Eileen Mozinski Schmidt Andax Industries meeting their customers’ containment needs for 40 years
Creativity has always been of paramount importance at Andax Industries. The leak and spill control product manufacturer has a 40-year history of creating innovative products to meet its customers’ needs, including in the secondary containment and emergency preparedness markets. It is a track record the company president says the business will work to continue into the future.
“We are here to help. We are here, most importantly, to listen to the concerns (customers) have in performing their job responsibilities. Our focus is to provide the outside the-box solutions to their needs,” said Patrick McAtarian, president of Andax.
Located in St. Marys, Kansas, Andax manufactures in the U.S. and serves customers in electric utility and industrial manufacturing markets globally. McAtarian said the business’ manufacturing efforts have yielded several key products, including the launch of the Andax Pac™ in 1985. The Pac was revolutionary in the market as the first vacuum pack spill kit for vehicles, according to McAtarian.
Andax also created a patented Transformer Sac™ containment product that contains leaking transfomer at the source. It allows for the transformer to be contained while safely lifted by the lifting lugs and lowering on to a utility truck before leaving a site with the product, McAtarian said.
The company’s Tank Trap™ is also popular, an instant portable containment device capable of containing a spill in mere seconds, according to McAtarian. “It allows a vehicle operator to contain a spill in 3 seconds. You are containing a spill and then able to make a phone call to dispatch,” he said, adding that many of Andax’s material handling customers use the Tank Trap™ in industrial facilities and that the product has also been essential to the business’ transportation industry customers who often have little time to respond to a leak or spill when on the road.
“Invariably, they end up next to a storm drain and they’re on the 6 o’clock news being an enemy of the state,” he said. But with the Tank Trap’s three second response time, such clients are able to quickly mitigate a leak, protecting the environment and the company’s bottom line, McAtarian said. And earlier this year, Andax launched a product called The Extreme Shell™. It allows a facility operator or safety manager to encapsulate a leaking pipe flange or valve at the source and diverting that leak to a secondary containment vessel.
“Then the maintenance issue isn’t dictating your work environment or production schedule,” said McAtarian, who said the optional remote operating system which compliments the product allows operators to monitor situations through a smart phone app.
“This product can be a tremendous time saver,” he said. The celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary in 2017 was significant for Andax, which was launched by McAtarian’s father.
Andax’s products and solutions have stood the test of time, said McAtarian, who added that as many businesses have consolidated or been part of acquisitions, Andax has maintained its original, independent character.
The focus of the business to maintain meaningful relationships with customers and help them solve problems with their operations, including customizing products to their specific needs.
“We are able to use our experience and expertise to actually save them time and take their jobs easier,” said McAtarian, who said the company has several new products making their way through the development process now. “I believe and hope they will be as revolutionary as our previous products,” he said.
Eileen Schmidt is a freelance writer and journalist based in the Greater Milwaukee area. She has written for print and online publications for the past 12 years. Email [email protected] or visit eileenmozinskischmidt.wordpress.com to contact Eileen.
