For 100 years, the Marley brand has provided evaporative cooling towers and fluid coolers, ranging from large industrial applications to smaller plants such as offices. The equipment is used to cool hospitals, data centers, and large commercial buildings. In data centers, for example, evaporative cooling uses 60% less power than air-cooled systems.
Events at 100th anniversary
SPX Technologies, the corporate owner of the Marley brand, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022. Among the events marking the anniversary is a series of Road Shows. A big truck displaying key products will visit 50 locations across the United States.
As it marks the anniversary, the Road Show also seeks to support the sales representative channel. There will also be marketing giveaways and promotional offers along the way. For SPX’s employee base, a global event in May 2022 will be a two-and-a-half-day celebration including visits to the research and development (R&D) center and manufacturing locations in Overland Park, Kan.
Marley Company acquisition
After its acquisition by SPX Corp. in 2001, Marley Cooling Technologies became SPX Cooling Technologies
Both Marley Cooling Technologies (SPX Cooling Technologies) and Marley Engineered Products, another SPX business, evolved from the same parent company, The Marley Company. The history goes back to 1922 with the founding of predecessor company PPEC (Power Plant Equipment Company), which used the trade name “Marley” for their products, a combination of the names of founders Leon T. Mart and Chester Smiley.
The Marley Company was incorporated in 1928. The company grew consistently through a series of acquisitions and ownership changes. After its acquisition by SPX Corp. in 2001, Marley Cooling Technologies became SPX Cooling Technologies, and it still uses the globally recognized Marley brand.
Tested solutions, energy savings
SPX and Marley customers get the benefit of 100 years of experience supplying products that have withstood the test of time. “We have tremendous experience engineering to customer needs,” says Ankush Kumar, President, Global HVAC Cooling, SPX Corp. “The customer benefits from the collective experience of 100 years of solving complex problems. We provide true, tested solutions that meet customer needs reliably and effectively.”
Marley is built on the value proposition of quality, innovation, and sustainability, the latter based on Marley products’ use of evaporative cooling to produce energy savings and low environmental impact. Marley technology consumes 20 to 25% less energy than competitive products.
Focus on HVAC innovation
Marley designed the first cooling tower 100 years ago, which holds more than 200 U.S. cooling tower design patents
In fact, Kumar says environmental issues have replaced cost as the focus of HVAC innovation in the last several years. He has also seen more emphasis on connectivity, with better control packages enabling building managers to access more information from a BMS (building management system).
In the area of innovation, Marley designed the first cooling tower 100 years ago, which holds more than 200 U.S. cooling tower design patents and was an early innovator in efficient heat transfer such as crossflow cooling towers and film fill. Marley created the first factory-assembled cooling tower, the Aquatower, in 1947. It changed the industry and the future of the company, transitioning from field-directed systems to factory-assembled systems that provide better quality and require less labor for installation.
Industrial grade construction, employee relationships
Quality is displayed in Marley's reputation for industrial-grade construction, inventive engineering, and manufacturing. “Our people are a big part of the mission,” says Kumar. “We have an engineering climate throughout our company, and some of the employees are the second generation.” One recent retiree, 78 years old, noted that Marley has put food on his table since he was 2 (his father was also a long-time employee).
“Our employee relationships remain strong because we believe in core principles of developing employees,” says Kumar. The company’s reputation and long legacy attract the top young talent from the engineering community.
energy-efficient closed-circuit systems
We consistently make products that provide more cooling for the same or lower energy"
“We listen to the voice of the customer and seek to create new products that are even more reliable and better performing,” says Kumar. For example, the MH Element Fluid Cooler is a closed-loop HVAC system that combines the function of a cooling tower and heat exchanger into one system, among the most energy-efficient closed-circuit systems on the market.
“Our consistent focus in recent years has been on energy efficiency,” says Kumar. “We consistently make products that provide more cooling for the same or lower energy.” SPX is also environmentally conscious when it comes to manufacturing processes, such as handling waste. The fill (heat transfer media) is made of recycled materials.
Webinars to install systems
The 100th anniversary comes on the heels of a pandemic that challenged the company to protect employees while meeting customer needs. The company focused on safety with extra precautions to protect the employee base, and they continued to pay employees who were exposed to COVID. Like many companies, they struggled to maintain a collaborative culture in a time dominated by Zoom.
To communicate with customers, the company created webinars about how to install and specify systems. They ensured customers in the engineering community could get their questions answered remotely. They adjusted to a “hybrid” model (in which employees work on-site two to three days a week), seeking to maintain a family-friendly environment throughout.
Addressing supply chain problems
The global company does business in more than 80 countries and has manufacturing plants in the Far East and the United Kingdom. There are also four manufacturing plants in the U.S., which mostly supply the needs of U.S. customers. It is harder for foreign competitors to meet the demand for equipment that is large and “made to order.” Currently, SPX is grappling with supply problems, which they are addressing with the help of their supply chain partners.
“Our challenge in the medium- to long-term is to offer products that continue to appeal to customers in the future,” says Kumar. The strategic goal is to double the size of the business in the next several years, including expanding product lines (based on innovation) and acquisitions. Clearly, the next 100 years will continue to be eventful.