INSPET TALKS | Bogdan Pândaru

INSPET TALKS | 2022

Welcome to conversations “with” and „about” people who have impact on the energy infrastructure area, the construction sector, and the private Romanian business environment. We want to highlight the reality of those who work every day, whether as entrepreneurs or employees, to generate meaningful ideas and stories that are both personal and organizationally inspiring.

In this series of conversations, our guest of today is Mr. Bogdan Pândaru, Deputy CEO of INSPET. Bogdan Pândaru was born at the same time with INSPET, he is an engineer by trade and specialises in hydrocarbon transmission, storage and distribution, with an additional specialisation in the welding technology. With more than 11 years of working experience in constructions and energy infrastructure, he is constantly communicating with work teams on work sites and on the INSPET West Industrial Platform. He knows that success and performance come through hard work. He is a disciple of tenacity, discipline and a genuine hard worker.

Our conversation with Bogdan Pândaru started simply and naturally from the fact that he was born in the same year when INSPET was established. We discussed what it is it like to grow up in the spirit of this company, in the concept of hard work and appreciation for the work of each person within the company, but also about the joy of being a true family man.

You were born in the same year when INSPET became an entirely privately-owned company. Ever since you were a child, you were raised in the INSPET spirit. Today, you are a working man and the Deputy CEO of this company – ranked among the Top 50 Construction Companies in Romania. What is your take on this evolution? 

In my eyes, this is a natural, normal evolution. After graduation, my father basically threw me in this fight called Inspet. I started in the work site, I worked on the site, I was there, working with the people. I didn’t start working in the head offices straight away, as I was raised in the spirit of knowing each person’s role and mission. In a company such as ours, particularly with regard to the technical issues, if one doesn’t know exactly what is every worker’s job, one cannot ask the worker to perform a specific job and be sure that the specific job will be a job well done.

In our line of business, errors can be deadly. The risks in our line of business, particularly on the oil & gas side, are very high. One cannot afford any errors with regard to materials, welding operations, worker training. Errors involve consequences and we do not want any consequences. For the past 31 years, INSPET had no incidents whatsoever. Better said, we did not have any of our letters of bank guarantee executed.

This reliability on our side attracted confidence from our beneficiaries. We enjoy a positive reputation with our beneficiaries: we are a well-established company, with our own traditions, with people who have led before and are in the lead now – their successors are in the lead now. Confidence – this industry relies a great deal on confidence – confidence given by a job well done, executed correctly, with the correct equipment, with the confidence that the respective builder will provide proper work.

Our machinery and equipment fleet is extensive, there’s no sufficient time to describe it now. My bet is on the teams. To me, the team is the most important piece of the puzzle. I started – particularly on the implementation of pipeline orbital welding and everything we have done – the pipeline work teams. This meant teams.  Every worker must be aware of his/her responsibilities. Each worker is assigned a step to perform and provide a checklist for the said step. We have out together this workflow and it is going great, we reach these performance rates as we did with BRUA – for a high number of welds performed every day, with the least possible number of defects.

Ever since you became Deputy CEO you had an overview of the process. What would be the strong points of Inspect, those that you have taken over and want to perpetuate?

Exactly as our motto – Tradition and Performance. Reliability. I do not want to disappoint forefathers. Gratitude.

What do you think are the defining qualities of a manager with the best performance?

In my opinion, a manager with the best performance is close to the people. This manager is assertive, up to a specific limit, and knows what to ask of people. If you are not clear with what to ask of people, people will not deliver. That is why I say all the time – “if you want to lead, you must know what you lead”. First of all, you have to master your own profession.

Can you tell us what is your idea of a very good team?

That depends on the work level we discuss. When I think about the work site – the good team that we have is a mixture of jobs. Then, thinking about the team at the office – we work together, we consult all the time and find common solutions. I am the man with the solution and I must provide solutions and also think ahead. This is totally different, as is the team as a whole. I am very happy with the entire team of INSPET. I inherited this team. Historically speaking, I have gone through the entire INSPET generation, starting with 1991, when it has been established, and then 1994, when it has been privatised. I witnessed all these key moments in the company, as my father used to say to me – your employment record starts when you were 4 years old. I enjoyed learning and being close to people. Workers have a different opinion of you if you talk to them. I talk to everybody, I must know whether everything is right, what is missing, what I must do – if I visit the work site, I must be one of them.

What is your opinion of the “subordinate – manager” relationship in the new context? 

The relationship is good, it is a communication relationship. The generations have changed from 11 years ago, when I joined the company. People have changed a lot throughout the years – for the better and I am happy for their well-being, education and absolutely everything else. My take is that INSPET worked and will work only in an upward direction. The workers sensed stability, with visible effects of the fiscal facilities provided for the people in the construction business. These were of a great help and people evolved. I saw a very good evolution of the entire staff involved in the construction business.

