Michael C. Walton, Co-Principal

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KEYWORDS: Refractories, Consultants, Training

INTRODUCTION

Everyone thinks they know what consultants do. There is an image of a very
learned, mature gentleman , to whom others go when help is needed, a bit like an
industrial doctor or specialist. At one time, not so long ago, this was true in the
refractories industry as well Many were experienced practitioners who put
themselves out for hire took on retirement, to supplement their pension.

Historically, there have been very few fully independent consultants. This was the
case because most large refractories' consuming companies had their own
employees with most of the skills necessary for the day to day running of their
processes. In addition to this, most refractories suppliers had a significant depth
of similar skills to supplement these, making these staff available to their
customer base.

This was the situation into the eighties, and even into the early nineties, with larger
companies. However the situation has changed quite significantly in the small to
medium sized company. With 're-engineering' forced upon many by the downturns
of the past decade, many have allowed these skills to lapse, as being none core,
(unlike accountants etc). The skills void is only now being fully appreciated. This
void does not only encompass normal technical issues, but has also touched on
training and OH&S.

As suggested above, consultants were only called on when all else failed. With
the users in-house skills, married to the suppliers knowledge of materials, most
problems were soluble without recourse to the expense of the consultant. When
one was necessary, he was often hard to find. Because of this collaboration
between user and supplier, not many could earn a living solely as a refractories
consultant. Generally, they were found in the offices of one of the large
multinational engineering/project management firms.

More often than not, the problems requiring consultants were caused by the use
and application of new technologies, perhaps those with limited local examples,
imported from USA, Japan or Europe. The consultant would be called in at the
design stage to overview the refractories component, and to assist with material
specification, purchasing and installation. In the days before ISO 9002, he would
also preside over the QA procedures.

A second role concerned ‘Original Equipment Manufacturers', who may have
numerous mechanical, electrical engineers etc, but would not keep a specialist,
such as a refractories engineer on the books. They would bring him in at a certain
stage of each project, to make sure that the refractories requirement and the basic
mechanical design were not in conflict, or more correctly, not fatally in conflict.

The last traditional role of the consultant was as expert witness in dispute
settlements. For this, a totally independent person was generally sought, and this
was often the sphere of the retiree, with some reputation in the industry, who
brought his years of experience to the issue.

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