said. He looked out his office window again and scanned the floor for a quick count. "Every rig in the shop right now is sold, and there are five in the building. We have one more sold after that, that isn’t started yet."

Still growing
Mau is excited about the progress MW Industries has accomplished in little more than a year. "We’ve been trying to get the shop organized," he said. "We’re still doing some work....In fact, we’ll be putting in a big overhead crane unit next."

He praised the employees for their skills and commitment to the company’s goals. "A lot of good people work here," he said. "They have a vision with us, and we commend their help."

The staff size needs to grow, however. "We’re always looking for more welders, mechanics and machinists," Mau said. "If I could get more help and once things roll better on the floor, we would run two shifts all the time."

The company is close to realizing full production. "If we had all the components sitting right in front of us, we could complete one rig in six to eight weeks, painted," Mau said. "We do all the machining ourselves, all the drawworks components."

MW Industries has taken steps to speed production in Kenmare. On the latest rigs, the cab and chassis components were purchased from the Crane Carrier Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also, production of the derricks has been outsourced to another North Dakota Company, Turtle Mountain Manufacturing. "They’ve been good to us," Mau said, describing their quality and delivery as exceptional.

Along with production and expansion, MW Industries is focused on safety. "The company men and operators of the rigs like ours," Mau said. "The safer you can keep this, the better."

He said everything on the service rigs is already manufactured to American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications. The company is also working to obtain API certification through audits and careful documentation of procedures. "We’re just about there," he said. "That means the world in this business. That [certification] separates out the quality products."

Bright future
Mau referred often to the company’s long-term goals. "We’ve got the vision for more than what you see here," he said. So far, MW Industries has concentrated on 400- and 500-series rigs, which are commonly used in North Dakota oilfields.

However, in the fall the company intends to begin work on a smaller 300-series rig to handle shallower wells. "This is just kind of the beginning. By next spring, we’ll be designing a 600-series rig and also start a 900-series rig," Mau said, explaining the larger rigs would be directed toward drilling operations. "It would be a rig on wheels, not just for pulling pipe."

He predicted a bright future for MW Industries. "I don’t think people realize we can start a rig from the ground up and come out with a finished product," he said. "I’m very positive. Being a new company, not a lot of people knew about us a year ago, but the name and reputation of our rigs is spreading rapidly."

All at once, his phone rang, his name was paged on the shop’s intercom, and one of the employees knocked at his office door. "It’s pretty hectic around here," he said, then smiled. "We’re not just a fly-by-night thing. All the owners are excited to keep this going."

Judging from the pace on the shop floor and the demand for its rigs, MW Industries will transform its vision into reality in Kenmare.

Factory busier than ever before . . . MW Industries fully occupies the factory formerly used by housing manufacturer Commercial Group West