Milwaukee Valve’s illustrious history is just the beginning

BY MORRIS R. BESCHLOSS
PVF & economic analyst emeritus

Milwaukee Valve, founded in 1901 as a producer of flow control devices for the plumbing and heating industry, has evolved into one of the nation's leading manufacturers of commercial, industrial, and marine valves.

Based in new headquarters in the Milwaukee suburb of New Berlin, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Valve operates a modern bronze foundry in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin and produces valves in its two plants in China. Each of these ISO-9001-certified facilities manufactures more than 4,000 types of manual and actuated valves, one of the broadest product offerings in the industry. Engineering for all facilities is tightly controlled in New Berlin, to assure that valves are manufactured to the same quality standards wherever the valve is made.

Milwaukee Valve is also pursuing ISO-14001 certification for all of its facilities, including those in China.

Milwaukee Valve has become one of the leading innovators in quarter-turn ball and butterfly valves, as well as actuators and operators. This emphasis helped facilitate the piping system automation that has been evolving through America's core industries. The Milwaukee Valve line of products is used predominantly for commercial construction and industrial process projects.

New technology, new products

Continuing to follow its mission of innovation, Milwaukee Valve recently developed a double dead-end service iron butterfly valve. Priced at the same level as the company’s previous butterfly design, it is also field-repairable. An impressive development, but this new "end of the line" butterfly valve is just the beginning, claims the company.

Milwaukee Valve recently added a line of high-performance butterfly valves to turn high-pressure applications into low-risk decisions. The high-performance butterfly valve line is designed for the elevated temperature and pressure requirements found in rigorous commercial and industrial applications.

To help customers comply with the new 2010 lead-free laws that have taken effect in some states, Milwaukee Valve has developed the UltraPure line of lead-free valves. This new line of ball, gate, globe and check valves features robust alloys that exceed the stringent requirements that pipes, valves and fittings contain less than 0.25-percent lead when used in potable water applications.

A strong foundation

Milwaukee Valve’s growth began in 1959, when valve industry veteran Herschel Seder bought the company from its former owner, Controls Corporation of America. After acquiring Milwaukee Valve, which was primarily a plumbing valve manufacturer, Seder expanded the company’s activities in military shipbuilding, which quickly generated additional revenues. Another area in which Seder gained national renown was in expanding government contract work.

The company later diversified into industrial and commercial markets, which are now the company’s core markets. In 1991, Milwaukee Valve acquired the Hammond Valve Corp., which produces valves for residential and commercial applications.

Seder has enjoyed seeing his children take active roles in the growth of his company. His oldest son, John Seder, stays integrally involved and is well known to the company’s many distributor, contractor and end-user customers. His daughter, Diane Seder, contributes a great deal to the company's creative development, marketing and continued profit-making capability.

Becoming a leader

Industry circumstances have played a critical role in providing Milwaukee Valve with the opportunity to assume an industry leadership role, as many of the major valve brands of the mid-20th century struggled with the challenges posed by domestic and overseas competition. Even niche industry innovators in cast steel, high performance butterfly and industrial ball valves have lost much of their market dominance. This gave Milwaukee Valve and others the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by many of these former industry leaders.

Another important change for Milwaukee Valve occurred because of global pressures dictating the reduction of manufacturing costs wherever possible. In response to those pressures, Milwaukee Valve opened two plants in China over the past decade.

Milwaukee Valve maintains product quality through total control of operations. Worldwide engineering capabilities have been dramatically increased, and all functions of design are managed in the U.S. "The Milwaukee Valve name is not subcontracted," remarked Herschel Seder during a recent visit to his overseas plants. "It is important for us to continue as the manufacturer. Given our levels of supervision and design control, we can manufacture anywhere in the world, and our customers will specify and install Milwaukee and Hammond with the greatest of confidence."
Milwaukee Valve places great emphasis on the specification market. Many specifying engineers are content to add "Or Equal" to job specifications. To Milwaukee Valve, there is no such thing as "Or Equal". Every Milwaukee Valve and Hammond Valve product is designed and tested to confirm that it meets industry standards and specifications. Every facet of production is monitored and supervised, from design, though materials, through final production, so that when a valve makes it onto a jobsite, the building owner, engineer and installing contractor all know that Milwaukee Valve will stand behind that product.

Milwaukee Valve has also created strong ties with mechanical contractors. John Seder continues to make this a primary focus of his efforts, and Milwaukee Valve is a leader in that area. Despite the current slowdown in commercial construction, Milwaukee Valve anticipates holding its strong position during the expected comeback of commercial and industrial contracting markets.

Into the future

Herschel Seder takes great pride in his family’s ownership of Milwaukee Valve. He has been at the forefront of the firm’s continued growth and evolution for more than 50 years, and his children have played important roles in the firm’s success. While succession planning has assured the continuity of family ownership, family members have also recognized the need for professional management by industry-savvy achievers. Rick Giannini has assembled a management team led by some of the best and brightest talent in the valve industry. The key personnel and the organization needed to guide future growth are in place, according to the company’s management.

In recognition of its achievements and future potential, Milwaukee Valve has been honored as a prestigious charter member of the "Wholesaler Hall of Fame." Continuing to uphold this reputation, Rick Giannini serves as the company's current president and CEO. Giannini previously served in top positions with leading valve manufacturers, such as Hills-McCanna, and is also a member of the ASA Industrial Piping Division governing council.

Having grown from a small provider of bronze and specialty marine valves to an outstanding producer of a complete line of flow-control products to the power generation, process piping, oil production and refining, and commercial and residential construction sectors, Milwaukee Valve stands out as one of a select few full-line producers that are approved and specified by the pipe-valve-fitting sector.

For more information about Milwaukee Valve, its product lines and sales network, visit www.milwaukeevalve.com.

On a personal note, I had the advantage of working with Herschel Seder, as his assistant, when I joined Hammond Valve on October 1, 1956. Both his father-in-law, Irwin Altschuler, and mine, Samuel Greenwald, were partners in the original Hammond Brass Works, which was the predecessor to Hammond Valve, so named after being acquired by Stamford, Conn., based Condec Corporation in November, 1958.

Although we eventually became competitors in the valve industry, the family relationships continued warmly. Herschel stood up for me at my wedding in November, 1954, and became godfather to my first born, Michael, today the nation’s leading presidential historian.