In this episode of UnfilteredFlow ELSC, Meghann Cook interviews Ron Holcomb, a seasoned expert in the fluid power and automation industries. Ron shares his journey from dairy farming to becoming a key figure in the industry, discussing his experiences with various companies and projects. He highlights the evolution of technology, the impact of AI, and the shift towards electric systems. Ron also offers valuable advice for newcomers and reflects on his most rewarding projects, including the design of a seismic exploration vehicle and a hydraulic motorcycle.
Takeaways
-You become an expert by doing things wrong. -AI is not going to replace the need for understanding flow and pressure. -Electric systems are increasingly replacing traditional fluid power in industrial settings. -The most rewarding project was designing a seismic exploration vehicle. -Building a hydraulic motorcycle was a fun and challenging project. -AI is being used to optimize energy use in cooling towers. -The biggest challenge in fluid power is the shift towards electric systems. -Time is your most valuable asset; make good use of it. -Listen and learn from everyone, as everyone has something to offer. -Be careful to cover your bases in business dealings.
Transcript:
Meghann Cook (00:01.167)
Hi everyone, welcome to Unfiltered Flow ELSC, the podcast dedicated to the progression of the fluid power and automation industries. I’m Meghann Cook and today it is my pleasure to have Mr. Ron Holcomb on. Welcome Ron.
Ron Holcomb (00:16.939)
Greetings.
Meghann Cook (00:19.643)
Would you like to introduce yourself or on to all our peeps that watch?
Ron Holcomb (00:23.438)
All the peeps. Ron Holcomb, let me see, I’m working for Hydradyne since, well, started at Texadraulics I started at Hogan Fluid Power in 1991 and then went to Texadraulics and then Hydradyne bought Texadraulics and I don’t remember the year.
And now Applied Fluid Power has purchased Hydradyne So here I am, long time. There’s a lot of, you become an expert by doing things wrong. So I’ve become an expert over the years by finding out what don’t work.
Meghann Cook (00:58.375)
So rockin’ and rollin’.
Meghann Cook (01:15.335)
helps you figure out what does work.
Ron Holcomb (01:17.442)
that hopefully third and fourth to last.
Meghann Cook (01:19.495)
So, how’d you get into fluid power, Ron?
Ron Holcomb (01:23.788)
Hi, well, I was dairy farming and things weren’t going well. We had a tornado and we lost three barns and a house. And I felt that God was pointing me in a different direction. So went back to school, got a associates in fluid power. And then I wanted to move somewhere where they…
didn’t have nine months of snow. So left Wisconsin and drove to Texas. And we pulled into a diamond shamrock station and we had a snow shovel strapped on the roof. And the guy says, what’s that thing? And I said, honey, we’re home.
Ron Holcomb (02:14.862)
This is where we’re going to stay. They don’t know what a snow shovel is. Exactly.
Meghann Cook (02:15.739)
This is a thought for us.
Meghann Cook (02:21.671)
you
Meghann Cook (02:26.215)
Very good. Well, you’ve been in the industry for a hot minute here, so what do you consider your most fun or important project or both?
Ron Holcomb (02:38.862)
Most rewarding is probably design of a seismic exploration vehicle that was tracked vehicle made for oil exploration in Alaska mainly. They also sold some in Russia, I guess. And that was a fun project.
I did a ballast control system on a offshore platform that was fun and interesting and got to go out and I, a couple of rigs and that’s, you know, that’s a couple of the things, but lots of things over the years.
Meghann Cook (03:30.343)
So with the changes that have been happening with smart technology and IoT, what have you seen in improvements there in differences in systems?
Ron Holcomb (03:46.446)
Well, everything seems to be, everybody’s looking at electric. Everybody’s looking at electric and the oil patch. A lot of it is they want the, tell the shareholders that we’re green, so they paint it with green paint and then they take off the hydraulic motor and put on an electric motor.
