Colder Products Co., St. Paul, Minn., is celebrating 35 years in business this month. The company was started in 1978 byΜύMike Lyon, Brian Blenkush and Jim Shingler to design and manufacture quick disconnect fluid couplingsΜύΜύfor use with plastic tubing that became a simple alternative to the traditional industrial ball and sleeve coupling. With its an easy-to-use, push-button thumb latch for quick connecting and disconnecting, their design was the first of its kind anywhere, and the partners believed it was well suited for use in the medical, industrial and chemical industries.
The company got its name because its threeΜύfounders thought St. Paul was colder than just about any place else on earth.
βOne thing that hasnβt changed over 35 years is the way we do business,β said Gary Rychley, president of Colder Products Company (CPC). βColder started with a spirit of honesty and integrity with customers, suppliers, employees, distributors and the community, and thatβs how we still operate today.β
With that philosophy and innovative product design, Colder sales grew consistently. Expanding from traditional brass couplings to plastic couplings, the companyβs original molded quick disconnect product, the PLCD17004, was first designed by modeling it in clay and painting it with white correction fluid. From that humble beginning, Colderβs product portfolio has grown to more than 10,500 different connection solutions that include couplings and fittings. The companyβs products are designed to offer easy operation and maintenance. Its couplings include a unique audible βclickβ that assures the user the connection is complete.
Colderβs growth in product offerings has been duplicated by its geographical growth. Today, it is a global company with sales and manufacturing in nine countries and global distributor representation on every continent. Colderβs products can be found in thousands of applications across many life sciences and specialty industrial markets. Its products are used in biopharmaceuticals manufacturing, in medical and laboratory equipment, in the food industries, and for the safe transfer of hazardous chemicals β virtually anywhere flexible tubing needs to be quickly and safely connected and disconnected. In 2005, Colder was acquired by the Dover Corp., a diversified global manufacturer with annual revenues of more than $8 billion.
Since introducing the first all-plastic quick disconnect couplings to the market, Colder has amassed more than 60 patents and produced a number of other firsts, including:
- Introduced the first connectors molded in polycarbonate and polysulfone for life sciences and other high purity applications.
- Introduced IdentiQuikSmart Couplings that incorporate radio frequency identification (RFID) to help track, protect and streamline valuable fluids.
- Was among the first companies in the U.S. to be ISO-9001 certified, and today also is ISO-13485 certified for its comprehensive quality management system for the design and manufacture of medical devices.
- Introduced hybrid connectors that enable the flow of electrical signals as well as liquids and gases.
- Developed the worldβs smallest non-spill plastic disconnect for tubing as small as 1 mm OD.
- Designed the Steam-ThruΜύConnector for bioprocessing applications that won BioProcess International magazineβs Technology of the Decade award.
- Produced the first one-inch-diameter sterile connector for bioprocessing.Μύ
Colder Products Co.
