Thermotron Industries
With more than 50 years of experience, Thermotron is a premier worldwide manufacturer of high-performance environmental test chambers and vibration test systems. We work with the world`s greatest companies from many different industries to develop test equipment to meet a variety of testing requirements. Thermotron employs the largest application, service, and design engineering staff in its industry. We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations by identifying customer needs, producing superior testing equipment, and offering comprehensive service. We pride ourselves on being a single-source supplier to our customers, providing complete, sophisticated turnkey environmental test systems.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations and our distributors
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Environmental Monitoring
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1962
- Employees:
- 101-1000
- Turnover:
- $10,000,000 US - $100,000,000 US
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
Please, visit the following links for more info:
With more than 50 years of experience, Thermotron ...
With more than 50 years of experience, Thermotron is a premier manufacturer of high-performance environmental test chambers and vibration test systems.
We build equipment to challenge the limits of our clients’ products while making unique chambers to test temperature, humidity, altitude, and vibration. Used by many of the world’s top brands, our equipment tests products for the automotive, space, defense, electronic, renewable energy, and many other leading industries.
We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations by identifying our customers’ needs, developing superior test equipment, and going above and beyond with our comprehensive service. Priding ourselves as a single-source supplier to our customers, we provide sophisticated and complete, turnkey solutions. All Thermotron equipment is designed and manufactured at our global headquarters in Holland, Michigan.
We’re proud to be accredited for calibration to ISO 17025:2017 and NCSL Z-540-1 by A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation) and to have an ISO 9001 registered quality management system through ASR (American Systems Registrar). All of our equipment meets the highest industry standards, including SAE, IEC, UL, JEDEC, ASTM, and MIL-STD.
Thermotron is North America’s largest enviro...
Thermotron is North America’s largest environmental test equipment manufacturer. As an industry pioneer, Thermotron continues to meet and exceed customer expectations and market demand by producing innovative, superior quality products.
Thermotron’s Timeline
- 1951: Charles Conrad invented the environmental test chamber and created the company Conrad Inc. He built the first chamber on the front porch of his home in Holland, Michigan. The chamber was built using a home freezer. Conrad modified the freezer so it could reach a temperature of -125°F.
- 1954: Conrad was issued a patent for a cascade refrigeration system.
- 1962: Thermotron Industries was founded. Thermotron’s first product line was a solid-state water cooler and a lab incubator that used space-age semi-conductors for heat transfer by electron action.
- 1963: The first Thermotron AGREE chamber was sold to Republic Aviation. That same model can still be purchased today.
- Thermotron diversified their product lines in many ways, while still manufacturing their core products. Thermotron has created several new products over the years, including pottery wheels, kilns, heat pumps, and micrometers.
- 1971: The Kollen Park Facility in Holland at 291 Kollen Park Drive was purchased and is still in use today.
- 1972: Thermotron began manufacturing its own instrumentation on their chambers.
- 1976: Thermotron introduced the S-Series Test Chamber product line into the market. The first S-Series model built was a 4-cubic foot chamber called S/SM-4.
- 1977: Thermotron manufactured its very first electrodynamic shaker.
- 1979: Thermotron opened its European Headquarters in the United Kingdom.
- 1980: Thermotron was acquired by Venturedyne.
- 1980: Thermotron purchased the manufacturing plant on 836 Brooks Ave.
- 1996: The SE-Series Environmental Chamber product line was introduced.
- 1998: Thermotron introduced its Accelerated Stress Test (AST) systems (HALT Chamber).
- 2000: ThermoTrak II is released, allowing users to control up to 32 chambers through a single PC.
- 2002: Thermotron received a patent for the Universal Port. The Universal Port made it possible to integrate different conditioning modules with the SE-Series Environmental Chamber.
- 2004: The 8800 Controller is introduced.
- 2007: The 8200 Controller is released.
- 2012: Thermotron celebrated 50 years of business.
- 2013: Thermotron introduced the RSL-16 Portable Shaker to combine vibration, temperature, and humidity testing using a single SE-Series Environmental Chamber.
Made in USA
Thermotron’s roots span deep into West Michigan. What started out as one small manufacturing shop in 1962, has transformed into three large buildings hosting our employees. Thermotron’s strength comes from a highly talented workforce applying their knowledge, skills, and raw materials to build exceptional products.
Thermotron’s environmental chambers, vibration shakers, and other testing equipment are designed and engineered in-house. By having our engineering team work closely with our manufacturing team, we are able to provide superior quality control. Just as important, our in-house efforts allow us to quickly tackle issues, making any adjustments or modifications as needed.
Many of our suppliers are from the United States and Canada. In fact, up to 90% of our parts and components come from North America. Some suppliers have off-shored and since decided to re-shore to keep a closer watch on quality control. We enjoy working closely with suppliers that are helping their local communities provide stable jobs, economic growth, and quality components.
Thermotron is proud to provide hundreds of jobs in West Michigan. All of Thermotron’s administration, engineering, manufacturing, human resources, marketing, finance, and customer service is based in our three Holland, Michigan, locations. Additionally, our direct sales and service field engineers are located across the United States and Canada. Our sales and service representatives serve Thermotron customers worldwide.
Meet the Founder: Charles Conrad
Charles Conrad, a self-taught refrigeration expert, revolutionized the way environmental testing is done today. Conrad began working in climatic simulation after graduating from a West Michigan high school. His technical aptitude allowed him to invent cascade refrigeration, thus began the tradition of environmental testing.
In 1951, he developed a processing chamber for H.E. Morse Company to create -125°F temperatures. Conrad invented the first environmental test chamber by modifying a home freezer on the front porch of his home in Holland, Michigan. Based on this innovation, he founded Conrad, Inc., and sold the initial basic environmental test chamber models to companies like General Motors.
Conrad sold his stock in Conrad, Inc. in 1962 and founded Thermotron that same year. The original plan for Thermotron was for Conrad to be a one man shop and to make solid state water coolers. His plans quickly changed, and he returned to his passion of building high quality environmental test equipment.
With that, he added employees to the payroll and sold the first Thermotron AGREE chamber to Republic Aviation in 1973. This launched into explosive growth with the addition of the S-Series Environmental Chamber and Electrodynamic Shaker product lines and the first electronic programmer controllers.
Conrad was a people person who was far more concerned that the customer got the right equipment rather than making a large profit. He was known to take on additional mortgages to invest in the company. He cared deeply about his employees. When one employee needed a hernia surgery he did some research on surgical procedures; he found a procedure in Canada and paid for the transportation and surgery. It was not uncommon for him to call employees on their birthdays and invite them on a boat ride, complete with cake and ice cream.
Conrad believed the company’s success was built on learning from its mistakes in order to improve its products. He often encouraged employees by saying, “Often, the profit on a job is only what we learn and what not to do next time.”
Conrad retired in 1980 and sold the company to the Wehr Corporation, now known as Venturedyne. After continuing to work in various odd jobs throughout retirement, Conrad passed away in 1995, leaving behind a company built by his innovation that continues to lead the environmental testing industry.