Whirlpool Completes Purchase Of American Dryer Corporation

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Guess since Whirlpool couldn't get GE, they are buying up everything else...

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., July 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Whirlpool Corporation completed its purchase of American Dryer Corporation (ADC), a privately held company that manufactures and markets coin-operated, on-premise, industrial and specialty laundry equipment.

The acquisition gives Whirlpool Corporation's commercial laundry business a platform to reach new countries and channels, while building on a strong foundation of industry-leading innovation, quality, and service.

"Acquiring ADC strengthens our commitment to the commercial laundry industry and is aligned to our objectives of driving growth in adjacent businesses," stated Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation chairman and chief executive officer. "We believe this investment nicely complements our leadership position in the overall laundry category."

"Our Maytag and Whirlpool brands have a strong heritage in commercial laundry," said Brett Dibkey, vice president, North American Integrated Business Units. "The addition of ADC is yet another step toward our goal of building the industry's best, most reliable full line of commercial laundry equipment."

Whirlpool Corporation expects integration activities to happen throughout the balance of 2015. American Dryer Corporation is headquartered in Fall River, MA and is home to approximately 230 employees, a 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility and state-of-the-art engineering and design center. This facility will become a valuable part of the Whirlpool manufacturing portfolio that spans 14 locations across North America.

 
ADC made that almost hand-made dryer that WP marketed under the KA name in the early 2000s so there is some history between the companies. The dryer was only offered to select dealers with special demo-showroom stores. The matching washer was a tarted-up Duet. It has an all stainless steel cabinet and can be seen in the Beltsville Museum.
 
Very interesting about this acquisition on WP part.

I wonder with all of the "super sized" washers in the market now with home Front Load washers if WP has a plan for a version of the Kitchenaid they had in the past the is shown above?  I would love to have a home dryer built with the 'open basket' (holes around the basket) and gas burner on top.  I think this type of design is the quickest and most efficient for drying. 

B
 
Me Too...

Wonder what cross breeding will occur between the two companies designs.
Although, maybe only the commercial lineup will change.

Malcolm
 
I was thinking the same thing, Brent. WP will likely need a set of machines that can go up against the 5+ cu ft washer and 9 cu ft dryer like LG and Samsung offer.

Radial drying is the most efficient way to dry fabrics and if planned right, it could be the best on the market. IIRC WP had some trouble with the ADC-KitchenAid dryers but that's not unexpected with a brand new product. I had only seen the KA Pro Line machines once or twice at our local appliance behemoth store and over the last few years had convinced myself they had indeed already built that machine with radial heat flow, but then I saw the machines again in January in MD and realized it had all been a dream - lol. They are still quite impressive though.

Perhaps John will chime in here, but I recall him telling me the OEM control boards for these ProLine machines were shockingly expensive. Makes sense for the likely lower numbers of them that were built.
 
ADC has had long time relationship with Maytag, manufacturing their large commercial dryers for many years while Primus made the Maytag large commercial washers. Since Primus was acquired by Alliance(Speed Queen, Huebsch, Unimac) they would also have control of the Maytag Commercial Front load washer, and Whirlpool was not to crazy about that. ADC markets a commercial fl washer made by Fagor which I expect will be the Maytag commercial FL washer.
 
Radial Drying

Greg I could not remember what the term was for that type of drying.  Thanks for reminding me.  Only thing I could think of was "Radical Drying" and I knew that wasn't it.  LOL!

 

I had no idea that the first batch of ADC build dryers for the pro-line had issues.  Was it control board issues?  I also thought it was a "Radical Built Dryer" : ) because of the little pull out under the dryer door.  I assumed that was the lint filter.

 

Talking about WP catching up with all of the other big boys....have you guys seen the latest Duet Washer?  I am not very impressed with the wash drum at all.  It is very flimsy metal with hardly any holes in the basket at all! It also has raised bubble shapes around the drum. I don't get it how well it would be at removing soil let alone pet / human hair with less holes. (or hardly any holes)  The drum also seems to either have ball bearings or some sort of gel in the front of the basket for balance.  Wonder if anyone here has the new Duet washer with this type of wash drum. 

 

B
 
the hotel

we stayed at in New Orleans last week had those Maytag commercial washers and dryers for their laundry and regular orbital drive Maytag coin-op machines in the guest laundry room.  I thought those big commercial machines were pretty neat.
 

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