Meet the Expert - Rudy Fuentes

Meet Rudy, a Key Account Sales Application Specialist located in Houston, Texas.

Rudy joined the Uson team almost 40 years ago when he was just 19 years old. We sat down with Rudy as he explained what his current role with Uson entails, what drew him to the company at such a young age, and what keeps him motivated and engaged in his work.

Read our full interview below to learn more about what an account sales application specialist does in their daily work, and how Rudy supports every customer to help them meet their leak measurement needs.

How did you get started in the industry, and what drew you to your current role as a Key Account Sales Application Specialist?

During my senior year in high school, I enrolled in an electronics course. After graduating, I and several other Waltrip High School graduates with electronics backgrounds were hired by Uson’s original owner, Mr. Bill Rapson (fun fact; the company name, Uson, is a combination of “HoUSton” and “RapsON”).

I quickly found the business to be very interesting, and the level of camaraderie between the Uson employees was amazing.

I went on to attend night school to obtain my associates degree, and I learned Spanish to a level that allowed me to further support Uson’s business. Eventually, I went on to work in all of the technical product-build departments across Uson, and with my Spanish language proficiency, it was a natural progression for me to move into sales applications, supporting the Latin America Territory.

After that, I found myself supporting to build the Uson Latin America sales representation, since I’d become an expert in the how the Uson leak testers are built and how they perform. I’m still learning after all these years, and I find that very motivating.

What is the role of a Sales Application Specialist, and how do you support customers in finding the right solution for their production needs?

My role is to support customers before, during, and after the sale of Uson equipment by helping them find the best solution for their application, providing quotes, and answering their technical application questions.

Upon receiving new equipment sales leads, I’ll determine the leak testing application – whether it be medical, industrial, automative, or industrial. Then I help the customer choose the correct Uson leak tester and testing technique for their application. I always make sure to help each customer understand the test technique and why I chose to recommend the Uson leak tester that I did for their specific application.

How do you ensure each customer receives personalized attention and solutions tailored to their unique leak testing needs?

It takes years of experience to know the correct Uson tester, test technique, and the components necessary to support the customer’s application. Throughout my time with Uson, I’ve travelled the world installing new Uson leak testers, conducting troubleshooting, leading training workshops, and performing demonstrations at customer facilities. It’s the knowledge I’ve gained from these experiences that allows me to support the customer with confidence, and I also have a great team at Uson to support me, should I ever have questions.

How do you collaborate with other team members and departments to provide a seamless experience for customers?

When customer inquiries fall into my realm, I am more than happy to support them to the best of my ability. In cases when service, technical support, billing, shipping, or engineering is needed, I forward the request to my colleagues, and everyone supports the customer within their respective fields of expertise. I really enjoy working with all Uson departments. Everyone is very knowledgeable and helpful in supporting our customers in any way they can.

What’s your favorite part about building relationships with customers?

My favorite part about building customer relationships is knowing that I’m supporting them as they do their job and conduct their business. The best feeling comes from a job well done – knowing that I was there from the beginning, reviewing their application and providing quotes for their equipment, to the customer receiving their order and experiencing a successful installation process. Knowing that the customer’s Uson equipment is performing and testing in their production line, and that I played a part in that, that’s the best feeling. Then comes the repeat business from the customer relationship that was built, which is always thrilling.

Can you share a memorable success story where you helped a customer solve a challenging problem or achieve significant improvements in their production process?

There was an instance with a medical manufacturer who had a balloon catheter application, and they wanted to identify a possible occlusion or blockage where the balloon was attached to the catheter. The challenge was that the occlusion or mass flow test technique requires the end of the part be open to the atmosphere in order to detect any occlusion/blockage – something the balloon did not allow.

I have experience with the sealed component test technique, which dumps an amount of air from a reference volume into a test chamber, detecting for a gross leak in a pill bottle for example. I used the sealed component test technique with a small amount of reference volume to dump into the catheter balloon area to try to detect the occlusion and it performed perfectly well, resulting in a multiple tester order.

This same test technique and experience has since led to numerous other orders wherein the customer requires the sealed component test technique to perform as an occlusion test specifically with an enclosed test part.

What is a common misconception that customers have about leak testing, and how do you address these misconceptions?

The most common misconception arises when a Uson leak tester fails numerous parts. After multiple rejected test parts, the customer will test their parts in a water dunk tank and see no air bubbles, leading them to blame the Uson testing equipment believing it’s allowing for false rejections, and assuming it to be defective.

In reality, the problem is with the leak tester’s interface. Whether it’s a fitting with thread tape, a manual fixture, or an automated hydraulic fixture, if there’s a leak in the interface, the tester is not equipped to perform properly. That interface leak must be addressed before the customer can continue their leak testing. We suggest a seal leak test troubleshooting program to the affected customer, which is a maintenance test that ensures the test system is leak-tight and fit for use.

If you could give one piece of advice to customers to enhance their experience when working with a sales application specialist, what would it be?

I’d say it would be to have their test parameters of test pressure, reject set-point, and part volume available and on-hand at the time of the quote, as well as a part description and part material. This is because, in the instance that only a few parameters are available, we can suggest alternate part parameters based on our many years of application history.

In some applications, we offer the customer experimental lab testing to help support their confidence in our leak testing solution, or based on the part parameters, we may wish to test their part to ensure that we can successfully support the application.

Having all of the test parameters, part descriptions, and all other pertinent information on-hand at the time of the quote streamlines the quotation process and ultimately eliminates any potential for frustration for both the customer and specialist.

Outside of work, what are some hobbies or interests that you’re passionate about?

I’m an avid reader, a Formula One racing fan, and I enjoy my weekly Spanish lessons. I’m also passionate about exercising. I try to work out five days a week at LifeTime Fitness, and I take weekly dance lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio, specializing in the two-step and salsa dancing.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that Uson customers might not know about you?

Yes! I’m a Uson lifer, having been with the company for 40 years on September 4th. And even though I’m 59 years old, I believe the interesting nature of Uson’s business and the engaging nature of interacting with our customers has kept me youthful. Thank you!

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