Ian Garden is the Managing Director of RigDeluge®. He is the owner and inventor of the RigDeluge® Award Winning and Patented Technologies. He is an inspirational leader who shares his insights on the different aspects of RigDeluge®.
Discussing The Beginnings
Our first motive was to understand the idea behind RigDeluge® and also how Ian started his professional journey.
What’s the idea behind RigDeluge? We asked.
#1 Escape Route in the event of Fire
He continues, “RigDeluge® was incorporated to supply innovative engineered products to mitigate and or reduce the hazards and risks associated with problems recorded in the fire safety industry where administrative controls were used as a low level of control. We’re partnered with Emirates Specialized Contracting and Oilfield Services LLC (ESCO) in the UAE and recently pre-qualified by Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company – ADNOC.”
We further asked, “How did you begin your career journey?”
With that, Ian continues, “I had my first taste of planned hydrocarbon fires with Optima, a Tetra Technologies company, in 1999, where I assisted in the innovation of their Evo Targe Nozzle. I left in 2006 and became MD of RigCool Ltd in 2007, which I helped build before selling to James Fisher Plc in 2010. After 2 years in the Garden, I started RigDeluge®, which supplies Award Winning Patented Fire Safety Products for both planned and unplanned fire events.”
“Do you have some advice for beginners?” we asked after learning about his career journey.
“Have a plan that allows you to both make a positive impact in your chosen industry or field while making a healthy return on your and, if required, your investor’s financial commitments. If you can remove the pain of potential clients, save them money and make money at the same time with IP-protected products, you have a good foundation to either build on or sell the IP. From day 1, document everything and always be prepared to be judged and audited by an independent. This will show integrity, ethics, and morals are at the core of your personal and business values.” Ian shares.
Towards a Safer Working Environment
“What’s the goal of Your Company?
He said, “The 4R Rule first noted in 2012 was the aim of both our products and business, Reduce Hazards, Reduce Risks, Reduce Environmental Impact while also Reducing Costs for clients while making money with new and inventive IP-protected products. There are tens of millions of deluge and sprinkler nozzles operational in the world that have a constant risk of blocking. By protecting them with our Free Flow Fittings™, we will make for a safer working environment for so many people while also reducing the risk of losing environmental contamination through an unplanned fire.”
Leading By Example
We wanted to know Ian Garden’s views on teamwork and leadership, which is why we asked him a few questions regarding the same.
“What makes the team successful, in your opinion?”
“Strong Leadership, High Competency, and a good moral standing,” says Ian.
“How important are employees’ energy levels to your Company’s success?”
Ian continues, “I am a great believer in surrounding yourself with positive people to allow for positive results, I always treat people the way I would expect to be treated myself, and this is a great way to empower any employee or associate. By empowering competent people, you increase their enthusiasm to maximize their results for their own development, which in return benefits you as the employer.”
Along with all this, we believe that motivating one’s team is very crucial for any business. So we also asked Ian, “How do you plan to motivate your team to go the extra mile?”
He says, “I am a great believer in leading by example, I would never ask any member of my team to do a job I would not do myself. Financial reward always helps but to show you respect your employees and believe in their capabilities gives a clear path to them optimizing their efforts towards shared success.”
We also asked, “What keeps Your Company moving forward even during challenges?”
“Constant learning allows for continued success, diversifying through many industries has a very clear path in fire safety products, and this allows for constant opportunities around the world where fire is a constant risk, especially during challenging financial times in all industries.” shared Ian Garden.
Technology And Its Use
We were curious about how technology came into use for Ian’s company, so we continued asking a few questions.
Our first question was, “How do you think technology is leading to business changes?”
“We currently sit with 159 Fully Certified Patents for our technologies which have been achieved by innovating a new way of engineering solutions for problems managed by administrative controls. Simply following the global safety standard of the hierarchy of controls allows all companies that put safety first to integrate our technologies. New and inventive products that save money make for a logical path in all industries where efficiency and safety are key boardroom objectives for all their stakeholders.” replied Ian.
Our second question on technology was, “Do you feel it’s helping Your Company grow?”
With that, Ian continued, “Yes, our technology has been noted by the largest fire products in the world, TYCO (Johnston Controls), as paving the way for a whole new level of compliance for fire safety products used in environments where there is a risk of fire safety systems failing through blocked deluge/sprinkler nozzles. Our Patented Technologies have allowed for single source contracts with Tier 1 operators, which enables the supply chain process to be simplified, as previously noted, if you relieve a recognized pain for the client and save them money, you will have people knocking on your door.”
Adapting to Digitalization
“How is Your Company adapting to digitalization?”
“As we supply mechanical products that solve administrative solutions, we allow the digital information captured by our clients to be based on an engineered solution with no assumptions made; this allows for real-time data to back up the noted results.
Digitalization is only as good as the information supplied, and administrative controls can show a false positive in any digital forum. This could be seen as an Alkalize Heel for all digital platforms. Digital twins are still limited to eternal conditions, and if you do not look at the internal function of any process facility and the performance of the products used, it will limit the benefits digitalization can bring.” says Ian.
We further asked, “Do you use innovative ideas to be unique?”
He says, “With 159 fully certified patents globally, we are the first company in over 100 years to solve the problems of concentric corrosion and delivery line contamination blocking deluge/sprinkler nozzles. This accolade allowed us to win Safety Innovation of the year 2018 through Oil and Gas UK in association with Step Change in Safety. So we become unique by solving problems never before solved through innovative products. If any company decides to use innovative ideas to be unique without uniquely solving problems never before solved, it devalues the term unique to a simple sales pitch.”
Protecting Different Nozzles
“What are the services/solutions or products offered by Your Company as par with the current industry standards?”
Ian continues, “RigDeluge® supply Free Flow Technologies™ that set a new standard for fire safety products. The Free Flow Fittings™ protect all different types of deluge nozzles from blocking through single-point failure, which has been recorded for over 100 years as a problem in fire safety systems in all industries. The Free Flow Nozzles™ have the technology built in to allow them to operate in environments where other industry nozzles fail. The standard of these products is setting a bar that UL Listed and FM Approved nozzles fail to pass.”
We also asked, “Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?”
“Having been independently validated in brownfield assets both on-shore and offshore, the Free Flow Technologies™ has now been designed into a brand new Billion Dollar FPSO to prevent the failings of the past from being re-introduced to future operations. Having the technology designed into brand new assets shows that industries are changing the way they have always done things to enable efficiency and safety to be achieved from inception,” he says
Lastly, we asked, “Would you like to say anything else to our viewers?”
“Always run your business and life at a moral level where you are prepared to be independently audited and or judged in everything you do. In a world full of opportunists who use smoke and mirrors to build businesses, those who are honest and have integrity will stand the test of time to enable long-term success.” He concludes.
Connect with Ian Garden on LinkedIn
