Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
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R & R<br />
ENGINEERING<br />
COMPANY, INC.<br />
Below: Wayne Banes Rumley.<br />
For almost fifty years, R & R Engineering<br />
Company, Inc., has provided outstanding<br />
engineering principles and innovative<br />
manufacturing designs for the oil, gas, and<br />
petrochemical industries. Located in Tulsa<br />
County, <strong>Oklahoma</strong>, the company was founded<br />
on July 23, 1968, by Wayne Banes Rumley.<br />
A 1960 graduate of the<br />
University of Tulsa, Wayne<br />
interned as a rating engineer<br />
with Western Supply<br />
Company of Tulsa before<br />
accepting a position as<br />
a process engineer with<br />
Champlin Oil Company of<br />
Enid, <strong>Oklahoma</strong>, and later<br />
as a rating engineer with<br />
ALCO of Houston, Texas.<br />
He returned to Tulsa<br />
to start Air Cooled Heat Exchangers in 1963,<br />
which he sold in 1968 in order to expand<br />
his vision of individualized success in<br />
the air-cooled heat exchanger business.<br />
Subsequently, Wayne founded his current<br />
endeavor R & R Engineering Company, Inc.,<br />
that same year. Despite having few employees,<br />
he was able to provide the engineering and<br />
design functions necessary to construct heat<br />
exchangers while actively selling his ideas<br />
and products to prospective customers.<br />
Although the sales trips often involved<br />
visiting several states within a twenty-four<br />
to forty-eight hour time interval, he would<br />
return from the long trips eager to oversee<br />
the manufacturing of the heat exchangers in<br />
his small rented fabrication facility.<br />
In 1971, R & R Engineering expanded<br />
onto the company’s current site at 12585<br />
East Sixty-First Street in Broken Arrow,<br />
<strong>Oklahoma</strong>. The office and fabrication shop are<br />
situated on seventeen acres that was on the<br />
outskirts of Tulsa County when the company<br />
first began. Although the original office and<br />
shop combination was small, necessitating<br />
that Wayne and his shop foreman share<br />
space with the actual manufacturing process,<br />
it was evident that the location would allow<br />
for future measured expansion.<br />
Wayne focused on his desire for success.<br />
By measuring business cycles and carefully<br />
observing the ever-changing financial climate,<br />
he prudently invested in R & R’s expansion<br />
with the goal of adequate growth to meet<br />
ongoing demand while remaining debt free.<br />
Today, the company includes a large office<br />
complex and a modern fabrication facility,<br />
totaling more than 50,000 square feet,<br />
housing the latest in design innovation and<br />
manufacturing programs and equipment.<br />
R & R Engineering Company, Inc., provides<br />
equipment to many of the leading oil, gas, and<br />
petrochemical firms across the globe. The<br />
present team, who share Wayne’s visionary<br />
approach, are: President and Chief Engineer<br />
Tim Childress assisted by the Rumleys; Vice<br />
President Warren Burch; Purchasing Agent<br />
Warren Benjamin; Engineer Andrea; Controller<br />
Beverly Kendrick; Mechanical Engineer Dustin<br />
Agee; Sales Manager Nick Parker; Shop<br />
Superintendent Jim Hammers; and Heat Transfer<br />
Consultant and Professor of Engineering at the<br />
University of Tulsa Kraemer Luks. James Cook<br />
holds the title of sales manager emeritus. The<br />
cornerstone of R & R Engineering’s manufacturing<br />
capabilities is the dedicated full time<br />
shop employees, many of them have been<br />
employed here for more than fifteen years.<br />
Wayne functions today as CEO and<br />
process engineer of the company with his<br />
achievements leading to his inclusion in the<br />
University of Tulsa’s Engineering and Natural<br />
Sciences Hall of Fame in 2004. He has<br />
established several chemical engineering<br />
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e<br />
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