Company profile
Powrmatic factfile
* Based in Somerset, Powrmatic has been in the UK for 60 years and is a division of Stamm International
* Its first heaters were produced in Reading in 1957 * It later relocated to Ilminster, where it has an 85,000 square feet facility and is major employer in the town
* Powrmatic has enjoyed significant expansion in the last 60 years with a number of acquisitions including Selkirk Manufacturing in 2003, which now trades independently within the group as SFL. * Powrmatic also just acquired Shev which provides it with a range of ventilation products
* Staff numbers fluctuate seasonally with typically 90 on the staff in the winter and around 70 in the summer period.
*Powrmatic was specified for London 2012 Olympis aquatics centre.
Customer service Powrmatic places significant focus on customer service, which according to Phil is the one area where it can seriously set itself apart from its competitors. “Our customers like to buy on quality and specification and of course market price is an issue, but to an extent mandatory prod- uct approvals which are wide- spread in our industry have a lev- eling effect because most manu- facturers have their products approved to the same standards. “So in addition to having very good quality products and reliability, we are trying to differ- entiate from other manufacturers at a company level not just at a product level and improve matters of customer service. Powrmatic’s work is mostly UK based allowing it to offer bespoke solutions at fairly short turn- arounds but it also has a very strict policy in that it does not install. Phil says: “We don’t encroach on our customers’ territory.
Installers like to install and service the products so we don't deal with end customers which is very much at the heart of our philosophy.”
The future Powrmatic is approaching the future with confidence but remaining entirely focused on its core activities in heating, ventila- tion and air conditioning. “We have had 40 per cent growth over the last four or five years in what have been fairly chal- lenging economic times and we believe there is plenty of business to be had out of those sectors. “The challenges for the next two to three years are really as a consequence of legislation with the Eco Design Directive coming into play by 2019,” says Phil. “It will be a big investment for us to develop a completely new range of heaters and I am really exciting by the solutions we have so far. It’s similar on the ventila- tion side too. Development is going to be key in our future.”
A rotation revelation
Powrmatic’s rotation heater is said to offer a clever solution to putting heating into large fully racked distribution centres. According to Phil: “Because the racking is so dense it is difficult to get heating where you want it but with the rotation heater we can do this with just one piece of central plant without the need for multiple heaters and all the problems that can bring.” The rotation heater is being used successfully at Topps Tiles warehouse distribution centre in Leceister.
“When you say to a facilities manager that you can heat their 3,000 square metre warehouse with one or two pieces of freestanding equipment, it takes some convincing but we now have enough installations which prove it does work very well.
“The big advantage for the client is flexibility in that they can change the racking layout or the purpose for which it is used without having to worry about ductwork or multiple heaters.
“If the client wants to store wine today and in two years time wants to the space to store chocolate, they have the flexibility to do this.”
Daily news update at
www.heatingandventilating.net
HVR | July 2014 | 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40