FlatPlate Sees Windfall in Governmental Energy Regulations
Federal regulations tend to make manufacturers cringe, but Steve Wand is one of the exceptions. The CEO of FlatPlate Inc., the leading U.S. manufacturer of brazed-plate heat exchangers, sees governmental energy-efficiency mandates as a windfall for his company.
In essence, a heat exchanger enables the transfer of heat from one source to another for heating and cooling. “Our heat exchangers use a relatively new technology,” says Wand. “They’re smaller and more efficient than the current standard. It’s analogous to the recording industry going from the LP to the CD.”
FlatPlate offers manufacturers a compact, cost-effective design that is one-fifth the size and weight of traditional heat exchangers. The design’s efficiency brings substantial energy savings, and the smaller size allows customers to build smaller equipment that takes up less space.
“We Knew This Was a Potential Trend”
In the 1990s, Wand was vice president of a small heat exchanger company and saw customers using brazed-plate heat exchangers from Europe. “We knew this was a potential trend,” Wand says. “Our customers wanted to use the technology but didn’t want to source it from Europe. The irony is that the technology was originally invented in America but sat dormant on a shelf.”
The York-based company, which currently employs 45, sells primarily to commercial and industrial original equipment manufacturers. Their product is used extensively in water chillers for x-rays and lasers, air-conditioning systems, heat pumps and boiler applications. Companies such as Trane are including FlatPlate heat exchangers in commercial and industrial HVAC units.
BFTP has invested $439,000 in FlatPlate since 1992, shortly after Wand decided to enter the market and form the company. “Ben Franklin played a very important role in the early days because we needed a significant amount of capital to develop our technology and jump-start the business,” Wand says. “They helped us build our prototype. In the first two years, BFTP provided 15 to 20 percent of our capital needs.”
New Owner Brings More Capital, Global Distribution
FlatPlate was privately held until 1997, when York International bought all the shares. “In 2000, we wanted to buy back the company,” Wand says. “BFTP was instrumental in connecting us with the expertise needed to do it.”
In November 2005, FlatPlate was acquired by GEA, a step Wand says is going to further improve FlatPlate’s market leadership, as well as job opportunities in Pennsylvania. “We are now better capitalized and have access to a well-established global distribution network,” says Wand. “And FlatPlate will be headquarters for GEA heat exchanger product development worldwide.” GEA has more than $5 billion in annual sales.
In addition to what Wand calls a “superior technology,” another key to the company’s ongoing success is its customer service. “Technology is one thing; how you deliver it is another,” he says. “We set very high standards for ourselves, so we outperform the competition. While we continue R&D efforts, the competition may eventually catch up to us technologically. Companies ultimately choose suppliers because of the people they are dealing with.”
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