A little more than 20 years ago, three individuals who had worked for Cooper Energy Services and its Superior engine division saw opportunities to utilize their engine and compressor experience with the OEMs to “do their own thing.” The long established oil and gas fields in South Texas presented an initial opportunity for them to build on their experience and flex their Entrepreneurial Spirit. Locating in Alice, Texas, just north of the historic King Ranch and rich Kleberg County fields, was ideal. Since the early 1930’s Alice has been considered the Hub of South Texas and more importantly, the South Texas Oil and Gas Industry. Assuming ownership of highly successful and long established manufacturing and service companies, they also formed a new company to provide Superior and Ajax engine and compressor parts to the Global Market.

Jay Downes and Tracy Little, who had worked together for the Superior division of Cooper, left in 1977 and formed Energy Dynamics, Inc. (EnDyn). Three years earlier, Joe Merritt, who Downes had worked with at Cooper, purchased Dixie Iron Works, Inc. (Dixie), a machining operation specializing in engine and compressor repairs. It was a decision that none of the trio has lived to regret. Today, Downes and Little are principals in EnDyn, respected for engineering and manufacturer of OEM-quality parts (PowerParts®) for Superior and Ajax engines and compressors.

(During our tour of the three companies’ facilities, Joe Merritt pointed out a small area inside the Dixie plant. “This is where Tracy and Jay and his wife Rheba, started EnDyn. All they had was enough space for a desk and phone, and a lot of confidence.”)

Merritt’s company, which he acquired in 1974 from Frank Ussery, Sr. who founded the company in 1933, is EnDyn’s largest supplier of machining and parts repair services. Dixie and EnDyn have an “affiliate” relationship, working closely together yet remaining autonomous companies. The two firms are located across a street from each other, simplifying their working arrangement. Besides being a major supplier of machining and fabrication services for EnDyn, Dixie also provides manufacturing, fabrication and general machining work for the refining, drilling, and oil and gas production industries from its 5-acre facility adjacent to EnDyn. Dixie holds an API-6A license, and ISO 9001 certification.

Dixie, which serves as the manufacturing facility for EnDyn’s PowerParts®, has a substantial investment in machine tools. The facility has nine Mori-Seiki computerized/numerically-controlled lathes and two Mori-Seiki machining centers in their production shop. The job-shop houses additional manual lathes, horizontal mills, grinders, shapers, and Universal boring machines. The plant has a 0-1600 degree F furnace, 400 Ton press, 100 Ton vertical press, and 200 Ton horizontal press.

EnDyn, with its 25,000 square foot parts facility, along with OMS’ 33,000 square feet of service and overhaul space and the neighboring Dixie facility, boasts over 100,000 total square feet of manufacturing, service/repair, warehouse and office space, specializing in the procurement and manufacturing of parts for the Superior and Ajax product line. EnDyn also offers engineering and technical expertise, service and training for these products. Through its network of agents and distributors, EnDyn has grown from a South Texas operation into a worldwide provider of quality parts and services. Domestically, EnDyn has 16 sales and service locations including that of its OMS subsidiary in Alice, which provides overhauls, re-manufacturing, installation and start-up, testing and troubleshooting, and maintenance inspection.

In 1981, EnDyn acquired Oilfield Motor Service Inc. (OMS) of Alice, adding the experience of a 50 year old service company to its overall capacity and capabilities. As a wholly owned subsidiary, OMS has a repair center that includes engine, compressor and packaged unit overhaul bays, sub-assembly repair areas, in-house machine shop capabilities and an engine load test stand capable of load testing Superior, Ajax and other engines up to 1600 BHP. The facility has lathes, milling machines, grinders, five and ten ton cranes and other general and specialty tools required in the inspection, testing and overhaul of engines and compressors.

OMS’ staff of field service representatives and repair center personnel provide services such as the repair, exchange and overhaul of all makes of medium-to-high speed engines and compressors. All personnel receive periodic training on new developments in engine and compressor technology. In addition, OMS’ Industrial Supply Store in Alice carries a large inventory of parts and assemblies, and is a distributor and manufacture’s representative for engine/compressor related companies including Altronic, Ingersoll-Rand, Frank W. Murphy, IPD, Waukesha, PowerParts®, Fisher and others.

Internationally, EnDyn established EnDyn de Venezuela in 1992 as a wholly owned Subsidiary to provide parts and service for Superior, Ajax, Waukesha and Caterpillar product lines in that area of South America. The 40,000 square foot facility includes a warehouse, machine shop, component repair center, large bays for complete package overhauls and 7,500 square feet of office space. In addition, EnDyn has distributors and agents located throughout South America, and in Canada, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Pacific Rim, Australia and Trinidad, West Indies.

EnDyn’s computerized inventory control system is the “key to our quick response to our customers’ needs for fast replacement of critical parts,” said Jay Downes, who serves as president of EnDyn and its OMS subsidiary. “Our job is to reduce the amount of engine and compressor downtime for users. We maintain a $10 million parts inventory, $5 million of which we have in our Alice warehouse and another $5 million throughout our distribution network.”

EnDyn has in recent years expanded its services to include maintenance and servicing agreements with certain customers. “We have a 3-year contract with PEMEX,” said Downes, “to recondition six Superior 12G825 engine/compressor packages, which will carry new unit warranty of 1 year.”

Tracy Little, who serves as vice president for both EnDyn and OMS, said, “in addition to the PEMEX contract, we also have signed agreements with Trinmar and GPM to provide parts, service, technical assistance and training for their engine and compressor equipment.”

Little said, “one of our growth areas has been a result of the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1991, which dictated substantial engine emission reductions. We developed ‘clean burn’ conversion kits. The kits include all the replacement components necessary to upgrade older ‘rich burn’ engines to equipment similar to that found on current new unit ‘clean burn’ engines. To date EnDyn has provided more than 70 such kits.”

“We don’t just duplicate OEM parts, but improve upon them when the situation warrants. We’ll re-design a part when we believe the part can be improved upon, such as we have done with cam followers, pilot fuel check valves and many others.”

“We also developed the industry’s first complete ‘overhaul kit’,” said Little. “We work with users to determine what they normally replace during their overhauls, then provide ‘Just-In-Time’ specialized kits built to their specifications, saving them inventory cost and valuable downtime.

EnDyn is especially proud of its commitment to quality parts and service. The company’s Quality Assurance Program is ISO-9002 registered and its OMS and de Ven facilities are in the process of qualifying for ISO-9002. According to Downes, “PowerParts® are manufactured to specifications which meet or exceed the OEM’s specifications, conform to all applicable ASME, ASTM, ANSI, SAE, U.S. Military/Federal, API and British standards plus carry a two year "no nonsense" warranty.”

Downes added, “we are the only place in the world in one location that provides parts, service and machining for Superior and Ajax engines and compressors. We pride ourselves in the quality of our products and services, our price competitiveness and our emphasis on fast delivery and quick reaction time to our customers’ requests.”

One of EnDyn’s pieces of literature includes the statement: “This company is nothing more or less than a group of people who have voluntarily joined together in a common enterprise. The things we build, produce, service and the way we respond to our customer requirements are the direct result of our collective character.”

The statement capsulizes the thinking behind the formation of this unusual working partnership, and perhaps helps to explain their respective successes that have been built upon a base of mutual respect and solid friendships.