_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Indiana
Oxygen
“ I ’ m certainly not retiring – let ’ s be clear about that ,” Wally laughs . “ I ’ m just stepping away from the overall running and management of the company , with my son , Jay , and daughter , Anne , handling those areas . I will instead be ‘ re-deployed ’ to customer and employee relations , while of course being there to advise or assist when they need .”
However , before we delve deeper into Indiana ’ s succession plans , Wally shares the company ’ s history and an overview of its current operations . “ It all started when my grandfather and his brother had an idea to set up an oxygen company ,” he explains . “ The process began by bombarding water molecules with electrons , then separating the molecules into oxygen and hydrogen gases .
“ They continued that process and gradually built the business up until around 1930 , when they recognized they couldn ’ t keep up with demand . So , to increase our production capabilities , they built an air separation plant to cool atmospheric air to the point where it becomes liquified .
“ We continued that journey for the best part of 30 years , but World War II caused tremendous technological advancements in the air separation field and changed the direction of the business . It became much cheaper for us to buy from a larger producer of liquid gases , rather than produce it in-house . While we ’ re still responsible for manufacturing acetylene gas , we ’ ve been buying other gases from external sources since 1960 .”
Diverse customer base
Today , the business boasts a portfolio of around 12,000 active customers . “ Our customers vary from corporations that consume large volumes of liquid gases , down to farmers who might have just one pair of oxygen and acetylene cylinders ,” Wally details . “ Around half our business comes from the sale of gases , while the other 50 percent comes from selling welding supplies , including
Robert P Brant , my father . 1917-2006 .
cutting torches , regulators , safety equipment , and electric welding machines .
“ We service a tremendously diverse range of industry players from construction companies , sheet metal manufacturers , and beverage processors to medical and research laboratories . During the pandemic , for example , we sold a lot of gases for producing ventilators , as well as gases for scientific and medical research .
“ It ’ s worth mentioning that around 20 percent of our overall sales come from online spaces , where we sell welding equipment , not gases ,” he reveals . “ We were at the right place at the right time when it comes to our online presence . We had an employee that was fascinated by the internet before it was a mainstream interest . He was able to crack the code that we still use today to sell large volumes directly from the manufacturer to the customer .”
Turning to Wally ’ s personal involvement in the business , he recalls : “ I entered the business at the end of the 1970s , after I ’ d
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