Advanced Pressure Systems (APS) has a history of delivering high-quality products and customer support with the swiftness of a company that can handle all its customers' waterblasting needs, large or small. APS's primary location is in Tomball, Texas, with a secondary sales office and distribution center in La Porte, Texas, near the Houston Ship Channel, as well as a new location in Canada and satellite offices in South America, Asia and Europe. APS has customers worldwide and provides incredible customer service, products and pricing.
Whether the pressure you need is 5K psi or 55K psi, APS has the tools to cover you in your work. In addition to the products APS manufactures -- nozzles, fittings, control guns, etc. -- APS is also a long-time partner and sales representative for StoneAge, TurtleSkin, SPIR STAR, Parker Hannifin and TST Sweden. When it comes to waterblasting, APS is your single source for all your waterblasting needs, in addition to offering a variety of tools, support and training.
The story of APS is an ongoing one, filled with growth and realignment. Shape Technologies Group, which holds more than 60 years of experience in ultra-highpressure systems, is the parent of KMT and Flow International, both in the waterjet cutting market. About 10 years ago, Flow began its innovations with an in-house waterblasting division, introducing the Husky Pump and HydroCat to market. Around the same time, KMT acquired the Houston-based Aqua-Dyne business, a waterblasting industry leader and manufacturer of pumps and accessories.
"Both of these waterjet cutting-table Goliaths had divisions in waterblasting, but those divisions weren't their 'bread and butter,'" said Brendan Shackelford, president and managing director of APS.
Only a few years ago, the entities decided they would split off these waterblasting divisions into their own group within Shape Technologies. In 2015, Shape acquired APS, a leader in aftermarket parts and accessories for waterblasting.
Put together, the three waterblasting brands form what's internally known as Shape's Material Removal Group. At that time, APS focused on 20K pressures and below, Aqua-Dyne offered pumps from 5K all the way to 40K for the industrial cleaning market, and Flow continued to offer pumps and the HydroCat at pressures of 40K and 55K -- the higher end of the spectrum -- focused on surface preparation.
"Now, the waterblasting market will start to see that we've really aligned all three brands under the APS business," Shackelford explained. "To cut down on confusion in the market and really double down on the success that APS has with taking care of the customer and the strong brand they've built, we've really started to look at Aqua-Dyne and Flow as product lines sold by APS.
"If you're a Flow customer and love your Flow products, you can get that at APS. If you're an Aqua-Dyne customer and love your Aqua-Dyne products, you can get that at APS. If you've been a long-time APS customer, we can serve you in all the ways we used to, plus we can also offer you either of those two brands of pumps."
Providing equipment for the Navy, coming full circle
The U.S. Navy is one of APS's largest Flow service prep customers today. APS works with the Navy to develop new tools that use water to strip the submarine hull coatings as the technology for the hull coatings continues to change.
Shackelford started his career as a sailor in the Navy -- before he knew anything about waterblasting, pumps or lances. During his time as a nuclear technician in the service, he said he spent "probably thousands" of hours hydrolancing tubes in the main condensers of submarines.
"After every couple of patrols, we had to go through and clean out the seawater side to get all the barnacles and such out of the tubes. We had a waterblast pump on the pier. At that time, I knew nothing about them. I would get my 6-foot- 4-inch frame squeezed into the submarine condenser, which is not very big, and we would just run lances," he recalled. "It was 'Do a couple hundred tubes and then you can get dinner.'"
APS sells lances for tube cleaning and tri-plex pumps similar to the ones Shackelford used to clean the submarine tubes as a young sailor. His naval experience even included taking submarines like the USS Alaska and USS Nevada through shipyard overhauls.
"Without ever knowing it, I had the background experience of being on the other end of those tools doing the maintenance on those pumps many years ago," Shackelford said. "For me, it's an interesting full circle to go back out there and visit the shipyards on the civilian side and provide support to make sure their equipment is the most efficient and safest to operate so the 'young me's' who are working on these ships are safer and maybe have a little more time for dinner because they can do the tubes a little bit faster."
Returning to company roots
Shackelford plans to continue the growth of APS and its entities by focusing on where things began: product innovation. With an internal team of engineers who work only on improving the waterblasting product lines, the company is able to create product improvements based on comments and recommendations from the ones who matter most to APS: its customers.
"APS is committed to focusing on those waterblasting pumps, tools and product lines and really pulling them into the future with some new technologies, improved functionality and by making sure that we are continually improving for our customers moving forward. I think taking the service, support and speed that APS is known for, which has allowed them to grow, and spreading that across all three brands is one of our major goals over the next year or so," Shackelford said.
