Providing Easy Solutions to Make Buildings More Comfortable and Energy Efficient: KMC Controls

IoT is transforming the connected world. This technological evolution is having a tremendous impact on the smart building and home industry, as it advances the building automation space.

Many businesses are entering the arena of automation and IoT solutions, due in part the lower cost and effort to instrument buildings with sensors, as well as the benefit of powerful cloud-based data analytics.

Founded in 1969, KMC Controls is one the major players in the industry. For nearly 50 years, KMC has been helping facilities achieve higher levels of indoor environmental quality and comfort by automating and controlling building systems.

The Pioneer of Cutting-Edge Building Automation

Established by Ken Kreuter as Kreuter Manufacturing Company, the company was originally founded to serve the OEM HVAC market. From the pneumatic products offered at its founding to the cloud-based IoT platform produced today, KMC has stayed ahead in the game of technology throughout its history.

“KMC Controls has always been driven by a spirit of innovation, coupled with market awareness and customer service,” said KMC CEO Richard Newberry. “This led to expansion of the KMC product line over the years, from the addition of digital controls in the 1980s and configuration software in the 1990s to KMC Commander today.”

Since the inception, KMC has been a global firm that sells in North America, adding Asia and the Middle East in the 1980s. Headquartered in New Paris, Indiana, KMC continues to serve the buildings market across several verticals; whether big or small. Designed and manufactured in the U.S.A., KMC’s solutions are registered under the ISO-9001:2015 quality system.

From single-story offices to multi-floor high-rises and multiple-building portfolios, KMC has a solution to fit the needs of nearly every building application. With a deep understanding of the OT (operational technology) side of buildings, as well as years of experience in IT networking, KMC is an industry visionary who looks for voids and develops new technologies to fill the needs.

The IoT Platform That Grows

Started with a vision to unite building systems across networks, protocols, and locations in a single, web-based mobile platform, KMC started its IoT journey with an automation platform, KMC Commander. The platform promises to make it easier to bring systems together in an innovative and intuitive way.

Committed to make solutions truly open, affordably scalable and as secure as possible, KMC set out with two of the top tech leaders in the industry, Intel and Dell. After advising Dell on what to include in an IoT gateway, the 5000 and 3000 series Edge Gateways, with Intel inside, were born. All the while, KMC developed the cloud platform that would drive the solution and finally make IoT a real possibility.

KMC quickly realized that developing an IoT strategy with short term and long term goals was the best way to go for future KMC Commander development.

“We don’t believe that KMC Commander will ever be a complete solution – meaning we will always be improving and always be adding features.” said Newberry. “It’ll never be pronounced done”.

The Skyrocketing Popularity

Over the years, the company has grown in the industry - not only because of the solutions but also because of its passionate team of industry experts who share the same vision and mission. Everyone at KMC is dedicated to emerging technologies and providing innovative and intuitive solutions to customers.

As building systems have gotten smarter and the desire to aggregate data has grown, systems were being developed more and more differently, driving a deeper and deeper divide between integration. KMC Commander promises to make it easier to bring these systems together in an innovative and intuitive way never seen before. This has led to a great deal of excitement and buzz around the KMC Commander platform.

“IoT will only be successful when vendors use and provide open solutions,” Newberry said. “KMC has always been committed to providing open solutions, so transitioning to a new mentality wasn’t necessary.”

KMC Controls believes that collaboration is the key to success. The company’s collaboration with Dell and Intel is one of those worthwhile partnerships that have put KMC in the driving seat. As IoT is becoming a common lingo, the project with a Dell gateway, with Intel inside, gives CIOs and IT directors a sense of comfort and peace of mind when implementing KMC Commander.

Crafting the Future Roadmap

With nearly 200 employees, KMC Controls is an ever-growing company providing the top-tier innovative, easy-to-use building management and automation solutions.

For the near future, KMC Controls is expecting to see growth in a number of channels. To date, the company’s most successful channel is the OT channel of Systems Integrators and OEM customers, which is primarily focused on HVAC solutions. Also, KMC is expecting its market of IT managed service providers and CIO/IT Directors for midsize enterprises to grow dramatically, easily doubling current customer and revenue projections.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with what the future holds for KMC,” said Newberry. “We’re excited to experience all of the growth with customers and partners a like.”

Meet the Chief

Richard Newberry, CEO of KMC Controls: Richard, formerly President at KMC, has led the corporate development, new product innovation, and competitive strategy for the company since 2014. With more than 30 years of executive and general management experience in energy, oil and gas, technology manufacturing, and building automation segments, Richard applies a total solution view to guiding innovation and forging strategic partnerships with industry-leading technology firms. He currently leads KMC’s collaboration with Silicon Valley tech giants developing a revolutionary solution for connecting building automation systems to the Internet of Things.

Richard was named the 2017 Control Trends Executive of the Year for Large Manufacturers. He serves on the Intel North American Board of Advisors and the Channel Company’s IoT Board of Advisors. He holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Accounting from the University of Indianapolis and a Master’s degree in Business from DePaul University.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with what the future holds for KMC. We’re excited to experience all of the growth with customers and partners alike.– CEO Richard Newberry, KMC Controls”