As HOSS has grown and evolved, our manufacturing and service capabilities have continued to expand. This has caused some confusion in the marketplace as pump customers see these changes and inquire about the future of HOSS and where we are positioned among horizontal pump manufacturers.

The list below should clarify some of the most common misconceptions about HOSS and the truth about our capabilities:

1. HOSS has no service personnel

In fact, HOSS has one of the largest service fleets in the United States. We have ten field service technicians in the Permian Basin, and have recently been hiring an additional technician every month in this fast growing region. We also have an experienced service group of three technicians in the Mid-Continent area, with additional technicians being recruited to support our growth.

Our service strategy also includes support through our channel partners. We are continually training channel partner technicians through our factory-authorized training program. Knighten Industries offers authorized support throughout Texas and New Mexico, and Northland Industrial Specialties supports Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota with their authorized technicians.

2. HOSS is a small company with limited support

HOSS has become one of the Top 3 manufacturers of horizontal pumping equipment in the United States. We are proud of our roots as a pragmatic, nimble manufacturer, however the truth is that we have more resources and experience than our primary competitors. Superior service starts with expertise. HOSS has exclusively focused on the North American market, however we currently employ the largest team of horizontal pump professionals in the industry. Our engineering and service employees have worked at all major horizontal pump providers, and have decades of experience with centrifugal pumps. Rest assured, there is no manufacturer in the industry that can offer more support for your challenging applications.

3. HOSS does not manufacture their own pumps

HOSS historically purchased the centrifugal pump barrel assembly from a variety of experienced manufacturers. These manufacturers produced a high quality pump, however supporting emergency pump replacements was a consistent challenge. This is no longer a problem at HOSS today. HOSS maintains two pump manufacturing locations to support legacy and new customers. Our Tulsa operation, strategically located near the Mid-Continent install base and within 8 hours of the Permian Basin, can produce a fully assembled pump barrel for most applications in 24 hours or less. Both manufacturing facilities consistently maintain 2-3 week lead times to support our standard 6-8 week delivery time for new systems.

4. HOSS has a limited application range with less technical experience

The HOSS engineering team has a distinguished 15 year history of consistently expanding our technical capabilities in new applications. HOSS has installed hundreds of units in saltwater disposal, crude transfer, amine gas treatment, NGL pipelines, and condensate applications (to name a few). HOSS has built units with component and cartridge seals, as well as a variety of API seal plans (Plan 11, 52, 53, 76, etc.). We have installed facilities with over a dozen units running in parallel, mobile units on trailers, and multiple units operating in series. HOSS currently offers the widest horsepower range, highest thrust rating, and highest pressure rating of any horizontal pump manufacturer.

5. HOSS is too expensive for my application

Some of our competitors brag that they build the lowest cost horizontal pump systems. They use light duty skids combined with antiquated ball bearing thrust chambers. They buy motors from cheap manufacturers, and fail to provide proper bearing protection or sufficient instrumentation. And sometimes they even cut corners by selling a pump system incapable of operating across the full hydraulic operating range. These practices are designed to reduce the upfront cost of the pump system, but they ultimately impact reliability. Given the revenue created in critical horizontal pump applications, runtime should be the goal, not lowest possible purchase price.

HOSS designs our pump systems carefully. Our application practices prioritize reliability. Our standard thrust chamber carries three times the load and operates five times as long as our largest competitor’s standard thrust chamber. Our pump barrels include AR bearings in abrasive applications. Our motors are selected from the most reputable manufacturers, are always new, and are capable of operating the pump across the full flow range. This quality-first approach might cost 5% more, but it’s an investment in reliability. This investment may not be obvious during the first year of operation, however it will pay dividends over the life of the pump system.

6. HOSS lead times are long and manufacturing capacity is limited

HOSS is the only vertically integrated manufacturer among the Top 3 horizontal pump providers. We control the entire engineering and production process for each major component, from skid welding to final assembly. This control has resulted in a consistent 6-8 week delivery time for standard pump applications over the past two years, even as our manufacturing output has more than doubled each year. HOSS wins the business and trust of the fastest growing E&P and midstream customers because they know HOSS can scale with them as they grow.

7. HOSS can only service their own equipment

As mentioned in a previous blog post, HOSS does not only focus on the new equipment market. We have extensive experience retrofitting competitor systems with HOSS thrust chambers and pump barrels. We can also repair several popular competitor thrust chamber models. Our service technicians have worked at all major horizontal pump manufacturers, providing us with decades of experience maintaining, diagnosing, and repairing all makes and models of horizontal pump systems. Many customers have a mixed fleet, consisting of multiple brands of horizontal pumps. We embrace this challenge and work closely with our customers to keep all of their pumps in operation, regardless of the original manufacturer.

‍