Meet Arthur Kovach

For Arthur “Art” Kovach, mission planning is second nature. This and other qualities are what make him such an asset on the EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) team at WIKA USA.

Rooted in West Point Values

If two adjectives could encapsulate Art’s character, they would be mission-focused and disciplined. These traits were fully developed after four years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics (nuclear engineering specialty, Phi Kappa Phi honor society). He then became an Army Signal Corps officer, where he further honed his leadership and problem-solving abilities as platoon leader and also as a company executive officer in Germany.

By the time he left the military, having attained the rank of first lieutenant, he possessed a set of valuable skills that would benefit his future employers and customers. Looking back, he said, “Those years shaped how I approach mission planning, team building, and accountability in my civilian career.”

Find a Home at WIKA

WIKA USA is the fortunate recipient of Art’s experience and skill set. He got to know WIKA while working at FLW Inc., a distributor specializing in industrial measurement, control, and calibration products and services.

“I already knew the WIKA brand’s reputation for reliability and depth of portfolio,” Art said. “As large industrial projects grew more complex, I saw WIKA increasingly show up as the ‘default’ measurement solution on major requirements. That got my attention.”

So, when an opportunity opened up to help grow WIKA’s footprint with EPCs in the power sector, he felt like this was the natural next step. WIKA USA concurred, appreciating his combination of technical background, previous OEM/utility relationships, and interest in long‑cycle capital projects. In early 2024, Art joined WIKA and immediately started making a difference for customers in the power generation and oil & gas industries.

The Consummate Consultant for Power Generation

Art’s decades-long work history has given him a deep knowledge base of the various instrumentations and systems found in a wide range of industries — not just power generation, but also defense and aerospace, automotive, HVAC, process industry, energy, oil & gas, petrochemical, municipal/water, test and measurement, and calibration and metrology. But he feels the greatest affinity for power generation.

“I kept gravitating back because that’s where I can pair field experience with WIKA’s full measurement portfolio of pressure, temperature, level, flow, SF₆, and calibration,” Art said. “The company is a leader in measurement solutions for conventional, nuclear, and renewable power, and I like using my skill set to help our EPC customers design systems that ultimately improve reliability and reduce lifecycle cost for them.”

His favorite projects are when customers involve WIKA early in the planning process to give input on specific instrumentation across the entire plant. “I especially enjoy long‑term relationships where we move from one‑off instruments to standardization,” he said. “This includes developing a common specification, optimizing customer inventory count, and supporting the customer from FEED (front-end engineering design) through commissioning and ongoing MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations).”

A Committment to Customers and Community

Art excels in his role because he speaks the language of both plant operations and project execution. “I can sit down with a process engineer and talk measurement ranges, wetted materials, and nuclear or safety‑related requirements, then pivot to a project manager and focus on risk, standardization, and logistics,” he added.

He said his job is made easier since WIKA has such a broad instrument portfolio and global manufacturing footprint, including several facilities in the U.S. “Because of this, I can help EPCs simplify vendor lists, standardize solutions, and reduce schedule risk on large, multi‑year projects.”

As part of the EPC business development team, Art’s days are filled with strategic planning, project work, and time with customers – discussing specs, reviewing piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), visiting plants and job sites, and presenting at industry events. He also collaborates with WIKA product specialists – in the U.S. and around the world – on applications with unusual process conditions or ones that might require custom-engineered solutions. Through it all, Art is laser-focused on his mission: to see his customers’ projects and plants succeed, from design through operation.

Being an EPC business development executive doesn’t leave Art a lot of free time. But when he’s not on the road, he has another mission: volunteering at his church parish and Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Art also enjoys following college and professional football, seeing live music, spending time outdoors, and planning his next trip.