Tulsa Tube Bending: A history of developing innovations in pipe, bending, and coiling

Founded in 1958 as a provider of pipe bends and tube bending services for the local oil industry, Tulsa Tube Bending is an industry leader recognized for offering world-class service and quality products. Driven by innovation from the very beginning, we rose above the competition by developing a proprietary hydraulic-powered machine to perform the most precise bends in the industry.

A pioneer in heat induction pipe bending

In the 1960s, Tulsa Tube Bending unveiled a new machine that performed 12-inch pipe bends via cold bending process, the largest of its kind in the U.S. at the time. The following decade, we continued to stay ahead of the competition by introducing the first Cojafex heat induction tube bending machine in North America.

As we expanded to serve a wider range of industries in the coming years, we set up one of the first local area computer networks in our region. Since that time, we have developed our own in-house enterprise-wide software system, which produces cost savings and efficiencies for every customer.

Continuous process improvements lead to increased efficiencies

In the 1990s, as we experienced record growth and served more customers than ever before, our company reached a milestone by producing its one millionth pipe bend. In addition, two Fortune 100 manufacturing companies selected Tulsa Tube Bending for the largest contracts ever awarded in the bending industry.

By embracing lean manufacturing principles, we implemented more than 10,000 process improvements that resulted in a 130 percent rise in productivity. This effort also drastically improved the quality and on-time delivery of our products.

Depend on Tulsa Tube Bending for the fastest delivery time in the industry

Over the years, customers have seen dramatic improvements in our service and quality. With a 95.1 percent on-time shipping rate and a satisfaction score of 97.6 percent—along with a quality rating of 99 percent—customers have a high degree of confidence in partnering with Tulsa Tube Bending.

Today, we continue to deliver the latest innovations in pipeline bending while offering world-class service and quality for every customer we serve. We’re thankful for everyone who has placed orders with us in the past and look forward to serving thousands of new customers in the coming decades.

Let us know what Tulsa Tube Bending can do for you.

Every year we send out a festive, fun Christmas card. What’s work without a little fun?

Tulsa Tube Bending milestones

1958

Founded as a small provider of pipe bends and tube bending services for the local oil industry.

1970s

Becomes the first tube and pipe bending company in North America with a Cojafex heat induction bending machine.

1990s

As the company experiences record growth, it produces its one millionth pipe bend.

2000s

Embraces lean manufacturing (Toyota Production Systems) and begins applying lean tools.

2000s

Named Blue Ribbon Small Business by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

2010s

Purchases state-of-the-art 36-inch outside diameter capacity heat induction pipe bending machine, significantly improving its service to the midstream pipeline bending industry.

2020s

Develops the ability to produce segmentable bends in multiple pipeline sizes. Tulsa Tube Bending becomes ISO certified.

1960s

Unveils a new machine that performs 12-inch pipe bends via cold bending process and a new machine that performs 8-inch pipe helical coils.

1980s

Achieves cost savings for customers by becoming the nation’s first tube and pipe bending company to set up a local area computer network.

1990s

The company is recognized with multiple Fortune 100 quality awards.

2000s

Receives Award of Excellence from the state of Oklahoma and the Manufacturing Award from the governor of Oklahoma.

2010s

Develops technical capabilities to comply with ASME B16.49, the heat induction pipeline bending specification.

2010s

Recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Oklahoma, the only manufacturing company to place.

1958

Founded as a small provider of pipe bends and tube bending services for the local oil industry.

1960s

Unveils a new machine that performs 12-inch pipe bends via cold bending process and a new machine that performs 8-inch pipe helical coils.

1970s

Becomes the first tube and pipe bending company in North America with a Cojafex heat induction bending machine.

1980s

Achieves cost savings for customers by becoming the nation’s first tube and pipe bending company to set up a local area computer network.

1990s

As the company experiences record growth, it produces its one millionth pipe bend.

1990s

The company is recognized with multiple Fortune 100 quality awards.

2000s

Embraces lean manufacturing (Toyota Production Systems) and begins applying lean tools.

2000s

Receives Award of Excellence from the state of Oklahoma and the Manufacturing Award from the governor of Oklahoma.

2000s

Named Blue Ribbon Small Business by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

2010s

Develops technical capabilities to comply with ASME B16.49, the heat induction pipeline bending specification.

2010s

Purchases state-of-the-art 36-inch outside diameter capacity heat induction pipe bending machine, significantly improving its service to the midstream pipeline bending industry.

2010s

Recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Oklahoma, the only manufacturing company to place.

2020s

Develops the ability to produce segmentable bends in multiple pipeline sizes.

Every year we send out a festive, fun Christmas card. What’s work without a little fun?

Need a quick quote for coils, pipe bends, or tube bends?

Key Performance Indicators

98%

customer satisfaction rating

95.1%

on-time shipments

99.2%

quality rating

Awards and Recognition

Our mission

Serving others. Building people.
Pursuing excellence.

