YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Headquartered in Moberly, Orscheln Products LLC began operations 80 years ago and remains a family-run company by descendants of the three founding brothers, Ed, William and Al Orscheln. The manufacturing company’s range of products include fluid level indicators, park brake cables and cab locks for vehicles. Orscheln Products officials say they source domestically when feasible and continue to expand partnerships across the U.S., with a strong emphasis on Missouri suppliers. Guided by market analysis and its engineering team, the company’s integrated fluid level indicator system involves a calibrated blade, full-length fill tube and a trademarked twist to lock positive-seal cap that delivers repeatable measurements, a leak-tight closure, faster service and consistent field performance. The product – commonly called dipstick assemblies – provide a calibrated system for measuring fluids such as engine oil and transmission fluid.
SBJ: What motivated the company to make this product, and has it changed since it was first launched?
Wei Lin, marketing analyst: It’s really about supply and demand. We know there’s a market for increase of the diesel engine or gasoline engines by all the engine manufacturers, and also there’s a growing market for transmissions. The manufacturers, they are producing medium-duty trucks, heavy-duty trucks, so that kind of encouraged us to be more invested into our dipstick. I think that really we see the opportunity of the growth, that need for (fluid level indicators) and over the years we certainly changed the design many times due to customer requirements. But the core of FLI still stays the same, which is the twist to lock.
SBJ: How does this fluid level indicator stand out from the average dipstick assemblies available in the automotive market?
Lin: There’s always a cheaper product, whether from China, whether from India; we don’t compete with that. We don’t compete with who can provide the cheapest products to our customers. We provide value for customizations. We provide value for relationships. Also, our reputation, because we’ve been in the business for 80 years. We have dealt with customers, major manufacturers out there – practically all of them that make trucks and vehicles. We have some sort of relationship with them over the years, and we value that a lot.
SBJ: Are there any plans to grow your market reach or production of this product?
Lin: We always want to scale and strengthen the production. So, we’re continuing to adapt new technologies and looking for new ways to improve our FLIs. So that’s something we always look out for. So, there is a plan; unfortunately, I can’t share that with you. But this is something that we always look out for because we see the market, we see the need for customers, and we believe that is a good opportunity for Orscheln to grow in this market.
A trio of brothers own Southway Storage LLC, which opened Oct. 7 and has 289 units to serve customers in Ozark, Nixa, Springfield and elsewhere in southwest Missouri.