But there’s been a lot of change in automation, trying to get things safer, more electronics, more feedback, cameras, all manner of stuff.
Meghann Cook (04:33.379)
is true there’s a past five years even there’s been so many changes when it comes to when it comes to that and integrating it into the existing systems if you
Meghann Cook (04:51.111)
had any advice for people coming into the industry or people that are currently in the industry, what would you tell them as far as skills or areas of expertise or things to concentrate on to get ahead in the industry?
Ron Holcomb (05:17.314)
Well, the big thing right now is AI and AI does a lot of things. It’s actually, we’re doing quite a bit with AI. There’s in these huge cooling tower, there’s a need tremendous amount of energy. So we’re focusing on, they’re doing a lot of gas turbines and.
reciprocating engine turbines, or gas engines. And so there’s opportunity for, on the power generation, look into that and know, be cognizant of electricity and how it’s used and the variable frequency drives. But AI is not going to replace
On the distributor level, sure, I can load into my computer. I need a DO3 valve and it’s going to give me a thousand different options. But the guy that walks in the store and he’s got has a pump and he doesn’t know the flow and he doesn’t know the pressure. That’s still going to you. You can’t. You don’t know the question to ask AI.
AI doesn’t create anything. It goes out there and looks at what’s already been done. same knowledge as always. You’ve got to understand flow and pressure and how things work, torque, all those relationships. It’s an interesting time, that is for sure.
Meghann Cook (07:08.903)
It is. And you mentioned PowerGen. Data centers in PowerGen are blowing up right now, it seems like. So, it’s good advice.
What do you see as the biggest current challenge in fluid power right now?
Ron Holcomb (07:29.742)
Ron Holcomb (07:34.904)
biggest challenge, think there’s a lot of it’s being replaced with electric. It’s still going to its place in mobile equipment, but industrial is trying to move towards electric motors and electric cylinders and automation. If you can, if you can
put in a robot that does the job of two men, well, it pays for itself. It works all weekend and it doesn’t go on strike and it doesn’t take sick days.
You need a hydraulic robot. That’s what we need to work on.
Meghann Cook (08:22.479)
Mmm, that’s a good lead in. can, that’s right up your alley. You can set for that. So talk to us about this hydraulic motorcycle you have sitting down there. Talk about that project.
Ron Holcomb (08:25.678)
Yeah, absolutely.
Ron Holcomb (08:38.256)
well, back in the how long ago is that back during the Orange County Chopper days? Hydradyne would always have a booth at OTC, which is the Offshore Technology Conference. And so you’d sit there in a booth all day with a pump and a filter and nobody would come by. And so I told the president, I said, we need something to draw people in here. And I said, I think we should build a hydraulic motorcycle.
And he said, well, what would that cost? And so I went back and picked out the parts and how I wanted to do it and found somebody who would build the frame and, and told him how much I wanted. And he said, well, no, we can’t do that. And I said, I’ve fallen in love with this thing now and we got to do, move forward. You first, the hydraulics and the electronics and I’ll do the rest. And so.
It took four years and built a diesel motorcycle with a hydrostat on it and a radial piston motor. Would you like to see it? You would? Okay, let go on a field trip here. You can edit this part out, right?
Meghann Cook (09:48.817)
Yes. Let’s do that. Yes.
Meghann Cook (09:58.407)
There’s no reason to do that, is there? But yes, I can. I can.
Ron Holcomb (10:00.583)
I don’t know.
go on a little field trip.
Meghann Cook (10:08.18)
it’s still out in the lobby at the branch? Nice.
Ron Holcomb (10:10.677)
Yes!
Well, it’s in the Parker store.
Ron Holcomb (10:19.63)
See you.
Ron Holcomb (10:29.038)
That’s my youngest daughter. Did you see it? Did I have the camera pointed properly?
Meghann Cook (10:29.735)
Beautiful.
Meghann Cook (10:34.439)
Yeah, I did. Very nice.
