Many of the large backup power generators used around the country are built in the Midwest by companies such as Kohler Co., Caterpillar Inc. and Cummins Inc., and many of the suppliers that serve those companies are based here as well.
Backup power generators are essentially oversized motors that drive a turbine, which produces electricity. The engines either run on diesel fuel or natural gas, and like automotive engines, they produce a large amount of heat that needs to be dispersed.
That’s where Kenosha-based IEA Inc. comes in. The company designs and manufactures cooling systems for backup power generators. Its cooling systems, which operate very much like those used in cars, vary in size between 4 by 4 feet to 8 by 24 feet, said James Kettinger, president and CEO of the company.
“They might be for mobile emergency backup power generators, or they might be for stationary backup power,” Kettinger said. “Those are used by data centers, hospitals, government buildings and the military – anything that cannot be without power.”
Many of IEA’s systems are also used in Third World and developing countries. Because it can be difficult to create distribution systems for natural gas and coal, some areas are more appropriate for diesel-powered generators.
Most of the systems that IEA designs cooling equipment for are stationary backup power generators.
Most of IEA’s sales are to Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc., either directly to the company as part of a large order, or to a Caterpillar dealer for a more specialized unit.
Several of IEA’s cooling systems also are used to cool engines that power pumps on oil rigs, Kettinger said. The company routinely sells cooling systems to Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc., a global oilfield service company.
In July 2007, IEA moved into its 175,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and headquarters in the Kenosha Business Park. The company had previously occupied three buildings in Kenosha that totaled about 45,000 square feet.
“Everything is under one roof here,” Kittinger said. “Our efficiency went way up – this was a textbook of how to get waste out of your system.”
IEA now has dedicated areas for radiator core construction and soldering, assembly, testing for leaks, packaging and shipping. It has also invested in large-scale testing equipment.
The company has leased about 16,000 square feet of space to The Blast Shop Inc., a Kenosha-based powder coater, which gives IEA in-house powder coating capabilities.
“We can now pick items, pack them together, send them in for powder coating and they go right into our (assembly) line,” Kittinger said.
IEA employs about 200 workers in Kenosha. It has an affiliated firm in Menomonee Falls named ArcRon, which performs metal fabrication and welding for IEA. ArcRon has about 45 employees.
Revenues at IEA have more than doubled during the past five years, and its revenues for 2008 were the strongest of that period. However, because of softness in the economy and slowing orders, IEA is projecting lower sales this year.
As a result, the company made two rounds of layoffs in January and March, with a total of 45 employees cut.
Despite the layoffs and projected downturn in sales, IEA is continuing work in research and development, Kittinger said. The company is now working on new products for the industrial cooling market that it hopes to introduce when economic conditions improve.
“We look forward to coming out of this recession with high-quality, creative products,” he said. “We’re still going to be better in the end because of it.”
The company is continuing to develop new systems that use aluminum radiator cores. Aluminum is lighter and more affordable than copper, which is typically used in radiator cores, Kittinger said. IEA’s aluminum radiator cores are air-cooled radiators, while its copper radiators are liquid-cooled, Kettinger said.
“We have a proprietary aluminum alloy called ‘cold aluminum’ that has higher strength and operates at temperatures that normal aluminum can’t,” Kettinger said. “The ‘cold aluminum’ can handle the 500-degree temperatures coming off of a Caterpillar turbo, where regular aluminum gets weak at 500 degrees.”
IEA Inc.
9625 55th St., Kenosha
Industry: Industrial cooling equipment
Employees: About 200
Web site: www.iearad.com
