About PIP360

The PIP360 story started in 2009 when a proof of concept wireless pipe wall thickness monitor was developed. PIP360 started with a deployment of 200 instrument stations with rings of 24 sensors and a wireless network were placed at an oil sands site. Today we have over 550 installed stations and we are processing approximately 6 million sensor readings annually for multiple clients.

The teams behind PIP360

Our inclusive multicultural team includes Professional Engineers, Certified Technologists, Journeyman, University graduates and PhDs . We pride ourselves in the ability to envisage, design, build, test and deliver unique technological leading UT thickness monitoring and reporting. 

These dedicated and knowledgeable staff are organized in four dedicated expert teams, each with their own specific area of expertise, whether it be installation, client services or data analysis and report creation, these four teams are: 

• Field Sales and Services, 
• Engineering Design and Data Center Services, 
• Production and Custom manufacturing, and 
• Administrative services, including Operations.

Where we started

The company today was originally incorporated in 1978 as Agritronics to design, manufacture and market electronic instrumentation products for use in the processing area of the Agricultural industry. These products require special features to be used in extreme environmental conditions and potentially hazardous (explosive dust) locations.

In the mid 1980s, the industry focus was broadened to include industrial control system design for specific client applications - a design-build business structure.

In the early 1990s, the client base included oilfield production optimization instrumentation used in hazardous gas locations.

Expanding operations

In 1997 the trade name Concepts To Market (CTM) was registered as a marketing identity to provide instrumentation design-build services to industries other than the Agricultural aftermarket and Agricultural OEM industries. CTM customers include industrial, commercial, bio-medical, and consumer product clients.

In 2005 Agritronics acquired Stinger Products Inc. who manufactured and distributed electric fence energizer products into the Agricultural after-market sales. Agritronics staff provide manufacturing, logistics, technical support, and administrative services for Stinger Products.

Defining an industry

In 2007 Agritronics received a contract from Alberta Research Council Sensors Division to develop a proof of concept prototype Ultrasonic pipe wall thickness measurement system to automatically take readings and report wirelessly to be tested on the slurry pipelines at OilSands mining operations. 

The prototype instrument installed in December 2008 was the basic concept for the present PIP360 instrument hardware, firmware and wireless data collection.

In 2009 Stinger Products Ltd. and Comleco Inc. were amalgamated with LJB Agritronics Ltd. 

Agritronics created a holding company 1637534 Alberta Limited and a new company called Pipes In Profile 360° Incorporated as PIP360 Inc. in June 2012, as PIP360® began stand-alone operations. PIP360 Inc. continued its research and development (R&D) into ultrasonic technologies to provide erosion and corrosion monitoring on Chrome Carbide Overlay (CCO) hard-surface lined pipe, Stainless Steel and bimetal pipe, chrome white iron pump casings, and plastic lined pipes that are used for slurry transport on OilSands sites.

Where we are today

Based on the data analysis, PIP360 prepares Prescriptive Rotation Management (PRM ™) analysis and reports from these permanently mounted ultrasonic thickness (UT) instrumentation systems that daily measure metal loss on the inside of slurry, tailings, water and liquid hydrocarbon transport pipelines used at OilSands extraction sites in Northern Alberta. 

The instrumentation is unique to the industry because PIP360 provides a start to finish services, whereby we  engineer, design, manufacture, install, maintain, collect data, analyze data, and prepare maintenance management reports for the client asset integrity department, something not currently done by our competitors.

In 2017, 1637534 Alberta Limited registered a trade name AIMS Asset Integrity Management Support. AIMS now provides the engineering, design, manufacturing, data services, and administration for PIP360 and its clients. PIP360 provides business development and field technical services (installations and maintenance) at client sites.