Serck expands services into Elko area

Serck Outside Sales Development Representative Tony Ruiz and Mine Representative Jake Cathey secure a radiator brought to Elko from Mesa, Ariz. Serck has recently expanded its radiator and heat transfer services into the Elko area.

As equipment does the work it was designed to do, it also generates heat, and that can cause all kinds of problems if that heat accumulates. For more than 100 years Serck Services has manufactured and serviced radiators and other technology that transfers that heat away.

This spring Serck began an expansion into the Elko area to service customers here. Jake Cathey is the new Serck mines representative for Elko.

"Within the first six weeks, we’re getting a lot of positive feedback," said Serck Managing Director Peter Young, who is based in Mesa, Arizona.

"We’re doing pretty sizeable work for some of these companies," Cathey said.

He said the customers he has been working with in the Elko area have been happy with the quality of the work, the speed of the service, and the value they’re getting for their money.

Serck Radiators was founded in 1907 in Birmingham, U.K. by Peter Oscar Serck. The factory worked on aircraft radiators during World War I, and then worked on radiators for all makes of cars. During World War II Serck produced over 65,000 aircraft radiators and 110,000 aircraft oil coolers.

"What got the company going in the beginning was building radiators for fighter planes and for tanks for the war effort," Young said. "And then from there it just progressed through the years to lots of different heat exchanges."

Serck expanded into the United States in 1983, and now has corporate offices in Denver, Colorado and facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and other states.

The Unipart Group acquired the Serck businesses operating in the U.K., U.S., and Middle East in 1999.

"For the past 20 years, the Serck companies have gone from strength to strength as they leverage the advantages of the backing of one of the U.K.'s most successful privately owned companies, and the advantages of optimizing their operations via the Unipart Way methodologies," the Serck website says.

The Unipart Way is the system the company has developed to engage employees and equip them with the skills to diagnose problems and create solutions for customers.

Young said they have been looking at other areas in their region where Serck's services could be a good fit, and they recently made the decision to introduce Serck to the Elko area.

"Our objective is to introduce Serck and the brand name to the business community," said Tony Ruiz, a Serck outside sales representative in Mesa who is working with Cathey on the Elko venture. "Serck wants to become a business partner to existing companies who are using similar products and services. It's important to show that Serck is committed to providing value through quality service, competitive pricing, and timely service."

"In the very near future we’re probably going to be looking at opening a repair facility in Elko," Young said.

For now, when there is equipment that needs service, Cathey and people from Mesa transport the equipment to the shop in Mesa.

Young said the people working in Serck's service shop in Mesa have a combined total of over 130 years of experience.

Cathey said as they have been getting started in the Elko area they have been working on a lot of haul truck radiators.

Serck also works with a wide range of heat exchange equipment that is used for all types of applications within the mining industry, including shell and tube style units, air blast units, and plate and frame heat exchanges.

Air blast coolers, for example, can be used on a conveyor belt, or as part of a pump system in a mill.

Young said they are reaching out to trucking companies in the Elko area as well, because they work with semi-truck radiators for a large range of makes and models of trucks.

Young said they are building their radiator supply inventory in Elko as they learn about what is needed.

"We will make sure that we have everything on hand that will be able to accommodate them," Young said. "Because when a radiator fails, it's no mere distress purchase. They want it now, they need that truck back on the road, they need that equipment back on the road.

"We’re a very reactive company regarding service. When a customer shouts, we say how high do we jump. We are customer service driven."

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