equipment profile - Finning Canada

Sonic Drilling is more than a company.It’s also a ground-breaking techniqueDo You HearWhat I Hear?B Y B I L L T I C EPHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR SAVAGERay Roussy and Tom Savage, the principalowners of Surrey, B.C.-based Sonic DrillCorporation, have spent more than aquarter of a century researching, testingand perfecting a patented high-speed drillingtechnology that is exclusive to theircompany. The process is known as “sonicdrilling,” and while developing the technology,they have also managed to builda highly successful business that not onlyproduces and sells the advanced equipmentrequired for sonic drilling worldwide, butalso handles complex projects with theirown contracting fleet through Sonic DrillingLtd.Roussy and Savage, who are both engineersby trade, started pioneering and developingsonic drilling technology in the 1970s.“Initially, the company’s focus was primarilyon producing and selling sonic drill heads,”explains Kevin Reimer, operations manager atSonic Drill Corporation. The new drill headswere for rig conversions. Drilling contractorscould replace their rotary drill head with asonic head, converting their existing gear intoa high-performance sonic drilling rig. “Rigconversions can be a very time-consumingand costly undertaking,” Reimer says. In mostcases it’s more economical to purchase a completelynew machine rather than undertake aconversion. “It’s for this reason that five yearsago we debuted our first completely new sonicdrill rig.”The company’s sales soon exploded, forcingthem to move several times to keep upwith the demand. Today, their shop is locatedin Port Kells, which is an industrial area in theVancouver suburb of Surrey. But once again,they have outgrown the facility. “We’ve beenhere for almost two years but it’s time to moveagain,” Reimer says. This time, the company isbuilding its own shop, a large, state-of-the-artfacility in Chilliwack, B.C. that’s scheduled tobe finished in early 2007.Right now, Reimer says due to space limitations,they have to subcontract some aspectsof production and work with suppliers forjust-in-time delivery of components. “Once wemake the move, we will be able to produce everythingin-house and under one roof,” he says.“In addition, the new building will provideus with more space for parts inventory. Rightwww.finning.ca Winter 2006 • TRACKS & TREADS 19