The Early Years

Tranter traces its origins to automotive pioneer R.E. Olds, who founded a firm in 1932 to manufacture eutectic plates for refrigerated delivery trucks. Headquartered at a plant located in Lansing, MI, USA, the company was purchased by J.R. Tranter five years later. In the late 1940s, the firm developed PLATECOIL® Prime Surface Heat Exchangers as immersion heaters or coolers and as exchanger panels integral or attached to process vessels.

In 1967, the company acquired a plant in Wichita Falls, TX, adding oil field equipment to its product line. Tranter began the process of relocation from Lansing to this plant. In 1972, Tranter added SUPERCHANGER® Gasketed Plate Heat Exchangers to its line through a licensing agreement. By the mid-1980s, Tranter had moved all production to Wichita Falls and concentrated manufacturing exclusively on the two plate heat exchanger lines. In the 1990s, Tranter’s vision became global with the acquisition of the Sweden-based Reheat and SWEP gasketed plate heat exchanger product lines and their representation network in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Expanding The Global Vision

With the turn of the century, Tranter embarked on a fast-track path to global heat exchange technology preeminence. Bringing to fruition considerable investments in R&D, innovative manufacturing processes, manufacturing capacity and acquisitions, the company has added product lines and geographical presence during the first decade of the new century. This includes acquisitions of distributors in China and Poland, start-ups in Brazil, Middle East and Russia, and a focus on building or acquiring Service Centers in all major markets.

The acquisition of German shell & plate manufacturer Pressko in 2008 added not only a product line but also the seed of a Welded Competence Center. Subsequently developed into a test bed for proving advanced manufacturing processes and equipment, the Center’s technology and standards are being replicated in the US, China and India.

With the acquisition of German spiral heat exchanger manufacturer HES in 2009, Tranter became the home of the broadest range of welded heat exchangers in the world. Both acquisitions have been strengthened by expansion of factory floor space and manufacturing capacity. Following an additional acquisition in Mexico, Tranter became the only manufacturer of plate heat exchangers in Latin America.