Employee Spotlight Trina Meekins

Trina Meekins – Bent on Success Business Development, Pipe Bending Services

How long have you been in your current role? I have been a part of the business development team, primarily focused on pipe bending services, for one year and five months—loving every minute of it. I’ve actually been with Turner Industries for fourteen years. I started out as a purchasing manager for the pipe fabrication shop.

How has your past role as a purchasing manager assisted you in your current role? The purchasing position not only taught me the process of how our pipe fab shop works, but it also gave me an understanding of the needs of our customers and how I can best assist them.

How is pipe bending different from pipe fabrication / welding?The latter is often an essential part of processing pipes, but welding tends to be a longer, more expensive process and radiographic testing is involved in most cases during the project. Pipe bending, on the other hand, eliminates wall thinning that sometimes occurs with weldments. It is a process that saves not just time, but production costs too.

What are some of the most interesting facts about pipe bending that people may not know? Pipe bending makes pipe stronger and easier to install and requires fewer repairs than welded pipe. It also reduces labor cost and greatly lowers the amount of surplus materials after each job.

Why did you decide to focus your efforts on pipe bending? I feel that the pipeline sector’s growing demand offers unique opportunities for the utilization of our pipe bending capabilities, and it is exciting to be a part of this growing trend.

What is the best part of your job? The best part is working with my Turner Industries “family.” I also take pride in knowing that when I talk to my customers, I am honestly selling them a quality product from a respected industry leader.

What bending services can Turner offer clients? Like our other Trina Meekins services, we offer a unique “One Solution” approach to both induction and cold bending. With five facilities and 865,000 square feet of shop space, in-house NDE & radiography, on-site stress relief, climatecontrolled blasting and coating facility along with computerized spool tracking and quality control, we truly manage projects from start to finish. With access to deep water, interstate and rail, Turner’s specialized transportation group can deliver the finished spools anywhere in the world.

Are there any common misconceptions about pipe bending? A common misconception is that we can only bend smaller diameter pipe, which is not the case. We can actually bend spools up to 54" OD. Another misconception is that bent pieces are not as strong as welded pieces—which is false! Bending actually makes the pipe stronger by thickening the intrados of the pipe, making it less susceptible to stress and pressure.

What are the most frequentquestions you get asked? What is the largest radius we can bend, where are our pipe bending facilities located and can the customer tour our facilities? The answers are: 54" OD, across the gulf south, and YES!

How can people get in touch with you? They can email me at tmeekins@turner-industries.com, call me at 832-917-7878, or find me on LinkedIn under Trina Meekins.

Our extensive fleet can provide all your equipment and heavy hauling needs at competitive rates. From planning to execution, we are able to provide certified crane operators, qualified riggers, signal persons, assembly directors, lift directors and site supervision to ensure your event is performed safely, successfully and in compliance with current OSHA regulations and ASME standards.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Sr. Vice President of Equipment, Rigging & Specialized Transportation Jesse Morain at (225) 354-7195 or jmorain@turner-industries.com