F&W 4″ USA Made Motor
F&W manufactures a wide assortment of products. They range from Pressure Boosters (car wash), Jet Pumps (replacement drinking water applications), Centrifugal (Irrigation and Agriculture), Circulating (cooling and livestock), and Variable Frequency Drives for higher use water control.
In our industry, every major manufacture must have a quality 4-inch Submersible Motor and Pump for residential applications. This product is the centerpiece for all pumps being sold into the market under their brand name.
A significant history and transition must be told to describe how our current F&W 4-inch manufactured pump design had been introduced into our market.
1870 – 1930’s – Windmills and Handpumps were a staple of addressing water needs in the rural country areas. Flint & Walling, alongside our brands Star and Hoosier windmills, dominated the landscape for water needs during our American western expansion and around the world.
1930 – 1960’s – As electrification became available, above ground Jet Pumps using F&W above ground motors became the norm for well water applications. F&W’s innovation presented new design aspects into the market. Products utilizing new features such as horizontal jet and venturi within the pump body, and convertible shallow and deep well applications on the same pump body were first in the marketplace.
Post the 1960’s – Submersible motors and pumps became the growing application for all customers. Flint & Walling and competitors assembled their unique pump designs but shared a sourced Franklin Electric motor that was nearly a monopoly within the market.
2004 – Franklin purchased the pump manufacture Jacuzzi and became a direct competitor, both to F&W and all potable pump manufactures, by simultaneously being a supplier and competitor, and cutting F&W off from buying for a period in 2006. Pricing, availability, and competitive dis-advantages were a significant threat to F&W’s long-range plans.
2007 – After much analysis with regards to sourcing, partnering, and manufacturing, F&W began a plant expansion with initial design evaluations of a self-manufactured submersible motor design. Watertight welding, internal encapsulation, tight configurations, and precise machining requirements were a challenging design concept to develop. After completing 7+ years of development, equipment purchases, internal and field testing; we were satisfied we had a reliable design.
2014 to present – A full production release of our 4” F&W motor powering our pump end became widely accepted with our customer base and has many strategic advantages moving forward. The market, while being very price sensitive with Billion Dollar corporations manufacturing in lower cost countries, has made a place for our product. F&W is known for having best in the industry pump performance which allows the depth of the pump setting to be very flexible. We are the lone remaining USA 4” motor pump manufacture, utilizing a majority of domestic suppliers for managing the quality of our external supply chain, and a customer service that we believe is best in the business.
Eric Rimmel – Indiana born and raised on our family farm. A graduate of Purdue University in 1989, I have had 3 tremendous work experiences in my life. My first two roles were with GE Motors and Robert Bosch. Both very strong companies and a great training ground as I worked within engineering, quality, and operations. In 2009, I was hired as Engineering Manager by F&W. This company has been an amazing experience as we have worked to be a strong manufacture for many distribution outlets. I have been president of this division since 2016 and I am very proud of our team. More importantly, I am happily married to Lisa for 34 years and a proud father of 2 sons.