Greek philosopher Heraclitus thought of change as the only constant in life. In that vein, manufacturers and producers constantly change, upgrade or reformulate products to keep up with — or even stay ahead of — current market conditions and competition. The consumer/end-user wins. As companies compete for their business, they end up with a better end product.

In over 21 years working for CETCO, it has amazed me to see the importance placed on research and development in our industry and my company. I have experienced first-hand the way new products get created and existing products improved. Often, demands of drilling contractors out in the field drive these product changes. For example, consider something like a one-sack 200-mesh bentonite/polymer horizontal direction drilling (HDD) fluid product. A product like that exists because, before it did, contractors wanted it. Before it did, if you had asked a contractor who uses an HDD specialty bentonite product what improvements they would like to see, many would have answered: Make it mix faster and easier, improve how it keeps a hole open and suspends cuttings, and do it all at a lower dosage. Our company — and others like it — keep all of these things in mind as we innovate on this and similar products.