Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1482193
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 • G R A P H I C S P R O 7 3 A s project manager of Colville Inc., Heber Hatch uses a laser engraver to make labels for his company's uses but, at least for now, isn't selling them. Hatch was tired of using stickers to label the face plates, switch covers, con- trol panels, and hose panels used in the field by Colville Inc., a group of oil field supply companies based in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. He researched engraving sys- tems and began labeling everything that needed a sticker. "If you can print on it, I will," says Hatch, who lives in Robin, Idaho, and has worked for Colville Inc. for 12 years. Colville Inc. is named for the Colville River, near where company founder Mark Helmricks' father had homesteaded prior to the development of the oil f ields. Helmricks founded the company about 30 years ago to provide bulk fuel delivery from Fairbanks, Alaska to oil fields, drill rigs, and other operations needing fuel. "We are so remote up here; we do a lot of our own builds making face plates and panels," Hatch says. STARTING WITH STICKERS AND LABEL MAKERS Initially, Hatch used stickers and label makers for labeling the functions of pan- els, covers, and hoses but was tired of their short lifespans. Hatch and his wife, Christina, purchased a laser engraver for her hands-on learning tools com- pany, Hatching Curiosity, to cut out Making a Mark Colville Inc. makes custom labels for its Alaskan oil fields By Shelley Widhalm LASER ENGRAVING REPORT Hatch, project manager of Colville Inc., in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, built a control panel inside a lube truck and printed the labels to indicate the purpose of the panel's individual switches and controls. (All images courtesy Heber Hatch)