As it celebrates its 10-year brand anniversary in 2020, German compressor manufacturer Secop has completed a restructuring of the company, concentrating on core activities and consolidating production facilities in Slovakia and China.
Secop, formerly known as Danfoss Household Compressors, specializes in hermetic compressor technologies, and has several product lines using propane (R290) and isobutane (R600a). The new strategy was adopted to focus on light-commercial and mobile-cooling applications, according to a Secop statement on December 2.
In the light-commercial segment, Secop’s main markets will remain food retail, food services, medical refrigeration and beverage coolers and dispensers. For mobile cooling, Secop offers DC or battery powered compressors designed particularly for trucks, cars and buses.
Among the restructuring activities that have taken place during 2020 is a closure of household compressor manufacturing in Austria, the sale of the DELTA production line, the transfer of the K-series compressor production line to Slovakia, and the establishment of a new product R&D center in Austria.
“All transformations seen during the last twelve months are part of our strategic plan to relocate our valuable resources, including funds for research and development, to our light commercial and mobile cooling developments for our customers,” said Frank Elsen, Secop CFO, in an interview.
In October, Secop launched a new series of variable speed compressors with a larger charge size, capable of accommodating up to a 500g R290 charge, as allowed by the updated IEC standard for commercial refrigeration,
In 2020, Secop has also launched the CapSel app for smartphones, with CapSel standing for capillary tube selection software. The app allows the user to calculate the measurements of a capillary tube throttling device for a refrigeration system using empirical formulas, according to Secop’s website.
In 2021, Secop is planning to introduce BDnano, a new compressor platform for mobile cooling “with 30% less weight and 30% more autonomy by performance that will leverage the performances of previous solutions in a more compact size.”
Secop came into being a decade ago when the German holding company Aurelius AG acquired Danfoss Household Compressors from Denmark’s Danfoss Group. After the takeover, the Danfoss Compressors’ name was changed to Secop GmbH.
On August 1, 2017, Japanese manufacturer Nidec acquired Secop. However, due to its subsequent acquisition of Embraco, Nidec was required to divest the Secop business. ESSVP IV, a fund managed by private equity firm Orlando Management AG, completed its acquisition of Secop from Nidec in September 2019.
“All transformations seen during the last twelve months are part of our strategic plan to relocate our valuable resources, including funds for research and development, to our light commercial and mobile cooling developments for our customers.”
Frank Elsen, Secop
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