UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chief Engineer: Allen D. Furford's desk

Welcome to the engineering trenches. In truth, everyone of the corporate officers of GLO Industries is an engineer. John Dougherty and Lee Vaughn are retired from the aerospace industry, while Terry Kelly and Allen Furford (myself) were involved in both the aerospace (weapons systems and commercial aircraft) and merchant marine before we decided to put the PAL Oil System on the market.

To do this took years of hard work, and the actual man hours involved are staggering. It also took 139+ round trips into the Bering sea and back to completely test the oil system, and these trips were made year round, month after month from the Port of Seattle across the North Pacific and as far as Siberia on the first Soviet/American joint fishing venture. The size of the vessels varied to 400 feet to a 90 foot power scow. Many were ex-military, converted Y.O's, F.S.'s, L.C.I.'s and Ice Breakers. Some were used to run cargo, some to process fish, some for towing. In truth, there were many times we did not know if we would ever make it back to home port. Many of my friends and acquaintances did not . The Alaska country can be quite brutal, and one has to tailor himself to fit the territory to survive. Call it your civilian version of combat conditions, conditions that were so bad at times that fighting in the Iron Triangle in Viet Nam was safer, and this is a well documented fact. Most of the retired military personal that decided to give this lifestyle a try changed their minds very quickly, citing the fact life was far too short as it was.

People often asked me why I did this for a living, and my response was quick and simple at the time. "Some people drive race cars, don't they?" During this time in my life I was also the inport engineer for a shipping company that sailed both inspected and uninspected vessels, and I also sailed these freighters as relief to give my men a break. In short, I did it all, playing Captain, Mate, Chief Engineer, Cook, and deck hand when called upon. I never looked upon it as building a career as most would, for in my mind I was building a State, and a great one. I was also building a product line and testing continuously, a product line designed to save lives at sea, and I had a lot of support from those I worked for and with. What was ultimately accomplished could not have been possible without these people in the cargo and fishing industries.

When computer technology caught up we here at GLO Industries designed and built the special machinery for blending and started fighting the war of "mind set", brought on by other products such as WD-40, Liquid Wrench, Croil, Oil of Wintergreen, Break Free, Screw Loose, Rust Buster and too many others on the market to mention. Please do not try to make a comparison by associating our products to these other substances. Inferior products survive because of high powered marketing advertising techniques, full of glitz and glamour to make the sale, no matter what the cost to the end user. Tobacco is a fine example of this.

Before you buy anything for your ships or combat personal, ask yourself this question. "Does this representative sales guy really have my best interest at heart, or are those just dollar signs in his eyes, thinking of his commission or rise in the corporate world at someone else's expense..." It is a sobering thought to be considered nothing more than a business target, but this is what you really are if you are in the procurement areas. The same principles apply in civilian life when you walk into a store. Your best service and information does not come from your huge chain stores, but from your local dealer who has to offer advice as well as goods, and face the same customers day in and day out. We fit in this category...

To compete in this day and age of high powered marketing, we have to have something special, something very special. We fight the war on corrosion and machinery wear, and that is our only focus. We are not General Motors or Westinghouse, mega corporations that are in all fields and in truth do not handle any specialty areas as well as some small company that focuses on one given field. We are centered around the marine industry because it has the toughest problems dealing with certain types of corrosion encountered in the largest and most brutal area of this planet, and that is the sea...

The reason we have oils in the sporting goods industry came from taking our fishing gear and firearms to sea with us. It is as simple as that. This is why those who have used our oils in this area prefer them. They work exactly as the labels say they do. Our products are designed for the thinking man, for the professional a cut above the rest of the crowd, for the person who is not satisfied with his or her father's choices because they were the only things offered during that time period. That time has passed...

Last year in Kentucky at the Crane Company's Corrosion Conference, we tried to impart the idea that we could also give valuable input in other areas outside of our own, just due the our own experiences over our lifetimes in the marine industry. Some of you have taken us up on this and we are happy to help out. There is no charge for this, and if you are looking for something special in the oil area, I am sure we can help out in this area also. This year I am going to unveil technology to give everyone at the conference something to think about. I am sure you will find it entertaining, if nothing more...

Allen D. Furford