He did.
Ron Holcomb (10:43.32)
Say hello, Hey, how you doing?
Meghann Cook (10:47.271)
Bye, Henry.
Meghann Cook (10:56.999)
there she is. Beautiful.
Ron Holcomb (10:57.9)
I don’t know if I got the camera pointed correctly.
Meghann Cook (11:03.609)
You do. Beautiful.
Ron Holcomb (11:06.936)
Yeah, trophies and everything. Well, I’ve driven it up to…
Meghann Cook (11:08.229)
How fast does she go, Ron?
Ron Holcomb (11:14.958)
to 65, then I got scared.
Meghann Cook (11:21.008)
Yeah.
Meghann Cook (11:25.191)
Bye!
Ron Holcomb (11:25.71)
Anyway, I got scared and slowed down.
Meghann Cook (11:31.303)
Ha
Ron Holcomb (11:33.513)
Anyway.
Meghann Cook (11:34.599)
shoot, has anybody driven it since you took a first spin?
Ron Holcomb (11:39.747)
yeah, a couple people have driven it. Yeah, yeah. It’s interesting, it’s very heavy. It likes to go straight, it doesn’t like to turn.
Meghann Cook (11:41.947)
Really?
Meghann Cook (11:53.575)
kind of an integral part of a people there, isn’t it?
Ron Holcomb (11:55.456)
Yeah, it’s important to turn and stop.
Meghann Cook (12:00.839)
Ron Holcomb (12:05.822)
Anyway, I’ll get back in here where it’s quieter.
Meghann Cook (12:07.793)
You’re just taking us through a tour of the Houston branch there. Look at that.
Ron Holcomb (12:12.908)
Huh?
Ron Holcomb (12:17.898)
Exactly.
of the branch.
Meghann Cook (12:29.169)
there you go.
Ron Holcomb (12:29.176)
That was a nice write up in the Hydraulics and Pneumatics magazine.
Meghann Cook (12:34.127)
What year is that, Ron?
Ron Holcomb (12:37.986)
December 2011.
Ron Holcomb (12:45.72)
So, there you go.
Meghann Cook (12:48.859)
How old was your daughter then and how old is she now?
Ron Holcomb (12:52.393)
I don’t know. Don’t ask me age questions. I have to use a calculator to look at my own age. Good grief.
Meghann Cook (12:53.671)
Yes you do, you just don’t want to tell me.
Meghann Cook (13:03.623)
No, the brilliant math mind that you are.
Ron Holcomb (13:08.109)
Yes.
Meghann Cook (13:10.759)
Well, here’s an off the books question. We’ve already talked acquisition, so I won’t ask you that. what advice would you give yourself if you could go back when you were first starting in the industry?
Ron Holcomb (13:24.302)
Hmm.
Meghann Cook (13:25.733)
Young Ron getting started after he moved to the great weather. What would you tell him?
Ron Holcomb (13:31.278)
After I got out of the snow. Oh man, that’s a tough one. I don’t know. What did I find?
Ron Holcomb (13:43.224)
Tough question. Can I circle back?
Meghann Cook (13:47.271)
What’s up?
Ron Holcomb (13:49.326)
I don’t know. I don’t know what I would change.
Meghann Cook (13:59.121)
doesn’t necessarily have to be changes.
Ron Holcomb (13:59.438)
Take? I,
You know, learn all you can. Everybody has something to offer. Customers, factory reps, everybody has something you can glean something from. And just listen and take their advice.
Meghann Cook (14:22.567)
That’s what I was going to say. You probably can articulate that better than anybody in getting in front of a customer, being an elephant and not a crocodile and ask as many questions as possible. That’s what has made you so successful over the years, yes.
Ron Holcomb (14:41.366)
Yeah, I agree. Some customers don’t like it, but some appreciate it because you ask a question you may have asked something that they didn’t think of. And one customer remarked to me recently, that’s what I like about you. You ask a lot of questions, but it’s hard for me to present a solution if I don’t know the
Meghann Cook (14:50.407)
Wow.
