Earlier this year, Specialty Welding and Turnarounds (SWAT) celebrated its five-year anniversary. In the course of these past five years, SWAT has moved into a new headquarters more than four times the size of its original location, opened two new offices in Texas and California, and added hundreds of new personnel -- all while still focusing on its core values of safety, quality, leadership and integrity. The sky is the limit for SWAT as it continues to work coast to coast in many of the U.S.'s largest oil and gas facilities.
"We provide excellent service, elite supervision and manpower; we run high productivity rates; and we do this all while being safe," said Johnny Holifield, president of SWAT. "We have the best craftsmen in the business because of our leadership and their commitment to development. I'm most proud of the leadership team and the culture we have developed inside our organization. We love our employees. SWAT is a total team effort, and it's actually fun to come to work when you have such great people. It's our people who make SWAT the company it is today."
SWAT's growth domestically, internationally
Last year, SWAT moved into a new office in Gonzales, Louisiana, which features more than 18,000 square feet of space, SWAT has opened two others offices since then.
Today, SWAT is covering more ground than ever. SWAT has been providing its services throughout the U.S. in states such as Utah, Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, California, Texas and Louisiana, executing and preparing for several large outages at owner facilities. SWAT recently opened a new office in Signal Hill, California, and hired refining industry veteran Spencer Moak to help lead its West Coast operations.
"SWAT now has a permanent presence in California," Moak said. "We have a large, full fabrication shop and hiring office in Signal Hill. In one year, we've doubled our growth on the West Coast, and we're working in more and more facilities. We've taken SWAT's successful business model that was developed on the Gulf Coast and have mirrored that on the West Coast. SWAT has taken on all the challenges and opportunities that have come our way. We'll continue to build off SWAT's reputation on the Gulf Coast and carry that to the West Coast."
In 2014, President Johnny Holifield and Vice President Jimmy Quick celebrated the start of Specialty Welding and Turnarounds (SWAT).
In addition to the new California office, SWAT has opened a new office in Lumberton, Texas, to target more customers and benefit existing customers in that area. SWAT already has a team in place in Lumberton to provide specialty welding and mechanical services to the chemical and refining industry.
"In addition, we have plans to add a new office in the Beaumont and Port Arthur areas to help support the large team we have put together to target more work," Holifield said. "No matter where SWAT is, our team has an extremely high level of trust from the industry."
SWAT is also expanding internationally and has hired Robert Greeson, who will manage overseas opportunities. SWAT already has work booked in Trinidad and Tobago and expects to provide its services in several other countries in the near future. "My goals are to help grow what the SWAT team has already established and add international work," Greeson said. "I have 23 years of industry experience, and I've handled a ton of international work and built lasting relationships during that time."
According to Greeson, SWAT will have success internationally because the company's workers take great pride in everything they do.
"Whether it's U.S. or international work, all of SWAT's customers want the most efficient and safest contractor to perform their work, and I believe SWAT is No. 1 in all those categories," Greeson said. "I know SWAT has a practice to always be upfront with the customer and not overpromise. This is what I like best about the company. We keep our promises when we shake a customer's hand and assure them we are the best there is. We will continue to establish SWAT throughout the U.S. and also grow internationally."
A 'top-down' safety approach
SWAT goes beyond everyday compliance protocols to adopt a mindset of continual safety improvement on each and every project. The company dedicates extensive training, rigorous key performance benchmarking and the best safety equipment money can buy to help keep everyone on its team safe. SWAT makes safety the most important part of every task it performs.
Using a top-down safety approach, SWAT's leaders ensure their teams are doing absolutely everything to stay safe. This approach worked in 2018, with SWAT working more than 1.77 million man-hours with a TRIR of 0. In the first six months of 2019, SWAT has worked more than 1.4 million man-hours without a recordable incident as well.
"Our safety record is much better than the industry standard," Holifield said. "But each year, we strive for 'Goal Zero' -- zero recordables and lost-time incidents. To do this, we communicate near-misses and any first-aid cases on a daily basis. This communication provides awareness of potential incidents or injuries that can occur and allows us to put controlled preventative measurements in place to eliminate these events. We recognize any hazards in the planning stages before tasks or work begin, using SWAT's behavior-based safety system and our clients' auditing processes. We are committed to not just staying safe on the job, but also helping enhance safety performance for an entire facility."
Working at an 'elite' level
SWAT has completed several major turnkey projects, with some projects involving up to 450,000 man-hours. Every project SWAT has completed has been of the highest quality, and the company stands by its work. In 2018, SWAT made over 48,500 welds with a less than 2-percent weld rejection rate.
"We take pride in performing at an elite level," Holifield said. "It all starts with the expectation that when you are employed by SWAT, you have been hand-picked and selected to work for the most elite, best-of-the-best contractor in the country. Our standards are very high, and I like to think they are higher than most companies out there."
In 2018, SWAT's mechanical division worked on approximately 380 different jobs.
Over 250 years of management experience
According to Holifield, having a strong and experienced management foundation is what puts SWAT above the rest. Most of the company's supervisors have been with SWAT since its inception, and SWAT's management team has more than 250 years of combined experience.
"This is a key ingredient to our success," Holifield said. "These guys are the generals in the field who lead our employees to deliver successful projects. These leaders earn their employees' respect because their actions are an example of how we want everyone else to perform. The way things should be done starts with me and the rest of our management and then trickles down to each craftsman. Everyone at SWAT understands the work needs to be done on time, completed to SWAT's elite standards, and that safety is of the utmost importance."
'When we do a job, the job gets done'
It's easy to see now how SWAT has grown from a 10-person team five years ago to the multimillion-dollar-revenue elite turnaround business it is today. Turnarounds require a different skillset and work experience than your everyday maintenance. Turnarounds are fast-moving, stressful, critical-path projects that require more knowledge, skill and experience. That's why SWAT has focused on assembling a unique crew, specifically built for turnarounds.
"When it's turnaround time, there's no room for doubt," Holifield said. "SWAT provides solid turnaround support that can execute on time. SWAT makes sure its projects are done on time, every time. In fact, we haven't missed a deadline or budget estimate in over five years. When we do a job, the job gets done."
According to Holifield, SWAT's elite turnaround teams are committed to working hard and going above and beyond on every project.
"We push what's possible every day. We're never satisfied with simply meeting expectations," Holifield said. "And because of our vast experience and focus on turnaround projects, we can work more intelligently, too. By implementing unique crew utilization strategies, we can ensure our teams are always working -- limiting downtime and keeping everything on track."
SWAT understands what needs to happen to complete a project on time as well as what pitfalls to avoid.
"We are honest and trustworthy people who our customers can depend on," Holifield said. "When we look our customers in the eye and make commitments to them, it means something to us at SWAT. We stand behind what we tell them we can achieve, and we will go above and beyond for that commitment. We also do everything we can to be good stewards for our customers when it comes to costs and money on a job. We treat a customer's jobsite as if it were our own facility. At the end of the day, it's all about being the best at what you do."
For more information, visit www.swatservice.com or call (225) 644-1200.
SWAT provides its elite services by integrating its core values into each and every project. These core values allow SWAT to provide the best turnaround services to its customers:
- Safety
- Quality
- Leadership
- Integrity
