Meet Donald Seckel

I think we may have taken efficiency a little too far. For years we have been told to run lean, cut waste, keep inventory tight and squeeze every bit of unused capacity out of a business. On paper, that looks great. In the real world, one person calls in sick, one truck shows up late, one machine goes down and suddenly the whole “efficient” system is sitting still. I have seen the same thing in hydraulics. You can design a system to run right at the edge of what it can handle, but that does not necessarily mean you designed a good system.

Sometimes a little extra capacity is not waste. Sometimes having another option, another person who knows the job, a few extra parts on the shelf or some breathing room in the schedule is exactly what keeps the wheels turning when something goes sideways. I am starting to think the best businesses are not the ones that have eliminated every ounce of slack. They are the ones that can take a punch and keep moving. That might not look as impressive on a spreadsheet, but it sure looks good when something breaks. Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

We have barcodes, RFID tags, scanners and a new ERP system helping us move in the right direction…

But when these cylinders came into the shop, our guy still grabbed a Sharpie.
The job number, machine information and serial number went directly on the part. It will disappear during disassembly, cleaning and paint, but by then the permanent information will already be captured in the system.

Good technology should improve the process, not make every simple task more complicated.

Sometimes the best system is a modern ERP backed up by an old-school technique that still works.

What old-school methods do you still use because they are simply too effective to replace?

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

I had to look at this one twice.

It is a hydraulically driven reel designed to control, store and deploy a long length of hose or cable.

The hydraulic motor in the middle provides the power, but the structure around it is what keeps that power useful. Without the framework, guides and proper tension, everything would quickly wind over itself and become a tangled mess.

That is a pretty good picture of a business.

Power matters. Sales matter. Hard work matters. But uncontrolled growth can create just as many problems as it solves.

The strongest businesses are not always the ones with the most horsepower. They are the ones with systems that keep people aligned, resources organized and momentum moving in the right direction.

Good systems do not slow a company down.

They are what allow it to move faster without tying itself in knots.

Where does your business need more horsepower, and where does it simply need a better system?

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

Texas business feels strong right now.

It also feels cautious.

Both things can be true.

The latest forecast from the Dallas Fed says Texas could add roughly 286,000 jobs this year. Service businesses are reporting stronger activity, companies are still investing, and the outlook has improved.

At the same time, manufacturers are seeing slower growth, orders are not exactly flying through the door, and the cost of materials, labor and just about everything else continues to climb.

That sounds a lot like the conversations I am hearing from business owners.
There is work out there. There are opportunities. Texas is still growing.
But nobody is taking that growth for granted.

Good companies are watching expenses closer, protecting their people, taking better care of customers and making sure the business is prepared before making the next big move.

Maybe that is not a bad thing.

The strongest businesses are rarely built when everything is easy. They are built when opportunity is there, but discipline is still required.

For the business owners and leaders in my network, what are you seeing right now?

Does Texas feel like it is gaining momentum, slowing down, or simply becoming more selective?

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

Every business has those early days.

The days where you make the space work because you have no choice. Parts on shelves that are already too full. Equipment squeezed into whatever corner is open. Jobs staged wherever you can find a few feet of floor space.

You do the best you can with what you have.

But if you are determined enough, you keep pushing. One customer at a time. One repair at a time. One hard lesson at a time.

Eventually, the work starts to outgrow the walls.

That is what this picture makes me think about.

Not just a bigger shop. Not just more floor space. It is the result of a lot of people refusing to stay small. It is the late nights, the tough jobs, the customers who trusted us, and the team that kept showing up.

Having this much room to work is a blessing, but it is also a responsibility.

Room to stage jobs the right way.
Room to stay organized.
Room to move safely.
Room to grow into the next version of the business.

We did not start here.
But we were determined to get here.
And now the goal is to make the most of it.

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

When everything is clean, aligned, and doing its job, the power it can produce is impressive. Every component has a purpose. Some parts carry the load. Some control the flow. Some protect the system when pressure spikes. Some are there for redundancy, quietly keeping things stable when something else starts to wear.

A good company works the same way.

When people are communicating, pulling in the same direction, and taking pride in the work, performance compounds. Morale improves. Problems get solved faster. Customers feel it. The whole operation runs with less friction.

But here is the thing about pumps.
They usually do not fail all at once.

A seal starts to wear. Clearances open up. A small issue gets ignored. Contaminated fluid gets into the system. From the outside, it may still look like everything is working. The pump still turns. It still builds pressure. It still gets the job done.

Until the damage starts showing up everywhere.
Companies are not much different.

