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Interview
A cool head
Mike Eakins discusses a changing industry and the evolution of KPS Global
October 2024 saw a significant development at KPS Global , when it was acquired by The Viessmann Generations Group ( Viessmann ). Manufacturing Today catches up with Mike Eakins , KPS Global ’ s CEO , to get behind the scenes of this leading provider of custom enclosures for controlled environments and find out what attracted its new owner .
“ I ’ ve been in the industry for about 33 years , and I actually cut my teeth in the insulated panels industry straight out of grad school ,” Mike begins . “ I was even the plant manager for one of the plants that we own today in Arizona for about five years ! But I did branch out into other areas of this industry and gained a lot of experience , which helped me prepare for coming back to KPS Global .
Alongside an incredible team , it ’ s taken us to where we are today .”
Turning to KPS Global specifically , Mike notes that the roots of the company extend back decades ; while KPS Global itself was formed around ten years ago when two leading manufacturers consolidated their operations into one . “ The insulated panel industry could be described as ‘ sleepy ’ at that time . There wasn ’ t much technology or innovation , and that is what attracted me to join KPS Global in 2017 .
“ It was an opportunity to take a commodity product with no innovation and bring it into the modern age and work with a great team of people at the same time . When you compare where we were seven years ago to today , we already have over 20 patents for new products that we ’ ve developed and
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