At Amtrol Inc., innovation and success go hand in hand.
In fact, the West Warwick-based water-system solutions company was founded 71 years ago with the belief that innovation, quality and service would be rewarded with customer loyalty and support.
“Innovation at Amtrol means teamwork,” said Chris Van Haaren, senior vice president of engineering. “It is not enough to have an idea. You must rely on others in the organization and outside to focus on taking the idea to commercialization.”
Partnerships are invaluable to innovation, Van Haaren believes. Amtrol has developed strong relationships with institutions such as the University of Rhode Island, Brown University and the New England Institute of Technology.
“Innovation is not one person or department,” he said. “It is not predictable; it is not a means to an end or a foregone conclusion. Therefore, it depends critically on teamwork. Innovation defines a company’s success. By managing innovation, a company ensures success in the future.”
Amtrol – with nearly 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space in Rhode Island – designs, manufactures, markets and sells products in the commercial and residential well-water, plumbing, heating and air conditioning markets. The company employs 1,700 people, with about 500 of those based in the United States – 425 in Rhode Island. In the past year, sales growth has led to about 35 new hires.
Van Haaren is proud of the fact that while there may be cheaper manufacturing options offshore, Amtrol’s products are made in the U.S.
“If you are chasing the low-cost option too heavily,” Van Haaren said, “you’re heading down the path of becoming a commodity. Which is the opposite direction from product innovation.”
U.S. manufacturing, he believes, offers a balance in product innovation with better control over quality, procurement, vendors and technology.
“The work we do at Amtrol serves a critical role in water systems and hydronic systems because we are bringing water to homes and other buildings for potable use and heating,” Van Haaren said. “Designing product at Amtrol is satisfying on its own, but it is even more so because we manufacture right here. … Our business supports the Rhode Island economy and everything we do directly supports the U.S. economy.”
Chris Kampf, director of product innovation, says innovation permeates every area at Amtrol.
“It’s not only the cool, new products, but the system on how these new products are commercialized,” Kampf said. “I like working for the company that invented the products that we make. The competition came later, which has motivated Amtrol to continue to move forward with innovative products and maintain its reputation as a leader in the industry.”
The company’s redesign using plastic for the Minitrol, a small, steel pressure vessel used as a shock suppressor in plumbing and heating systems, is an example.
With appliances becoming more efficient, Van Haaren explained, water valves are faster-acting to save water. This often introduces water hammer in the plumbing, a potentially serious problem for the integrity of the piping and components.
Through a comprehensive design process, “we were able to lower the part count from 17 down to four and the number of processes to assemble from 12 to two,” he said. “This provided a simpler assembly, which directly improves quality.”
The new design was the first all-plastic pressure vessel of its kind for Amtrol.
Results from this project, Van Haaren said, include a higher-quality product, new designs with IP, new core competencies, a platform strategy opportunity to extend the design to other applications and vessel sizes, and partnerships in technology in both material and processes to build upon.
In addition, Amtrol recently commercialized a new line of products that leverage the process of deep-drawing steel, a method in which the steel is cold-worked as it is being formed to make it stronger. The new products, Van Haaren said, are smaller and lighter, both important attributes in commercial installations. •