The Husky Waterblasting Pump Systems is one product line APS has continued to develop and improve. The brand-new Husky Tier 4 Pump System adds to the ever-improving product family offered by APS. This system offers the same reliable, tried and true bareshaft pump customers have come to rely on, including the External Compensation Valve (ECV) system. The Husky Tier 4 system is available in either 40K psi or 55K psi and can be powered by either a Tier 4 CAT C7.1 engine for domestic use or a Tier 3 CAT C9.3 engine for international use. The new Tier 4 Pump System is an example of Flow's continuing commitment to environmentally friendly and safe operations, giving users a portable, ultra-high-pressure waterblasting pump that contributes to their overall bottom line, allowing them to work more efficiently and take on more jobs.
The Husky's all-new mobile-rated Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and upgraded interface provide more data on the touchscreen display at any given time. With improved menu navigation, vastly increased data logging capacity, and expandability for future capabilities and integration, the Tier 4 Husky stands apart as a pump with more intuitive, user-friendly features.
"What we are not changing in these pumps is the 'secret sauce': the Power Ends and Fluid Ends, which have been unmatched for the past 25 years," Shackelford explained.
APS also offers customers training on its products through the use of its field services team. Every pump APS sells includes training, Shackelford said, and the field services team regularly performs demonstrations. Some asset owners who have used these product lines for many years ask APS technicians to come out and instruct the newer members of their workforce who may not have experience with the pumps. From maintenance or operator training to "train the trainer" programs, APS provides its customers with support for its products.
Other services offered by APS include refurbishment and upgrades of pumps and equipment and manufacturing of third-party parts, meaning items are always in stock. Through the culmination of the expertise and reputation boasted by its separate brand entities, APS has truly become a one-stop shop for customers and asset owners.
"Our key differentiator is service and support," Shackelford said. "We are committed to our customers' success. We are the same APS you've always come to; we just have more to offer."
For more information, visit www.advancedpressuresystems.com or call (877) 290-4277.
Shackelford works to bring APS back to roots, maintain cohesive branding
APS President and Managing Director Brendan Shackelford started out paying his dues cleaning submarine hulls and tubes with hydrolances in his early years in the U.S. Navy. He spent many hours waterblasting and learning to use the pumps at the piers. Little did he know he was gaining the experience he would one day need in his current role.
After medically retiring from the Navy in 2011, Shackelford attended a hiring event held by Orion International for veterans coming out of the military and really "hit it off" with the company leadership. He interviewed with Emerson for the company's Rosemont instrumentation division in Corpus Christi, Texas, at that event. But ultimately, Shackelford was looking for a job in Austin, Texas.
"I'd promised my wife that when I was done with the Navy -- which we thought was going to be many years later -- we would follow her career for a while, since I dragged her around to a new house every three years or so," he said. "So I had to keep that commitment."
Shackelford spent a year with Orion International in Austin, helping his fellow vets transition to the civilian workforce. When Emerson called back, offering to create a position for Shackelford in Austin, he took the opportunity to be back on the technical side of things. Within a year of being hired for this position, he was able to move up to the role of general manager of the region, managing six different sites in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona.
Shape Materials approached Shackelford about a position in its "aftermarket" division, which consists of parts and support after the sale. He called his prior work experience a "unique blend" that positioned him for excellence in this role. At the time, the company was consolidating the three brands, so the role would be like working for a "mini-startup" within a larger company.
"It sounded exciting, like a chance to grow and build something and have a lot of control over where it went," he explained.
Shackelford joined Shape as its director of aftermarket, and within a year, he was promoted to vice president of the company. Shortly after, in August 2018, Shackelford became company president and managing director.
In his role, Shackelford is working to return APS's products to its innovative roots. One of the ways APS has done this is through its internal engineering team, who work on "nothing but waterblasting equipment," he said. Shackelford said he wants APS to create the best products possible, using customer feedback and requests about everything from ergonomics to functionality. His goal is to keep changes meaningful and not just for the sake of "newness." The brandnew Husky Tier 4 Pump System is a prime example of APS keeping its innovations geared toward customer preference and ease of use.
Another goal of Shackelford's is to keep company branding consistent across all three brands. "We want to take the service, support and speed that APS is known for and spread that across all three brands," he explained. To do so, one of the things the company has done is relocate its inventory, product manufacturing and engineering team to the Tomball, Texas, location.
"We want to have the utmost control over our customers' experience," Shackelford said.