I would be happy if Romanians stayed home and worked for Romanian companies. I am a patriot.

You have 11 years of hands-on experience in the construction and energy infrastructure business. What was the greatest achievement of a project where you contributed?

I consider all the projects that I have worked on as achievements. It is always nice to remember the first significant project which I managed. This was a large project, Moșu Technological Connection Node in Dâmbovița. This project has been followed by the Conpet sections, on the Bărăganul – Călăreți line, followed by BRUA, which was, and I assume that it will remain for the following years, the largest pipeline project in Romania. In the previous period, only the 1200 mm transit pipeline from Isaccea to Negru Vodă was a project worth mentioning.

To me, BRUA meant growing up, becoming mature. BRUA was, in my opinion, the right place to display all of my acquired technical knowledge. I also had an amazing team, including my father, and I could design and prepare each step of this pipeline, one section at a time. I started with the test welding with my workers in the INSPET West Industrial Platform and reached the launch, test and pressure test stages. Everything was carefully designed. The project was completed with the successful undercrossing of Olt River in November. One of the greatest challenges we encountered – we had to strip an area the size of two football courts and we brought ten excavators on a Sunday.  This is the advantage of having all the right equipment, of relying on your fleet of equipment. Only then you can be certain of being able to execute the undertaken works. Speed of reaction is a very important factor, one must have teams ready, a leader among the teams. One must make instant decisions.

In our business, errors are allowed only up to a specific level. This actually means that no risks are allowed. With regard to material, workmanship, absolutely everything. Never take any chances – when it comes to people, one must never take any chances. In all this business, people are the most important to me. Starting with safety, I am interested in the safety of people, their labour safety – this is like a battle. I want all of us to return home safely. I regarded the work site as a battle ground.

You mentioned the largest pipeline in the BRUA project. But BRUA also involved three more natural gas compressor stations that you manufactured. 

Yes. We were the general contractor/builder. The compressor stations are of a higher complexity level than the pipeline itself. If the pipeline requires very skilled welders, compressor stations require people with slightly finer skills. Technical skills. They must read the blueprints. Compressor stations require finer and equally more difficult work. The complexity level is very high, without any room for welding defects in a pipe, as it may breakdown a turbine, a valve, it can breakdown anything and very quickly. Even if in the end everything is inspected from the inside, both visually and with a special camera deployed inside the installation.

Considering that you started from the work site, theoretically, from the junior engineer stage, having gone through all stages, that generated an overview for you. What is your advice to a young graduate who wants to take a job with INSPET or generically, any other company?

First of all, he/she must become a sponge and absorb all information from his/her peers, must have a lot of work energy, because we need hard-working people. Let’s not forget the feeling towards work! This means that one should not feel that work is an obligation, work must be enjoyed – that is the key difference between a random employee and a reliable employee.

Also, an employee with high performance rates. Young workers can reach performance. The situation has changed from the times when our fathers would say: “It takes ten years to achieve any progress and be promoted to a management position”. Not the case. Presently, you can work your way up the ladder in two or three years. I consider that a young graduate can be put in charge. If he/she delivers. If he/she becomes involved. If they come with solutions, as I always say: What is the solution?

You said that you are appreciative of people of initiative, of people who come up with solutions, who make quick decisions and have the courage to speak openly and honestly with you. Yet, there are people who can always come up with excuses. What is your reaction to those people?

It depends on the context. Sometimes, those excuses can be justified. Honestly, it is not very often that I encounter any workers to say: I am sorry, but I cannot do that job. This is hardly ever the case.

Let’s switch from the professional area to the personal area, to the personal side. Do you have any time for hobbies?

Hardly. I would rather spend all my time with my family. I am the proud father of two sons and I hope they will follow in my footsteps, as I followed in my father’s footsteps, one step at a time. One must have a direction in life. Ever since I was a little child, I had my own direction in life and I knew where I was going to work. As long as one has a father who only speaks of pipelines, equipment, machinery, company – a father who is passionate about his work – one gets a direction in life.   As a child, I would not stay home but run to my father’s office, namely to INSPET. This is where I spent my childhood. Now, my eldest son would sometimes say: “Dad, I want to go to the football court on the Industrial Platform”.

Do you believe that you had a big impact on the lives of any persons?

Yes. I have influenced peoples’ lives when I was part of the welding school and young people would come to us without any skill and left with a highly paid job. I would see them evolve and that is why I can say that I have changed peoples’ lives. I have given them their direction.

This Podcast has been brought to you by INSPET,  Romanian company, a direct descendant of a seven-decade history of performance in the Oil & Gas Industry. If you liked this conversation and you believe that we can be inspirational for your friends, please forward and share it and show that we can do it in Romania, too, it is important that we really want it and are willing to put in the required work!

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Until our next meeting, be inspired in everything you do!