Compagnia Tecnica Internazionale, soon after to be renamed Techint, was founded as an international corporation in 1945 in Italy. From here, the company moved its headquarters to Argentina in 1946, and then to Brazil in 1947.

Today, the company is present in 45 countries but mainly operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Mexico, Peru and Saudi Arabia.

When asked about its mission statement, a Techint spokesperson said “Our mission is to add value to our clients and stockholders through the provision of engineering, procurement, construction, operation and management services for infrastructure, industry and energy projects.

“We believe that the training of human resources is the key to build knowledge on a permanent basis. We are committed to the safety of our people and to the development of the countries where we operate, always aiming for community well-being and protection of the environment.”

Pipelines and challenges

To date, Techint has constructed over 70,000 km of transmission pipelines, the longest of which was Saudi Aramco’s 1,174 km East West NGL Pipeline, which has various diameters of 30, 28 and 26 inches.

The company says that the most challenging project the company has worked on was the Camisea Gas Project that included twin pipelines. The twin pipelines included a 734 km long, 32 inch, 24 inch and 18 inch diameter gas line, and a 619 km NGL line of 14 and 8 inch diameter.

The project was challenging for a number of reasons including the varying topographic locations of the construction.

“The construction ran through the low land, the Andes Range – which is 12,000–16,000 ft above sea level, as well as the coastal plains. Forests also played a part in the challenges with the rain forest in the jungle to the desert in the coast,” said a company spokesperson.

The climate was another challenge the company had to overcome.

“There was heavy rain in the jungle, with five months of rain season, averaging 60 inches per month, while snow and fog was experienced in the high land, and arid conditions along the coast. This also meant that the soil conditions were difficult to trench, with pipeline sections in swamp, rock and sand regions,” said a company spokesperson.

Innovation and change

In the last decade, Techint has remained among the top global engineering and construction companies, and has expanded its production capability by investing in human resources training, commitment to quality, safety and efficiency, as well as the sustainable development of communities with which it interacts and environmental preservation.

According to Techint, the key to the company’s success is to carry out each project under strict internal standards.

“On top of a rigorous pre-analysis of each project,” said the Techint spokesperson, “the company is strict on safety, quality, transparency and protection of the environment, overcoming the challenges based on lessons learned in previous ventures. All of this allows the company to anticipate possible solutions to situations of risk.

“Another important point is the local market knowledge and respect for law and culture of each region in which we operate.”

Skills and training

Techint has developed training programmes that enable employees to enhance their technical and managerial skills.

Techint has developed the following major programmes: Internal Project Management Postgraduate Course; Plan of Supervisors; Young Professionals; and Young Technicians and Middle Management.

Within the content of the training, there is an interesting supply of internal and in-company courses. All these activities are accompanied by the experience that Techint employees acquire during their work and visits to projects.

Part of the family

Techint has a long-term vision that represents a value that encourages the commitment of its people and its community.

“It’s a dynamic company that offers a professional challenge, and together with a career planning, encourages professionals to stay in the company,” said the Techint spokesperson.

The company takes the best professionals in the market and gives them continuous training, so everyone can face professional challenges, with enthusiasm and a future-oriented outlook.

“We believe that the respect for cultural diversity is essential, so we encourage our employees to integrate themselves in a respectful and friendly way, making them feel comfortable in the company,” the company spokesperson said.

The future: safety, projects and trends

In regards to pipeline construction safety, the major gains can be obtained through three main points:

• Qualification of the workforce and, therefore, greater effectiveness in achieving results;
• Expansion of each employee's commitment to preventing and reducing unnecessary exposure without proper protection to the risks of the work environment; and,
• Development of a culture where employees, learn, share and improve continuously, maintaining a healthy work environment.

Trends

Given the context, with an increasingly demanding market with lower margins, the company intends to remain competitive, without changing its standards of excellence in quality, safety and efficiency.

The company said “We also want to measure our management with indicators to allow us to upgrade technical knowledge and improve our human resource skills for a sustainable position in the market.”

While Techint isn’t in a position to release future project information, it did mention that it will be constructing approximately 750 km of pipelines in the 2011–12 year.