Spirax-Sarco (www.spiraxsarco.com) signed an agreement to acquire Advanced Flow Technology Company (AFTCO, www.advancedflow.com) from AMJ Equipment Corp. of Lakeland, Fla. The AFTCO business will be merged with EMCO Flow Systems, a U.S. division of Spirax-Sarco headquartered in Longmont, Colo. The initial purchase price was $2.75 million. The price is subject to adjustment based on future sales. The deal is expected to strengthen Spirax’s position in the magnetic flowmeter market.
AFTCO’s corporate offices and manufacturing operations are based in Lakeland, Fla. The company also has a flow laboratory with a flow capacity of 110,000 GPM (25,000 meters3/hour). The laboratory is operated in accordance with ISO-8617 standards. AFTCO, founded in 1995, has 14 employees and is led by President Al Jerrold.
AFTCO’s primary manufactured product is the UniMag Series of electromagnetic flowmeters. The product line features pulsed AC coil excitation technology for use in dirty liquids, such as raw sewage or dewatered sludge. Other AFTCO products include the ChannelMag, TapMag, and DemiMag models, as well as the multivariable DeltaMass line.
EMCO Flow Systems (www.emcoflow.com), the business unit within Spriax-Sarco under which AFTCO will reside, was incorporated in 1967 as the Engineering Measurements Company, and was acquired by Advanced Energy Industries in 2001. In June 2005, EMCO Flow Systems became a division of Spirax-Sarco plc. Today, EMCO is a manufacturer of precision flowmeters and controllers for liquid, gas, and steam applications. EMCO flowmeters are used in many industries, with concentrations in food, agriculture, environmental protection, and mining. The company’s Longmont production facility uses an ISO-9001 certified quality assurance system. EMCO’s family of flowmeters include magnetic, turbine, ultrasonic, and vortex technologies, ranging in size from ¼" to 100 inches.
EMCO’s magnetic line features the MAGFLO Series. Its turbine line features the Turbo-Bar Series. The company’s ultrasonic and vortex flowmeter lines feature the Sono-Trak (transit-time and Doppler) and the PhD, V-Bar, and Hydro-Flow, respectively. The company also offers flow processors and temperature transmitters.
Spirax-Sarco’s acquisition of AFTCO gives the company a better foothold in the magnetic flowmeter market. AFTCO’s flowmeter is one of the more traditional types of magnetic systems. The AC (alternating current) technology employed by AFTCO’s magnetic flowmeters is being displaced in many applications by DC (direct current) technology, and more recently by high-strength DC systems. In 2000, AC magnetic flowmeters represented 12 percent of total magnetic flowmeter sales worldwide, but by 2004 this percentage was almost cut in half to 6.5 percent. The fastest growing coil power technology is high-strength DC.
Information for this article was abstracted from the Worldflow Monitoring Service by Flow Research. Worldflow is a continually updated report, covering the worldwide flow control market. For more information, please visit www.flowresearch.com.
Courtesy of Flow Research
