The year 1980 was memorable in that this was the year
Bluffton employees put together the ten-millionth fractional motor.
Also, a new plant was purchased in Wilburton, Oklahoma, in 1980. This
was a large plant, three-fourths the size of the Bluffton plant, to be
used primarily for 6-inch submersible motors, with room for increased
production of the Jacksonville air moving motors. |
| Another international operation started in 1982.
Scheduled for completion in 1983 was a new 49% Franklin-owned plant in
Monterrey, Mexico. The principle product planned for this plant was the
submersible motor. |
| One of Franklin's assets has always been competent and
experienced sales engineers to explain and sell Franklin products to
customers. Over the years, Franklin increased its sales force until
there were now sales offices in 22 cities throughout the United States,
many of them with more than one Franklin sales engineer working from
that office. |
|
 New
or modified products continued to be developed and introduced. The most
significant of these was a new type of starting switch for motors.
Capacitor start and split-phase motors, the most common types of
single-phase electric motors, all require some sort of switch to remove
the starting winding from the circuit as the motor attains full speed.
This is usually accomplished by a centrifugally-actuated switch built
into the motor. Modern solid state electronics now provided a practical
alternative. While Franklin had made and utilized solid state switches
on motors to a limited extent for several years, it was not until 1982
that a simple, reliable, low-cost solid state switch was perfected and
produced. Franklin was awarded 24 patent claims on its construction and
operation. Christened the “Amazing Little Switch”, it was probably
the most outstanding innovation in the electric motor industry in more
than 30 years. It was approved by the Underwriters' Laboratories after
arduous and exhaustive testing. It had many advantages over the
centrifugal switch, and was first used on swimming pool and spa motors,
as well as airless paint sprayer and other severe duty motors. Tests on
airless paint sprayer motors showed that the solid state switch
performed flawlessly for over 15 million starts, whereas the
conventional centrifugal switch usually wore out and failed in less than
a million starts.
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| Another development was a two-speed pump motor for
swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs. The high speed provided strong
circulation of the water for massage or therapy use, while the low speed
supplied sufficient circulation for adequate filtration the remainder of
the time, using much less power. |
| In the development stage for a number of years, the
“Subtrol” for submersible motors was introduced in 1981 and received
enthusiastic customer response. The “Subtrol” is a monitoring device
utilizing a microprocessor that, when used with the controls of
submersible motors, detects 15 different faults, which could damage the
motor or pump. It is most often used with large submersible motors on
industrial, municipal and irrigation applications, where operation is
critical and replacement costs high. |
 Introduced
in the Bluffton plant in 1981 was a concept known as Quality Circles.
The purpose was to maintain or improve the quality of motors produced,
while at the same time, if possible, reduce cost. This was done by the
work of teams or Quality Circles, each comprised of people from
different work areas of the plant. After extensive training in
problem-solving techniques and personnel philosophies, each team met
regularly to discuss problems and methods of improving quality.
Among new developments in 1983 were prototype
submersible pump motors designed to be operated by solar-produced
electricity. They were great for livestock grazing and irrigation in
remote areas, as well as a good source of safe drinking water for Third
World villages. At the other end of the submersible spectrum,
capabilities were added to Bluffton to increase 8-inch submersible
ratings from 100 to 200 HP.
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| Until 1984, Franklin sold its motors primarily to
original equipment manufacturers through sales engineers operating out
of 38 locations in the United States. That year an additional force of
41 manufacturers' representatives were added to sell Franklin motors to
wholesalers – for replacement use, principally in the heating,
ventilation and air conditioning industries.
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