Born Swiss, Made American

The subsidiary in America remembers 25 years.

Y2K was upon us. The world was standing on edge anticipating the next century. We were, in fact, partying like it was 1999. In that year, our founder, Hannes W. Keller decided to dissolve the partnership with Pressure Systems, Inc. (a.k.a. KELLER-PSI), and bring KELLER to North America properly: No partnerships, no supplier agreements, 100 % KELLER.

Under the leadership Of Xavier Maily, the subsidiary in America set up shop in a small office suite in Portsmouth, Virginia with only three team members: Xavier, a sales assistant, and one shipping and receiving person. As they marched toward the new millennium, the trio delivered an impressive $ 973’671 in their inaugural year. Until 2003, the subsidiary experienced small but steady growth. In the same year, Xavier was called back to the headquarters in Winterthur to oversee sales at France.

In the same year, the team in America moved facilities to Newport News, Virginia. It didn’t take long for Mark to realise that typical European lead times presented a challenge to water and wastewater market growth in North America. He also recognised that the ability to process small quantity, customised orders was key factor for servicing many US markets.

America wanted to combat this fundamental cultural difference on the one hand and meet the requirements of the expanding water market on the other. In collaboration with the Swiss engineers, the subsidiary began its own production of level and pressure transmitters. KELLER's class-leading Xemics processors were used for this purpose. America was the first and is still the only KELLER subsidiary authorised to do so. 

Employees «wore many hats» in those days. Reception did shipping, marketing worked in production and accounting did customer service. This was a small, dedicated band of people who did whatever was necessary for the sake of the customers. When more help was needed, the best possible people in their most suitable positions were added.

Eventually, the subsidiary in America simply ran out of space in its original Newport News offices. By 2009, there were fourteen people in an office built for ten. It was time for yet another subsidiary move. 

Ultimately, the solution wasn’t to rent or even buy another location. On instructions from HWK himself, America built a ~ 1’800 sq meter facility with a production space larger than the entire previous office suite. It truly is a magnificent building designed to meet higher production demands while maintaining the established 3-day lead time. 351 Bell King Road became the new address for KELLER America, officially, in October 2012.

Early in his career, Dave worked with KELLER during the KELLER-Pressure Systems, Inc. joint venture. Fun fact: Many of the employees at the KELLER subsidiary in America worked at some point in their career with our most direct competitor in the USA.

Since then, the subsidiary has grown to 36 full time employees and several part-time employees working across all departments. All departments are working to expand its manufacturing capacity and capability, improve processes, implement lean management principles, and upgrade equipment all to deliver a annual turnover of ~ $ 20 million at the largest KELLER subsidiary on Earth.

Plans are in progress for a multi-phase building expansion, with each phase representing the doubling current capacity and endless potential.

This year KELLER Pressure and the KELLER subsidiary in America celebrate milestone anniversaries.

The spirit of collaboration is thriving at KELLER. The team in America is making great strides in becoming a stronger, integral part of the international team by actively collaborating with sales, management, engineering and marketing.

The year also marks the end of an era. Mark Miller is retiring this year after 30 years of creating and shaping the subsidiary as we know it today. All the best, Mark!