Powell joins the ranks of great PVF manufacturers

 

BY MORRIS R. BESCHLOSS

PVF and economic analyst

 

Powell Valve is a name that has been emblazoned in the panorama of great valve industry names for more than a century. Whereas many of the original valve industry’s leading companies are either extinct or only a shadow of their former selves, Powell has maintained an uninterrupted viability for the 163 years of its existence.

 

It’s high time that this illustrious brandname, still venerated at the project, maintenance, and installation level, be recognized for the continued contributions that this Cincinnati-based valve maker continues to make to the rapidly evolving flow control sector. For that reason, among others, we take great pride in welcoming Powell Valve into The Wholesaler’s PVF Hall of Fame.

 

A look inside Powell Valve as told by Randy Cowart

 

In a recent conversation with CEO Randy Cowart, I was impressed that the Cincinnati-based major valve manufacturer and purveyor of an illustrious brand name, worldwide, continued to maintain stability in the turbulent markets facing all manufacturers with shrinking end-use markets and severe worldwide trade reductions.

 

But this is consistent with a company that has overcome a multitude of adversity over more than a century and a half of existence. Always privately held and managed, Randy Cowart and his son Brandy took over from the multi-generational Coombe family to provide the entrepreneurial spirit that has never left this highly-recognized valve manufacturer in all the years of its existence.

 

Powell has asserted its brand name distinctiveness throughout the many years they’ve been in business, as disclosed in a Q&A interview in The Wholesaler less than a year ago. The original William Powell Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1846, and has continued to produce an ever-expanding line of bronze, iron and steel gate, globe and check, as well as ball valves. It also features one of the world’s most comprehensive lines of cryogenic valves in a wide range of sizes and material.

 

Powell Valve has endured a Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Powell rebuilt after floods, U.S. economic disaster in the Great Depression and fierce foreign competition to help put men on the moon. Whether it was the “Manhattan Project,” projects on U.S. nuclear submarines, pulp and paper mills, or the harshness of cryogenic use, Powell Valve has a long tradition of quality in temperatures from -425°F to 1500°F and pressures from Class 125 to 4500.

 

A remarkable feature of Powell’s engendered respect is its market base with the industrial user: petrochemical, industrial gas, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, hydrocarbon processing, food processing, mining, power generation, pipeline, chemical and mechanical construction. Powell has formed business partnerships with industrial distributors, end-users, contractors, and A&Es in the U.S. and around the world. Powell claims business partnerships formed on competitively priced products, on-time delivery, service and the tradition of product reliability.

 

Powell also claims that its network of support and product availability is seldom matched. It is also well-known as a leading provider of the most complete multi-turn product line from a single source manufacturer. Powell has consistently been known as providing products of the highest quality standards. These are produced with modern manufacturing technology and astute materials sourcing, with strategic purchasing and financial ventures in place.

 

Further explaining Powell’s continued success, CEO Cowart cites its diverse products and services, industry knowledge, project capabilities and reputation, coupled with its high quality distribution network. These offer a winning partnership with its distributors, end-users, and contractors.

 

Cowart claims that the William Powell Company has made a commitment to the PVF industry to increase growth and market share, with quality competitive products and services on-time delivery, as the overall national and world markets evolve.

 

Since Powell’s end user customers have to react quickly to the demands that are placed on them by the changing nature of technology, automation and mechanization, Cowart realized that substantial inventory positions are needed to back up the multiplicity of its customers’ immediate needs. To address its customers’ needs, the Powell CEO claims a finished product inventory of over $25,000,000 in the U.S., with inventory hubs in Asia and Europe to accomplish this purpose.

In keeping with the need for upgrading, Powell has used its substantial expertise to construct a modification facility in the U.S. to assist customers with their automation, trim changes, end connection changes. Powell also provides additional quality inspections and special service pressure testing requirements, field service, etc.

 

My 53 years of valve industry involvement has allowed me to stay in touch with the ongoing leadership of this great company, which has had only nine CEOs in its illustrious history.

Dave Forker, a former Powell Board chairman, brought me on the board of the Valve Manufacturers Association in 1964. The late Andy Coombe, whose family held controlling interest in Powell for several generations, was on my executive committee when I became chairman/president of the VMA in 1970.