RVBusiness, May/June 2017

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION WFCO a Major Player in RV Electronics Enhances Distribution Services with Arterra Distribution Arm As Elkhart Ind based WFCO Electronics continues to dominate the RV industry demands for electronic converters and inverters in 2017 it has refined and enhanced its service capabilities through Arterra Distribution Owning more than half of the aftermarket sales of converters and inverters for RVs and now in excess of 80 of the OEM market share the company saw the need for Arterra to serve manufacturers and distributors nationwide Arterra is the distribution arm of the WFCO Group said Rich Dotson president of Arterra Arterra warehouses delivers and houses the sales and support staff for the RV OEM business here in the greater Elkhart area Thats a pretty tall order because each week we chase down close to a hundred RV plants service them and make sure orders get there on time In fact 55000 square feet of the Arterra building is dedicated solely to the distribution warehouse to handle this demand WFCO is expanding its distribution on the aftermarket side as well The company has added a few more major distributors such as Redneck Trailers to its list of almost 20 distributors http wfcoelectronics com click if youare an rv dealer that disperse products to dealerships and repair shops across North America Adding distributors is really more of a regional approach said Dotson We try to add distributors where there is little reach from our existing distributor partners We do it strategically so that we can cover territory that hasnt been covered such as the Mid Atlantic States and the Southwest In the companys core business of power converters inverters power panels distribution centers and deck mounts the majority of the products can be found in mid sized RVs That is the WF 8955 in the power converters said Technical Support Manager Ted Krueger Its the standard power center with 30 amps AC and 55 amps DC On the deck mount side its the WF 9855 a 55 amp converter These two run pretty close together as far as numbers we move The range of converters and inverters WFCO builds is impressive with higher power ranges currently in development We range from 12 amps all the way up to 100 amps as far as converters said Krueger On the inverter side weve got 114 RVBusiness M A Y J U N E 2 0 1 7 one that is 1000 watts now and we are working on other versions coming out shortly Krueger explained that the applications on the inverter side of the business are based on the demand for power for the larger residential refrigerators now common in many RVs The inverters are there so that if RV owners are dry camping they can use one to power the larger refrigerators Our products are always changing with the demands of the market The company is also in the water pump supply business through its Artis Products division Weve had good success with our water pumps from a quality standpoint said Dotson Its not something we are known for but weve been building water pumps for about 10 to 12 years Sales took off in the last couple of years after we redesigned the pump We made a lot of changes to increase the quality and with that came more market share Like most electronic component producers in the United States much of what they sell is manufactured in China Our products are made by WFCOs manufacturing company in Dongguan China about two hours north of Hong Kong said Dotson Our quality process is very extensive We have quality people on site in Dongguan and then we also double check quality once it arrives here With a warranty claim rate remaining unchanged from the previous year even as sales have increased considerably less than 1 of all products sold Dotson remains positive about the quality electrical and water pump components Artis Products and Arterra are supplying to the growing RV industry We feel confident that our quality will remain constant as we continue to grow and distribute more he concluded There will be 430000 RVs being shipped this year The majority of these will have some type of power center and we are proud that WFCO has the lions share of this market n WF 8955 power converter PDS1 130 1240E water pump Onsite testing of WFCO Electronics products WFCO Electronics 2021 Aeroplex Drive Elkhart IN 46514 877 294 8 997 WFCOelectronics com