IMTC-MEI takes a unique approach to industrial construction and catastrophic reconstruction projects.

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In a medical emergency, it’s normally preferable to be treated by EMTs rather than your family physician, the reason being that an EMT is better trained and equipped to deal with a life-or-death situation than a regular doctor. The same principle applies to industrial facilities and reconstruction, where catastrophic accidents need to be handled and operations brought back to normal as quickly as possible under demanding circumstances.

That is exactly why IMTC-MEI has been called to help bring facilities back online around the world, according to Senior Vice President Jesse Doty. He says the company’s combined expertise in industrial construction and catastrophic reconstruction make it ideally suited for such work, and recent projects such as one in Mazeikui, Lithuania, demonstrate that.

The company is the combination of two previously existing companies that were both brought under the umbrella of Crown Enterprises. IMTC was founded in 1983 as a contractor to the refining, petrochemical and utilities industries, based in the Gulf Coast region. Maintenance Enterprises Inc. (MEI) was an industrial contractor founded in 1967 that specialized in emergency response work. Doty says ITMC was bought by Crown Enterprises five years ago, and soon the parent company joined it with MEI. “The purpose of that was to enable us to address the catastrophic reconstruction market,” Doty says.

From its headquarters in Houston, IMTC-MEI provides emergency response construction services, as well as more mundane work. “We perform and we provide domestic and international construction management and program management,” Doty says.

‘Four-Dimensional Operation’
The combination of IMTC’s general construction expertise and MEI’s emergency response experience gives IMTC-MEI a background that few other contractors in the industry can match, Doty says.

“There’s really no one else in the [industry] that has our background in catastrophic reconstruction,” he says. “Each of the 13 rebuilds we have executed to date was unique and required intensive management of engineering deliverables, procurement, project controls and actual construction. This type of work requires a wide span of control and is not engineering and construction as usual. A dynamic vision, coupled with a unique execution philosophy, must be brought to bear early in the project.

“We are definitely not just a construction company,” he continues. “We are purely execution-driven and can do things that a lot of other contractors cannot get done.”

In addition to the company’s expertise in emergency response projects, Doty says ITMC-MEI approaches each assignment with its own “Flash Track Engineering and Construction Methodology” developed over the past 13 catastrophic rebuilds that emphasizes quick response and rapid execution. These are qualities that Doty says are essential for projects where significant damage has occurred to a plant and fast, decisive action needs to be taken.

“When we approach a project, we try to get in at the very onset,” Doty says. “We go in and immediately start assessing the damage and we begin doing what can be done immediately.”

Through this methodology, Doty says, ITMC-MEI can get started on bringing a plant back online much faster than a traditional contractor could, sometimes measuring the difference in terms of months. Accessing the client’s archives, IMTC-MEI can find out exactly what needs to be done before taking a protracted look at the site, according to Doty.

He describes the company’s thought process as multi-faceted and able to consider multiple aspects of a project at the same time. He says this is also important for clients who need a reconstruction job completed as quickly as possible. “We do not work linear; we are very much a four-dimensional operation,” Doty says.

Looking Strong
Doty says IMTC-MEI is in a good position for the future. Capital projects such as a recent chemical plant expansion in Wyoming have broadened the company’s expertise, and alliances with large clients, such as Exxon/Mobil and Shell, mean it should have projects for a long time to come.