Tru-Twist, the original twisted tube was created in the 1960's. Like many great inventions, this tube was developed as an experimental engineering project and transformed metal tube from "ordinary" to "extraordinary". In 1969 this creation was perfected and patented by Waltham Industries of Massachussetts. Turbotec was born when Waltham invested several million to start a new division. Turbotec's elegant tubing was initially utilized in the decorative market as table legs or coat racks.
After Waltham Industries closed its doors in 1972, Turbotec was purchased by a New York consultant Robert Perkins. Perkins formed Spiral Tubing Company with 4 employees. Fortunately, 1973 brought about an Arab Oil Embargo and a need for unique, energy efficient tubing. Perkins was able to take advantage of the manufacturing industry's need for fluted tubing. He expanded beyond ornamental tubing and entered markets for residential furnaces, plumbing connectors, marine engine coolers, and even heat exchangers for blood oxygenators used for open-heart surgery.
By 1975, Spiral Tubing sales had reached the $200,000 mark. Perkins continued to envision growth for the company and determined that with further financial support Turbotec could reach beyond his forecast.
In 1976 Perkins sold the company to Stampede Energy Corporation. A new, forward thinking management team was hired to make the acquisition not just seamless, but profitable. Spiral Tubing quickly doubled its manufacturing facility.
Turbotec was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Spiral Tubing in 1978 and sold its first coaxial condensers to the heat pump industry and expanded the applications of its tubing into new exchangers for the biomedical industry and bendable connectors for plumbing applications.
In 1981 Spiral Tubing Corporation merged into Thermodynetics, Inc. The company conducted an initial public offering (TDYT) on July 16, 1981. The $3.3 million raised allowed the company to construct a 40,000-sqaure-foot facility in Windsor, Connecticut.
In just 12 years, Turbotec had evolved from a small manufacturer of decorative items, to producing applications for the tubing industry, which included condensers and evaporators for water source heat pumps in addition to a variety of other heat exchange applications including heat recovery and refrigeration.
The early 80's brought great success for the young company. With revenues in the range of $3 million in 1984, a second public offering was held. The company used the $4.125 million raised to pay down debt, buy out holdings of Stampede Energy and explore new possibilities. The funding allowed Turbotec, the operating division, to grow its engineering and sales capabilities. The company began to offer tubing and tubing assemblies. Also in the early 1980's, Thermodynetics acquired National Energy Savers Products, Inc.-a St. Petersburg, Florida, company that manufactured small residential heat recovery systems.
Turbotec continued to grow and expanded its product line to offer refrigeration, heating, air conditioning, swimming pool heat pumps, plumbing connectors, marine air conditioning, soft drink dispensers, ice-making machines, aerospace and biomedical equipment, as well as energy conservation approaches.
An additional 28,700 square-feet was added to the main campus in 1991 and Turbotec revenues increased into the $6 million range. The 90's brought about a number of significant and innovative changes to Turbotec. Total quality management was implemented company-wide, improving and aligning the company vision with all employees. Cellular manufacturing and demand flow scheduling were introduced to create greater efficiency and productivity for the company in 1999.
The new millenium brought about many changes, including a new 15000-square-foot addition to the 40,000-square-foot main building completed in 2001. It allowed Turbotec's manufacturing operations to be consolidated under one roof. With the investment of an upgraded, fully integrated information-processing platform, Turbotec provided real time data to better manage the reporting and control systems of the company. In 2009, Turbotec expanded to an additional 20,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Hickory, North Carolina to help meet the ever increasing customer demand.
Today, Turbotec employs approximately 90 people. Turbotec's products are sold nationwide , as well as in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. The fluted tubes are a sought after commodity and can be found under the trade names of TRU-TWIST, GROOVE-RITE, TURBO-FLOW, POOL-SAFE, AND CHEM-SAFE.
New products, such as our heat recovery line are gaining popularity in the U.S. and overseas.
Our pool products are now the industry benchmark for the Swimming Pool Heat Pump market.
Our tube-intube, Turbo-Flow coaxial coils are considered the "Gold Standard" for the Geothermal and Water Source high efficiency heat pump systems.
