STURGIS — Burr Oak Tool Inc. has entered a strategic partnership with Sistemi Meccanici Industriali, of Udine, Italy.
The partnership will allow Sistemi and Burr Oak — a manufacturer of machinery used in the production of heat exchangers in the heating, cooling and refrigeration industries — to cross-sell each others’ products to customers, said Vice President Tim Doot.
“It feels like a win, win for both companies,” Doot said.
Heat exchangers are comprised primarily of fins and tubes. While Burr Oak focuses on machinery that produces the fins, Sistemi Meccanici Industriali concentrates on the tube side. Both companies have received calls from their customers requesting machinery for both fins and tubes, making this an ideal relationship that could grow further, Doot said.
“Ultimately we see this moving to a closer relationship,” he said. “We’ve had discussions about jointly developing some new types of machines, but we’re a long ways off from talks at that point.”
Doot declined to comment if the partnership would lead to a merger.
Burr Oak employs roughly 330 workers in Sturgis and generates annual sales of between $50 million and $100 million.
