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Firm's transition showing bottom-line benefits.

Article Excerpt
Franklin Electric is a company in transition.

Last year, the Bluffton-based submersible-motor manufacturer sold its Engineered Motor Products Division and acquired two other companies--one that makes pumps and one that provides the vapor-recovery systems used to reduce emissions at gas stations.

It's all part of a process that began in 2004, when the northeast Indiana firm decided to build revenue by bypassing the pump manufacturers that bought its submersible motors and sell its products directly to water-systems distributors. Late that year, Franklin purchased the assets of JBD Inc., formerly the Jacuzzi brand pump manufacturer.

"We are converting ourselves from a motor company into a pumping-systems company," said CEO R. Scott Trumbull, who also serves as chairman. "When you eliminate a step in the distribution channel, you can pick up all the revenue enjoyed in that step."

In 2004, about 42 percent of...

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