Most problems do not start as giant failures. They start small. A missed detail. A process that is not followed. A standard that gets relaxed. A communication issue that keeps repeating. A little frustration that is never addressed.

At first, the business keeps moving.
Then the good people start carrying extra weight.
Then morale gets strained.
Then performance slips.

Then leadership has to stop and ask the hard question:
Are we maintaining the system, or are we just hoping it keeps running?
That is why maintenance matters. Not just on pumps, but in business.
Clean inputs matter. Clear expectations. Accountability matters. Culture matters. Taking care of your people matters. And fixing small problems early matters a lot more than rebuilding everything after it fails under pressure.
Reliability is not an accident.

It comes from discipline, inspection, communication, and the willingness to correct issues before they become expensive.

That is true in hydraulics.

And it is true in every company trying to build something that lasts.

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

A good technician can walk past a machine and hear that something is not right.

No sensor alert.
No error code.
No report.

Just years of experience telling them that a pump sounds different, a cylinder is moving too slowly, or a system is running hotter than it should.

We are putting more sensors, AI and predictive maintenance into industrial equipment. But at the same time, the skilled people who understand what the data actually means are getting harder to find. One recent estimate says the United States could have 2.1 million unfilled skilled trades positions by 2030.

Technology can capture pressure, temperature and vibration.
The bigger challenge is capturing judgment.

What is your company doing to transfer decades of hands on knowledge to the next generation?

And be honest: Can that kind of experience really be documented, or does it have to be earned?

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

Oil and gas on one side.
Renewables on the other.

I think the real answer is more practical than political.

The countries pushing hardest into alternative energy are often the same countries that have to import a lot of their oil, gas, and coal. That is not just about climate. It is about control.

If your economy depends on energy coming from somewhere else, through shipping lanes you do not fully control, priced in markets you do not control, and impacted by conflicts you do not control, then every barrel, every molecule, and every kilowatt matters.

Renewables give those countries a way to produce more energy at home.

Not all of it. Not perfectly. Not without challenges. But enough to reduce exposure.

At the same time, oil is not going away. A barrel of oil is not just gasoline. It supports fertilizer, chemicals, plastics, lubricants, asphalt, manufacturing, transportation, and a long list of products most people never think about.

That is why the future is not as simple as “replace oil.”

The future is balance.

Use oil and gas where they make the most sense. Build renewables where they improve security and cost. Keep investing in reliability. Be honest about what each energy source does well and what it does not.

Energy independence has always mattered.

Today, it just has more than one path.

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services
InTheRingWithTermiteAndMisterS.Podcast

I am part of Vistage Worldwide, Inc., and I think it is something more CEOs and business owners should understand.

For anyone not familiar with it, Vistage is a peer advisory group for CEOs, business owners, and executives. It brings leaders together in a confidential setting to talk through real business issues, decisions, opportunities, and challenges.

The value is not that everyone in the room has your exact answer.
The value is that they ask the questions you may not be asking yourself.

As a CEO, it is easy to get buried in your own business. You know the history, the people, the pressure, and all the reasons behind every decision. That experience matters, but sometimes being that close to the business makes it harder to see things clearly.

Having outside perspective from other leaders who understand the weight of the seat, but are not emotionally tied to your company, is extremely valuable.
They challenge assumptions.

They share what has worked and what has not.

They help you step back and look at the business from a different angle.
Running a company can be lonely at times. Vistage creates a room where you can have honest conversations with people who understand that responsibility.

For me, that outside perspective is the real value.

I’m especially thankful for my Vistage Chair, Christine Spray for all of the energy and thought she puts into making sure everyone in our group benefits.

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services

The reaction was interesting because a lot of people still look at rig count as the scoreboard.

But that brought up the bigger question.

Why did we have to get so efficient in the first place?

The answer is simple.
Because U.S. oil is not the cheapest oil in the world.

A lot of countries are sitting on conventional reservoirs where the oil is easier and cheaper to produce. In parts of the Middle East, the rock, pressure, reservoir size, and infrastructure make the economics completely different.

The U.S. shale business had to play a different game.
We had to drill longer laterals.
We had to get faster on pads.
We had to improve completion designs.
We had to use better data.
We had to reduce wasted time.

We had to make every rig, every crew, every pump, and every dollar work harder.

The U.S. did not become the world’s most advanced drilling machine because it was easy.

It became that way because it had to compete against cheaper barrels.
That is the part of the story people miss.

“Drill baby drill” today does not just mean more rigs.

It means better wells, better execution, better equipment, better planning, and a lot less room for waste.

Cheap oil made the rest of the world competitive.

Expensive oil made the U.S. dangerous.

Texas Fluid Power – Hydraulic Repair Services