Essick Air Products, Traditional Technology

Manufacturing in Action, Source : The Manufacturer US

Essick Air Products has taken an ancient idea and successfully applied it to modern technology. Jim Pettry showed Colin Browning its latest product line.

The principles behind Essick Air Products’ evaporative cooling systems have been used since the time of ancient Egypt. The key lies in its simplicity. Humans keep cool by evaporating sweat from the surface of the skin. Essick uses a technology that operates in much the same way: its product keeps buildings cool by passing air over a wetted medium. However, unlike mechanical air conditioning systems, evaporative coolers require the doors and windows to be open, not closed, in order for it to work.

“Ours is undoubtedly a very tried and true technology,” said Jim Pettry, vice president of sales and marketing. “The cooler draws in air from outside of the building and cools it by an evaporation process. The cold air is then blown inside. But unlike air conditioning units which recycle most of what they blow out, an evaporative cooler continually draws in large volumes of fresh air. This air needs somewhere to go, otherwise the building can become pressurized. So, buildings using our system have windows open and continually have clean, fresh air circulated through them.”

Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Essick has 40 employees. However, the business is seasonal, and during peak periods there can be up to 100 people working in the factory. In addition, Essick also owns Champion Cooler located in Denison, Texas. Both Essick and Champion produce a range of evaporative coolers for both the domestic and commercial markets. The smaller, domestic units work best in arid climates, so demand comes mainly from the western US. The larger commercial units are less sensitive to varying conditions and are best suited for use in factories and loading bays.

There are other advantages that Essick and Champion are able to highlight when dealing with potential customers. Not only are evaporative coolers cheaper to purchase than air conditioning units, they are cheaper to run. In many cases, operating costs may be 70% lower.

Essick was established in 1943, and since 1978, it has been part of Walton Enterprises. With nearly 60 years of experience in the business, it has become a popular supplier of evaporative coolers. To keep its operations at the forefront of technology, the company has made several improvements. It has recently installed a state-of-the-art painting system which provides better paint coverage at lower temperatures and with less waste than older systems.

In addition to improving the overall construction of each cooler, Essick has improved the internal technology. The performance of an evaporative cooler is linked closely to the material used within. A popular choice of material is Aspen wood that is shaved and then woven to form a pad that the water is passed through. However, extensive R&D has brought other suitable materials to light, such as Celdek, that has a similar appearance to cardboard but produces significantly cooler air.

“One of our main suppliers of Celdek pads is a company called Munter’s,” Pettry explained. “They are an ISO 9001 supplier, and this rating is very important to us. It assures us of the quality of the materials they supply to us. The demand patterns we experience at Essick and Champion are such that our suppliers have to get accustomed to coping with the peaks and valleys; they need to be very flexible. During our busiest times, which run from February to August, we can be taking 8,000 calls a month. It is during this period that we generate around 80% of our annual sales.”

The uneven nature of demand at Essick and Champion has resulted in a fairly unique manufacturing strategy. During the summer months, the factory cannot produce enough coolers. The company has worked hard to establish its reputation for quick delivery, and all units are shipped within three days of receiving the order. In order to maintain this quality of service, large numbers of units have to be stockpiled during the quiet period. Champion Cooler Corporation of Denison, Texas has added an extra 20,000 square feet of storage space. The additional warehousing means that production lines are not left idle during the fall.

However, the most exciting part of Essick these days is its new product line. Having become known for its fixed coolers, the company has now branched out into portable units, and, as Pettry was able to confirm, the interest has been overwhelming.

“We purchased the rights to a spot cooler called a Gadabout,” he said. “It was developed by a company called Goettl. The smallest Gadabout is only 21 inches deep, but it can still move 3,000 cubic feet of air per minute; the largest one we produce is capable of blowing 4,500 cubic feet of air per minute. The units are mounted on wheels and can therefore be moved to wherever the customer needs to use them.

Production seems to be moving along at a steady pace at Essick Air Products. The Gadabout is proving to be more successful than the company was expecting, and its future is looking very bright. “We have had a very good response for the Gadabout,” Pettry concluded. “Demand has been four or five times what we anticipated it would be.”

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