Edmac - Compressed Air & Vacuum Solutions

12/1/2006 Edmac Acquired by Atlas Copco
Edmac Compressor Co., a Winston-Salem distributor of industrial compressed air systems, has been acquired by their long-time key supplier Atlas Copco.

Edmac was started in Winston-Salem, NC in 1948 by Ed McKnight. In 1974, Edmac was purchased by 2 local business men, Tom Eshelman, Sr. and Frank Driscoll. Eshelman’s 2 sons, Tom Jr. and Robert, later joined the company and are currently managing its operations. The Eshelman family members purchased Driscoll’s shares in 1992.

In the early 1980’s, Edmac began to sell Atlas Copco air compressors to the textile industry in North Carolina. Atlas Copco had developed a special type of compressor that produced “oil-free” air which was commonly used in textile production. By the late 90’s, Edmac was the exclusive representative for Atlas Copco in North & South Carolina and was one of their largest U.S. distributors.

Edmac will now operate as an Atlas Copco Compressor Center retaining all of its current employees. Tom Jr and Robert Eshelman will continue to manage its operations. Atlas Copco has made several similar acquisitions in the U.S. during the past few years. “We have a 25 year relationship with Edmac and we are proud to have them join our family,” said Jim Lekberg, Vice President and Treasurer of Atlas Copco’s U.S. operations. Tom Eshelman, President of Edmac remarked that “By combining Edmac’s reputation for excellent service with Atlas Copco’s considerable resources, we expect to make further progress on our goal of growing marketshare in the Carolinas.

Atlas Copco is a Swedish company with 26,000 employees and $7 billion in sales worldwide. The compressor division is the largest air compressor manufacturer in the world. Atlas Copco currently has 3,500 employees in the U.S. Most of its compressor manufacturing takes place at its division headquarters facility in Antwerp, Belgium. Two years ago, Atlas Copco moved their U.S. compressor plant from the Springfield, MA area to Rock Hill, SC.

11/1/2002 Edmac Key Supplier Ranks 6th in World
Edmac's primary supplier, Atlas Copco, ranks sixth in the world in the newly release Competitive Fitness of Global Firms 2002 Report, and number one in the Engineering and Machinery sector. The report is published by the top European business school, INSEAD.

The Competitive Fitness of Global Firms 2002 report is based on a survey of the 500 largest companies in Europe and North America, grouped into eight industry sectors. It judges the respondents according to 12 key business capabilities including: customer orientation, innovation, market strategy, human resources, and corporate culture.

A score of 65 or higher puts a company into the "World Class" category. Of the companies surveyed, only 86 made it to this level. In joint first position with 82 points are BMW and Nokia. The results show that Atlas Copco's 77 points puts it on par with Microsoft, and ahead of other prestigious companies such as SAP, Exxon Mobil, and Compaq. Atlas Copco is long way in front of all other companies in the Engineering and Machinery sector.

The 2001 edition of the report was the first to include a measure of companies' E-business capabilities, defined as a firm's ability to optimize use of electronic technologies in all aspects of its operations. Atlas Copco is the only company in the Engineering and Machinery sector to rank “World Class” in the E-business section of the report.

You can view the rankings at 2002 Rankings.

3/26/2001 Edmac Expands Winston Salem Headquarters

To accommodate recent growth, Edmac Compressor Company has doubled its headquarters space on Salem Avenue in Winston-Salem, NC to 30,000 square feet. The expansion provides additional space for their expanded manufacturing operation which builds customized air compressor and vacuum machinery utilized in a wide range of applications for major industrial facilities. It also will enable Edmac to offer better local sales and service through its improved counter sales operation.

Edmac distributes and services industrial air compressors used primarily in manufacturing plants across North and South Carolina. “Virtually all manufacturing plants have a compressed air system that provides air power to various processes and to operate a wide range of machinery,” explains Robert Eshelman, CEO of Edmac. “Compressed air is essentially a utility much like electricity and water. We sell and service the machines that compress air to be distributed throughout the plant.” Edmac’s primary air compressor line is Atlas Copco, a Swedish company that is the world’s largest manufacturer of this type of equipment. The total market for compressed air equipment in the U.S. is about $2.5 billion per year.

Edmac has been operating out of Winston-Salem since 1948. In 1974, the company was purchased by Eshelman’s father, Tom Eshelman Sr. At the time they had 7 employees. Edmac now employees 50 and operates out of 5 offices across the Carolinas. In addition to the Winston-Salem headquarters, they have sales and service facilities in Raleigh and Wilmington, NC and in Columbia and Greenville, SC. Robert Eshelman and his brother Tom, who is President, currently run the company.

About 10 years ago, Edmac began making their own compressor assemblies to accommodate particular jobs where off the shelf products are not available. “We began this on a small scale at our facility in Columbia, South Carolina, but it has since grown to the point where we wanted it to be located in our headquarters facility,” comments Tom Eshelman. “The challenge of this part of our business has always been that we get orders for large assemblies that would demand more resources than we had available at our branch facility in Columbia. Relocating the operation to our corporate headquarters here in Winston-Salem should definitely help this because we have more people here and a larger facility.” Edmac now has the capability to design, produce, and test compressor systems up to 1000 horsepower. “There is a lot involved in producing a package of this size. There’s not only the production aspect, but we also have to provide what we call the software of the job, which includes engineering and design, CAD drawings, technical information, and operating manuals.”

Edmac purchased and moved into a building on Salem Ave. 4 years ago, originally occupying 15,000 of the 42,000 sq. ft. building, but have since doubled that space to 30,000 sq. ft. “The expansion provides a much better layout for us and allowed us to move our customer sales counter to the front part of our building providing more convenient service to our local customers.” Edmac took over space that they were previously leasing to Duke Power for their Appliance Division, which was shut down about 2 years ago.