When Florian Virchow started his company in 1987, Motortech was a one-man operation with its "headquarters" in the basement of his home in Germany. "I was the managing director and the one and only employee," he recalled. "My office was situated in the cellar of my detached house. From there I dealt in spare pare for gas engines imported from the U.S.A. for the European market."
But if the story of Motortech GmbH shows anything, it's that a lot can change in 17 years.
From those humble beginnings, Motortech has expanded its business significantly and changed its business profile from a trading company to a worldwide operation manufacturing gas engine accessories for OEMs and the aftermarket. On the employment side, what started as a one-man band has grown into an operation with close to 100 people worldwide and a two-unit headquarters in Celle, Germany, that covers more than 30,000 sq.ft. and incorporates five CNC machining centers, laser welding and engraving systems and advanced measurement and quality control equipment.
This growth has been matched on the distribution side as well, and the company has expanded its markets, particularly in North America. Motortech USA was established in 2001 with a distribution office in Harvard, Ill., run by Louis D. Hoeflich. In 2002, a sales once based in Seattle, Wash., was opened. It is managed by Dave Parker who was employed by Hatch and Kirk for 26 years. The U.S. sales network was expanded to Roscoe, Ill., where Ray Lecuyer from RDK Associates is the primary sales contact for OEM engine customers Along with its physical and sales expansion, the company's product line and technical supply capabilities have also developed. Once a distributor of components, Motortech has become a designer and manufacturer of its own gaseous-fueled engine controls and related systems, with a growing presence globally and particularly in North America.
The company's portfolio is extremely broad and targets a wide range of gas engines, everything from small gen-sets and compressors to multi-MW units. Specific products and system kits include microprocessor-based ignition control units; ignition monitoring systems; ignition coils; harnesses, wiring rails and adaptors; leads and adaptors; trigger drives, discs and accessories; spark plug boots and extensions; transformer extensions; a range of spark plugs and accessories; voltage monitoring systems; throttles for naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines; thermocouples; engine controllers; crankcase ventilation filters; oil level controls; and all related kits, test and installation tools. In all, the company offers in excess of 4000 separate products.
Among the newest and most sophisticated is a CHP control unit employing programmable logic control (PLC) and designed to offer a comprehensive range of functions in a single, cost-effective package. While the new AIO150 (All-In-One) controller can be used at any gas engine installation, it is particularly suitable for applications that operate on bio or digester gas, the company said.
"As biogas applications grow using smaller spark-ignited gas engines, we foresee increased competition amongst generating set packagers and the risk that system quality may suffer under pricing pressure," said Michael Gulck, product manager at Motortech in Celle. "To avoid engine damage and rising insurance premiums, a reasonably priced gas engine controller is urgently needed.
"As a freely programmable PLC unit using WinEdit PC software, the benefits of our all-in-one device are fewer components, lower costs and an optimized controller configuration. It can provide CHP plants with a full range of control, monitoring and diagnostic features. To give an idea of the cost saving potential of the All-In-One controller, it is designed to replace as many as 13 separate control, monitoring and diagnostic devices."
To cope with a comprehensive spectrum of customer selectable sensors, the AIO controller includes eight digital inputs and outputs and four analog inputs and outputs on-board. "Using an add-on unit, the number of inputs and outputs is extendable to a maximum of 512," Gulck added. "All are configurable for various customer needs."
Data i
