Manchester Tank, Ditech Testing form strategic partnership

Manchester Tank and Ditech Testing launched a strategic partnership, gathering team members in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the NPGA Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo. (Photo courtesy of Jacques Lirette)

Manchester Tank and Ditech Testing have formed a strategic partnership that will combine the propane industry offerings of the tank manufacturer and the tank refurbishing specialist, respectively.

The companies made the announcement during the NPGA Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo earlier this month in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The partnership will allow Manchester Tank to provide propane tank and cylinder refurbishing services to customers in addition to its lines of new propane tanks and cylinders that it’s been manufacturing since 1946.

Requests for refurb

Jordan de Lima has been the president of Manchester Tank for about a year. Under his leadership, the Franklin, Tennessee-based company began to look more closely at its current offerings and assess where it could address “blind spots” with needed services and innovation.

“And every single time, every person I asked, the concept of refurbishing came up,” he says. “So we did some due diligence in understanding that process.”

They found the concept of refurbishing tanks made a lot of sense with its current operation. The prospect of adding a refurbishing element to the business only got stronger when they began to consider Ditech Testing, a company based in Scoudouc, New Brunswick, Canada. Ditech refurbishes units from 33 pounds to 2,000 gallons.

De Lima, a Toronto native, calls the partnership “a cultural fit.”

“I can only see it as a major positive,” he says. “We’re the only ones in the business that are a true one-stop shop, everything from the 5 pound all the way to 1,000 [gallons] that we manufacture as Manchester Tank. And now we have a refurb offering for anything 250, 420, 500 and 1,000. We can go all the way up to 2,000.”

Since its launch in 1997, Ditech Testing has been known for its tank refurbishing and recertification services, which feature a fleet of 26 trucks that move products to and from customer locations. Like Manchester Tank, Ditech realized that it could offer even more services to its customers, explains Jacques Lirette, president of Ditech, who’s been with the company for just over two years.

“The ability to supply used tanks is something we’ve focused on,” in addition to refurbishing solutions, says Lirette, noting how the company produced 95,000 units (both refurbished and used tanks) last year.

In addition, Ditech has worked with Manchester in recent months to receive cores (unfinished new tanks) for Ditech to finish in its plants before selling the new products to customers. It’s all led Ditech to reference its own offerings as a “one-stop shop” for customers.

“That’s how the conversation got going with Manchester,” Lirette says.

Customer options

The Manchester-Ditech partnership will provide more options for propane industry customers, de Lima says. Customers can buy new tanks from Manchester or choose to have their own tank assets refurbished. Or, should they be looking for a competitive alternative to new tanks, they can purchase refurbished used tanks.

“Any one of our customers, including our distributors, will have access to these programs,” de Lima says.

Manchester Tank will look to leverage the new partnership with Ditech Testing and the relationship with its equipment distributors to reach a new segment of customers, de Lima explains.

“Historically your small mom-and-pop propane company might not have had access to refurb,” de Lima says. “When you start leveraging  the network, the distributor could begin pooling their customers’ product to offer a refurb program – something they might not have had access to in the past.”

The next step, de Lima says, is to ensure Manchester Tank and Ditech Testing are offering a consistent, streamlined level of service from either company.

Manchester Tank employs about 750, including at facilities in Illinois and Kentucky and at its international operations in India and Australia. In addition to New Brunswick on the east coast of Canada, Ditech, with about 160 employees, has a location in Alberta.

“All I see for us is continued success and growth,” Lirette says. “By leveraging the Manchester client base, we should be able to support a greater audience. This should enable more production in our plant and, alongside Manchester, become an even stronger employer of choice.”