How BenchMark Wireline’s products have become the global standard
BenchMark Wireline Products (BenchMark Wireline) was founded in 1978 by Wayne Kerr and at that time, named Kerr Measurement Systems. Current co-owner Joey Mayhugh outlines the company’s history: “Steve Beck and I bought the business in 2000, and we had already been working together for nine years or so by that point. We actually met in 1992 working for Atlas Wireline, which is now owned by Baker Hughes. I worked in engineering, and Steve worked in field operations, and after we met, the two of us worked together as a team traveling the world to learn the customer’s requirements and then redesigning their entire fleet of wireline units. 
Steve continues: “I was tasked with investigating Kerr Measurement Systems as a potential business to acquire. When the company that we were working for at that time decided they didn’t want to buy it, Joey had the idea that we should buy it ourselves, and in fact we did go on to do so. Combined, we have 94 years of experience in the wireline industry. Since we both left college, we had always worked in the oilfield wireline industry, so we had the experience, and in fact, Joey had previously worked with Kerr products, so he was very familiar with them. He thought we could do something with the company. When we bought the business, it was in the process of being shut down. There were only four employees remaining.
“This is our 25th year of operations. We have been through a lot including purchasing other companies both in the US and Europe then merging them into our company. We also have survived two floods in back-to-back years, 2016 and 2017. With each flood we had over a foot of water inside the entire building, which ruined a lot of equipment and required the walls and floors to be rebuilt twice. We were told that this building had never flooded before until we had a 500-year flood in May of 2016 and then Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017. With peak accumulations of 60.58 in (1,539 mm), in Texas, Harvey was the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the United States. This is a part of history you do not want to be a part of.”
“Our core business at BenchMark is wireline cable measuring systems, including the device that rides the cable and the display the operator sees, that are used in wireline operations,” continues Joey. “It’s a really niche market; at the time we bought the business, there weren’t a lot of competitors. We figured we could sell a few because there wasn’t a lot of third-party equipment available. The major companies had their own, but independent outfits didn’t. We felt like we could expand to service more of the independent companies.”
“Funnily enough,” Steve says, “in the previous companies we worked at for many years we were working with this type of equipment. This gave us a good insight of what is needed so we started to design and develop a completely new product line. Then the companies we had previously worked for began to buy equipment from us to replace the original equipment we had used and designed. They use their own bespoke model, but buy it from us. Baker Hughes and Halliburton, who we have both worked for, are now our biggest two customers.”
Innovation & quality
Steve sheds some light on some specific products and services BenchMark Wireline offers: “Around four years ago, we started to build electric wireline trucks. Traditionally, these were hydraulic driven and there is a lot of competition in hydraulic trucks, with about 15 to 20 companies making them around the world. However, with electric trucks, which is the direction we saw the market moving in, there are only two or three suppliers globally that we are aware of.
“We decided to make our own path. We did the research and built a unit that was different from everyone else’s. It really took off and in 2022, we completed and sold the first electric wireline units. Since then, it’s grown significantly. We now sell around 20 units a year or more.”
Joey expands: “There are several advantages to this technology. Of course, they are much more reliable as they have fewer moving parts than the alternatives; they also require much less maintenance. There are also added controllability benefits, including the automatic controls.”
“And they’re very quiet,” Steve continues, “we found that the air conditioners were the noisiest part of the units, so we now are using low noise air conditioners. They are also much easier to operate. Before, you had to have your hands on the controls the whole time you were operating. Now these machines can be set to run into and out of the hole without anyone touching the controls. This is a big advantage when the units are run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time. It makes for much more efficient operations.”
A significant component of BenchMark Wireline’s recent successes is its approach to quality. Steve explains: “One of our biggest markets internationally is China. We’re one of the few companies that exports to China, and we’re successfully competing with local Chinese manufacturers.
“We’ve found that several of our competitors have tried to copy our products, but after a customer buys a copied product, they come back to us. The copies may look like our product, but they don’t function the same. It’s a very niche and technical product, so you really have to understand what its purpose is. We don’t make any compromises on quality. We build the highest quality and most functional products possible. We are also not afraid to change things and evolve the products when we discover a better way to do something.
“We have the in-house capabilities to make these changes ourselves. From precision machining and welding to advanced software and electrical engineering, we have the full capabilities to design and manufacture all of our own products. Anytime we need to change something or incorporate a new innovation, we can do it in-house. This also sets us apart from our competition; there are very few companies with these capabilities. There are a couple of major Fortune 500 companies that have the same array of expertise, but very few others. Even though we have the ability to make almost all of our products in house we do outsource quite a bit, rather than continuing to increase overhead costs. This industry is known for its cyclical up and down market so this helps us keep our same work force without having to continually increase and decrease our head count. This has helped us keep a workforce with more than half the team having over ten years tenure and over 25 percent with 15 or more years. We think that is a lot considering the company is only 25 years old.”
Facility history
The original Kerr company was located in Rosenberg (SW Houston) but as the company expanded, it outgrew the original facility. Steve goes on to describe how the company chose its new building: “After months of looking for a bigger space, we found an old building that was previously used for indoor rodeos. It had been vacant for eight years, so it required a lot of work, but the 50,000-square-feet it offered was substantial. Once we moved in, we fully renovated the facility, and it worked really well for us. Later, though, we learned that the building was the Roundup Rodeo building and it had a really rich heritage. It was famous for a privately held rodeo that people would travel to from Houston every Friday and Saturday night. Country and Western stars like Reba McEntire and George Strait spent time here.
“After Nixon became the first president to visit China since the Cultural Revolution, the subsequent Chinese premier, Deng Xiaoping, wanted to be the first Chinese leader to visit the US. He grew up watching John Wayne movies, and one of his requests was to see a rodeo. George Bush, being from Houston, knew about this place and arranged to have a rodeo set up at the Roundup Rodeo building. We had no idea when we bought it that this site had such a rich history.
“I have made many trips to China,” says Steve. “During customer visits I have mentioned the Deng Xiaoping visit and that this was where our company was located and was surprised to see how many people were still aware of this all of these years later.”
This facility has become the manufacturing plant for all of BenchMark Wireline’s equipment, with all products designed, engineered, manufactured, and assembled in-house.
The BenchMark Wireline team remains as committed to quality across the board as the day Steve and Joey took over the business. Its growth reflects their dedication and vision, and with further international expansion on the agenda, the future looks set to bring further innovation to this niche market.