Ron Holcomb (15:09.378)
problems and the ins and outs. And I worked on a, got a call from Brown and Root and they wanted to upgrade this dredge down on the, they were dredging, had this dredge down in Galveston for dredging the ship channel. And a huge ship and they vacuumed mud, sludge.
off the bottom of the channel and up into tanks and then they’d go out and open it up. Well, this boom there was all mechanical winches and clutches and I would ask this engineer all these questions and he didn’t know anything. Brown and Root had the engineering contract to design, upgrade this thing. I said, well, can we go look at it? Yep.
So we drive down to Galveston, climb around this thing. I asked him more questions. I said, how do you want to operate it? And he didn’t know. I said, find me the guy that runs these levers right here. Well, he’s down in the lunchroom. Okay, let’s go there. Sat down with him for 30 minutes, made notes, went back to Galveston, put up a big proposal, winches.
pumps, hydraulic controls, joysticks and all this stuff. And thank you all, this is great. Give them a schematic and a quote and never heard back. I called them back about a year later and I said, what’s up with this program? well, yeah, thanks. We presented the proposal and they’re going to do it up in New Jersey or something.
on the East Coast. So they purchased all the things up there. So Brown and Root got paid for my engineering and some other salesmen got commissioned. So one of the things I’ve learned, A, is don’t have Brown and Root for a customer. I gave up that customer that day. And B, be careful to cover your, you know,
Meghann Cook (17:23.259)
Yeah
Ron Holcomb (17:34.006)
I have a rule about strike one and you’re out and things like that. Your time is your most valuable asset. And so make good use of it.
Meghann Cook (17:43.761)
That’s the true
Meghann Cook (17:47.943)
True. Is that the only time that happened to you?
Ron Holcomb (17:51.406)
No, no, no, no. I had to deal at NASA one time and the guy said, I need an air regulator. We’re going to have this cylinder, we’re going to this guy hanging from this cylinder and then we hold up a percentage of his weight and he can hop around on this thing and pretend like he’s on the moon or Mars or whatever by how much of his mass that we hold up. Okay, well, so I quoted him on electric.
regulator. We calculated how much we needed to put in and how much air we needed to exhaust and give him a quote and it was less than $2,000. Well, then he called back in a week later. Well, what’s the air flow rate and exhaust if the air pressure is this? So I’ve got that. Every week he would come up with a new question.
And I finally said, why don’t you just order the dang thing and test it out? I mean, it’s not that much money. Well, they gave me till November to finish this project and you finished it already and I got to stay busy till then. Okay, my government dollars at work. Lesson number two, don’t call on NASA.
Meghann Cook (19:11.708)
That’s what I was just gonna say. Yeah.
Ahhhh shoot.
Ron Holcomb (19:20.174)
you
Meghann Cook (19:24.295)
Wow, Ron, it’s good to see your face. It’s been a minute. Alan and should make a swing down to Houston so we can see you in person here. But, uh, that’s right. We could. You could take us for a ride on your bike.
Ron Holcomb (19:32.184)
Well, there you go. You could buy me lunch. That would be fun.
that maybe one of my other toys. I’ll take you ride my horseless carriage. How about that? Yeah.
Meghann Cook (19:43.239)
No.
Meghann Cook (19:47.591)
There you go. Whatever works. But hey, appreciate your time today, Ron. I know you’re busy.
Ron Holcomb (19:55.16)
Good to see you. Keep up the good work.
Meghann Cook (19:58.759)
Well, we’re doing our best, doing our best here.
Ron Holcomb (20:01.614)
Alrighty.
Meghann Cook (20:04.687)
Alright sir, thanks for the time. I appreciate you. Alright, bye.
Ron Holcomb (20:08.13)
You bet. Bye bye.