Best Places to Work 2017

We’ve been the highest rated manufacture 3 times from The Journal Record.

Best Places to Work 2011

This employee-voted award was an honor to receive from OKC Biz.

Best Places to Work 2009

This employee-voted award was an honor to receive from OKC Biz.

Achieving Excellence

One of the most exclusive awards we’ve received by becoming an exclusive key supplier to a Fortune 100 company.

Marketplace Chaplains USA

We have chaplains that visit our facility twice a week and check in with our employees and support them.

ASME Accredited Company

This award recognizes the high quality standards required to operate under ASME Accreditation.

Tulsa Metro Chamber

Of the hundreds of companies in our city, this is given to one company each year and we are so proud to be the 2008 winner.

The Alliance 2003 Award of Excellence

This award was received in recognition of our early successes in implementing Lean Manufacturing throughout our company.

Best in Benefits

This was given to us because in our manufacturing category we had the best benefits in an 8-state region in the US.

Manufacturing Advocacy Award

We were given this award for our efforts to help other manufactures in the Oklahoma community to pursue excellence.

Blue Ribbon Small Business Award

The award was presented to us as a national recognition in Washington, DC, by the US Chamber of Commerce.

Quality Program Standards for Pipe Bending

As a company committed to being a world-class supplier of products that meet or exceed our customers’ expectations, Tulsa Tube Bending has invested in the systems, people, and standards needed to provide responsive, high-quality services devoted to bending tube.

Our goal is to always supply defect-free products to our customers on time. To do this, we’ve established a quality system for bending tubing that’s fully understood and supported by personnel at all levels of our organization. We have developed and documented this quality system for bending tubing to be compliant with the services and intent of ISO and QS9000 principles. Listed below are the major components of our quality system for bending tube.

Our quality system for bending tube defines the responsibilities, procedures, fabrication processes, and management needed to maintain conformance with customer requirements when bending tubing. The system permeates all aspects of our business.

Document control helps ensure quality when bending tube by making certain that proper and up-to-date documents associated with bending tubing are available when needed. Our system also requires that any changed documents have the proper authorization and that all documents associated with bending tube, whether hard copy or electronic, be securely stored and archived for a set time period.

Prior to sending work orders for bending tube to the plant, we will review them to ensure that we can meet your requirements. To do so, we will cross-check the order with the procedures we use for bending tubing.

Orders that are very complex or that are part of a long-term contractual agreement for bending tube may go through our print and process review (PPR). PPR meetings bring together representatives from our sales, engineering, purchasing, quality, and operations departments, who work together to clarify the project-specific expectations for bending tubing.

In order to deliver world-class services for bending tubing, our quality system’s requirements must be extended to all of our vendors. Along with documenting how we acquire services associated with bending tube to meet our customers’ requirements, we’ve also established a method for evaluating, certifying, and decertifying our vendors. Additionally, traceability and certifications are controlled and stored for future reference.

Inspection and testing processes ensure that our products meet each customer’s requirements. This includes documentation that verifies when inspection and testing of work associated with bending tubing have been completed. We use a variety of non-destructive tests while performing first-article, in-process, and final inspections.

Accurate measuring equipment is essential for ensuring the quality of work associated with bending tube. We have procedures to control, calibrate, and maintain all measuring and test equipment to NIST standards when applicable. Traceability is maintained in the calibration logs.

Tulsa Tube Bending is responsible for the production processes that directly affect quality and that ensure that our processes for bending tubing are carried out under controlled conditions. A process manual for bending tube details the work instructions for all processes that have to do with bending tubing. Control charts and SPC techniques are used when applicable or when required by customers.

Nonconforming material is material that doesn’t meet all of the customer’s requirements or specifications for bending tube. We’ve established segregation and disposition procedures that prevent the unintended use of nonconforming material. Our material review board’s monthly audits ensure that appropriate controls are in place.

Our procedures for bending tubing describe the proper handling devices and surface care for lifting, storing, and shipping raw materials and finished products. Special customer information is printed on the work order for handling, packaging, and shipping when required. All quality records are maintained and archived for three years.

All Tulsa Tube Bending employees receive the appropriate training required to perform their jobs. Training records are maintained for each employee.

Training and education related to bending tube are integral pieces of our continuous improvement culture. To help improve quality and safety, all employees are involved in either personal development education or specific training for bending tubing. Training programs for bending tube are qualified to the standards of the American Welding Society, ASME Code Certification, ANSI, and PFI specifications.

We use a form to facilitate the process of eliminating the cause of nonconformance to requirements when bending tube. This form identifies the problem, determines the probable causes, and establishes corrective action to be taken. There is also a place to focus on preventive action as a means of achieving continuous improvement and eliminating the nonconformance.

We have an internal audit process for evaluating the effectiveness of our system for measuring the quality of our work associated with bending tubing. The audit process is an integral part of the management review process. A complete audit of our quality system will be conducted at least once per year.