ABCO + Daikin = Global Solutions Locally Delivered
To Our Loyal ABCO Customers:
ABCO HVACR Supply + Solutions is proud to announce an exciting new strategic relationship with Daikin North America, a member of the Daikin Group, the largest HVAC manufacturer worldwide. This merger joins the excellence of Daikin manufacturing and product development with the intensity and integrity of ABCO in the marketplace. The ABCO unique blend of day-to-day air conditioning and refrigeration sales and application engineering together with its expertise in applied air conditioning sales will provide a winning platform for Daikin’s wide range of equipment, parts and accessories.
ABCO has been acquired and over the next several months will transition into Daikin as a member of the Daikin group. Michael Senter will continue as ABCO’s Chief Executive Officer, and will also serve in a broader role with Daikin North America as a Senior Distribution Strategist. ABCO’s senior management team will continue to be the leaders of ABCO in all facets of sales, operations, finance and human resources. The company will retain its renowned name and continue operation under ABCO. It will be a distinct division within Daikin and will not be structured together with Goodman Company-Owned Distribution (COD).
“Both Daikin and ABCO are people-centered organizations. This means each team member and every customer is recognized for their individual personalities and contributions. This fundamental belief in the integrity of relationships is essential to both organizations’ strengths,” Michael Senter explained. “ABCO’s dedication to building strong, multi-generational relationships with our customers based on the highest levels of technical support, customer service and application engineering is a great match for Daikin’s open-mindedness to new ideas and its commitment to engineering ingenuity in meeting current market demands and foreseeing future market and society needs.”
“The strategic alignment with ABCO provides a dynamic foothold for Daikin in the Northeast where ABCO is a leading distributor of a broad range of HVAC products from residential to industrial,” said Takayuki “Taka” Inoue, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Goodman/Daikin North America. “We believe that Daikin’s full line of products is a perfect fit to support the existing and future potential of ABCO distribution. Our vision for Daikin is to become North America’s number one indoor comfort solutions provider, and the purchase of ABCO is a key, strategic milestone for Daikin in our continued effort to achieve our North American vision.”
ABCO’s decision to join the Daikin team means ABCO will be concluding its almost four-decade relationship with Mitsubishi Electric Trane US (METUS) in a manner consistent with any existing obligations. It is with great deliberation that ABCO has determined to make this enterprising, long-term strategic decision. ABCO will work closely with Daikin and METUS to ensure the transition by ABCO from Mitsubishi to Daikin will be customer-focused so commitments are fulfilled and relationships are honored.
ABCO Executive Vice President Hugh Drumm, reflected, “ABCO is appreciative of the support and investment Mitsubishi Electric has provided to ABCO in return for ABCO building the largest Mitsubishi Electric distributorship in the United States. After extensive research and collaborative negotiations, we are certain the Daikin partnership provides the power to compete in the fast changing, rapidly growing commercial and residential ductless equipment segments.”
The teams at ABCO and Daikin now are ready to answer our customers’ questions and to begin quoting both commercial and residential, ductless and ducted equipment. Daikin inventory will be rolling into ABCO’s warehouses in late January and by March 1 or sooner ABCO will be fully prepared to meet our customers’ needs and requirements. Additionally, ABCO is actively building its refrigeration and parts inventories, which were hampered by break-downs in the supply chain during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Extensive training is occurring between Daikin and ABCO, and ABCO University soon will be providing a full array of Daikin training, whether virtually via Zoom during the Pandemic, and, of course, in person as soon as the COVID-19 Pandemic subsides and it is safe to meet in person.
For Larger Rooftop and Applied Equipment Replacement projects, ABCO will work in collaboration with Daikin Applied and the authorized applied sales representatives in the territory. This means the teams will be working cohesively to meet the needs of HVAC contractor customers as well as to provide expert application engineering to consulting engineers, architects, developers and other end-users. A new division of ABCO, called ABCO Applied Distribution Dynamics (ABCO ADD), will be calling on the professional building community to develop specifications focused on Daikin’s globally admired VRV commercial systems.
Executive Vice President Norman Cooperman explained, “This initiative provides ABCO with access to Daikin’s global equipment portfolio on behalf of our customers as well as for the benefit of all other members of the HVACR community, including specifying engineers, architects, real estate developers and business entrepreneurs. We believe all of our customers will benefit from the innovativeness and resources of this powerful teamwork.”
ABCO Vice President Andrew Senter, the third generation of Gottlieb-Senter family leadership to embrace the ABCO vision, further explained, “ABCO has been the leading and most innovative Mitsubishi Electric distributor in the United States. With this experience, we recognize the potential of innovative HVACR technology to enhance the growth and prosperity of our irreplaceable customers. The opportunity for ABCO as a Daikin member company is both dynamic and innovative. Together with Daikin, we are creating a bold new channel partnership to bring the ABCO commitment to service and quality to yet another generation of customers, and with our customers to their loyal customers.”
Doug Widenmann, Senior Vice President and President, Daikin Business Unit, expressed, “I believe this is a major landmark moment for Daikin. Our strategic plans and successful growth accomplishments with this great organization have been unbelievably exciting. I am anxious to begin working with and learning from the ABCO management team who have successfully built a high quality, highly technical, sales and services organization, with state-of-the-art training facilities, focused on the success of their customers.”
Michael Senter in conclusion shared the following thoughts, “We want to thank our loyal ABCO Customers for their dedication to ABCO. Looking ahead, we want to assure our customers and fellow team members that ABCO’s spirit of independence and its dedication to teamwork will be our guiding principles today and tomorrow just as they always have been since ABCO was founded 72 years ago under the guidance of our original leaders, Jules Gottlieb and George Moncher.”
