Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Compressor Main Part Of AC

It's the most important part of an air conditioning unit.

Without it, the unit simply does not work.

Members of the Clark County Industrial Council were told of the importance of air conditioning compressors by Rick Izor, plant manager for Scroll Technologies, during their regular monthly meeting Thursday, June 20.

Izor said most people think of Scroll Technologies as being Carrier.

However, Scroll began making its product in the fall of 1993 with Carrier, which is part of United Technologies.

In May 1995, Bristol Corp. came into the picture. Bristol is the parent company for York Air Conditioning -- Carrier's main competitor in the market.

Carrier and York are the two biggest suppliers of air conditioning units in the world, Izor said. However, Scroll is owned by both companies.

Scroll simply manufactures its patented compressor and supplies them to both companies. The company makes compressor units for heat pumps as well.

Most air conditioning units installed 15 to 20 years ago are wearing out, Izor said. This means new units are needed for people's comfort. These units also need compressors, which is where Scroll comes in.

While Scroll only has two customers, Carrier and Bristol, these two companies are allowed to sell the compressors to anyone they choose.

Izor said the Scroll compressor is more energy efficient than any other on the market. In addition, it's a quieter compressor than the old ones.

He said these compressors are made in the 343,000 square foot plant in the Clark County Industrial Park. The plant, covering 84 acres, employs 571 people at this time.

Originally, the plant manufactured about 50,000 compressors per year. This number has been steadily growing to this year's projected manufacture of 360,000 units.

Izor said Scroll's goal is to make 750,000 compressors in 1997.

Because of the quality of the product made, Izor said qualified people are needed.

Once hired, these people are trained in what the company expects of them in order to maintain and exceed its quality standards.

Those hired can work four 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, or three 12-hour days, Friday through Sunday. Those working the weekend shift are compensated for the four hours lacking to make 40.

This year, Izor said, Scroll has hired 184 new employees.

"It's hard to get skilled trained personnel," he said. "But vocational schools help create these skills."

Izor said Scroll uses state-of-the-art equipment to manufacture the compressor units. Each of these units are tested to make sure they work and meet standards.

In fact, the most popular compressor Scroll makes at this time was developed on-site.

He said the way this compressor is constructed, it works better with age. And, because of its smaller size, smaller air conditioning units are required.

Izor told the CCIC members the growing industrial base in the county is putting pressure on the county's infrastructure. The area needs more housing and day care facilities, he said.

The potential exists for school-to-work programs because of this growth and the minuscule unemployment rate (currently 2.3 percent).