Founded in 1941, Clippard started out manufacturing electronic test equipment. In the 1950’s, the company began the production of miniature pneumatic products. Today, they remain family owned. Manufacturing facilities are located in Cincinnati and Fairfield, Ohio, USA.
Clippard is in its seventh decade of supplying fluid power, motion and process control devices to the Medical, Analytical and Industrial markets. They understand the need for precision, reliability and purity in critical applications and are dedicated to providing expert solutions to meet and exceed expectations.
Interview with Dirk Thomas, Sales & Administration Manager at Clippard Europe S. A.
Easy Engineering: How are sales and marketing organized for Europe?
Dirk Thomas: Clippard’s European business is managed by the independent Clippard Europe S.A. On April 1, 1976, the first European office for Clippard opened in Wavre near Brussels and today, the company is based in Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, not far from the capital Brussels. From here, from the center of Europe, all European markets are served, as well as Turkiye and parts of North Africa.
In addition to sales and marketing, the Louvain-la-Neuve site includes a logistics center with a large inventory of standard products that are immediately available. Local distributors support us in over 30 European countries.
E.E: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
D.T: There are three areas in which we specialize. These are solutions for medical and dental products, analytical and industrial niches. In addition, we offer a wide range of customer-specific solutions for these markets and for other sectors. More than 50% of our turnover is with these specials.
Dirk Thomas, Sales & Administration Manager at Clippard Europe S. A.
E.E: Which products does Clippard offer?
D.T: Our solutions portfolio includes Electronic Directional Control Valves, Manual and Mechanical Directional Control Valves, Isolation valves, Proportional Vales, Pressure Regulators, Electronic Flow and Pressure Controllers, Fittings and Tubing.
E.E: What makes working with Clippard special for customers?
D.T: Clippard continuously develops and improves solutions for medical, analytical and specific applications in niche markets. Tailor-made solutions are often offered by thinking along with our customers and tackling challenges together. This allows our customers not only to stay one step ahead of their competitors, but also to produce more cost-effectively.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
D.T: Our latest innovation is called CP1. This is a single-valve pressure controller that provides a compact, cost-effective solution for applications where a proportional valve is specified to maintain pressure in a closed-loop application. By combining a single proportional valve with closed-loop capabilities with a sensor, the CP1 eliminates the need for additional programming, specifying sensors, and selecting a separate proportional valve. We achieve incredible results in dynamic applications like control of carrier gasses, blanketing gasses, cutting gasses, dynamic dispensing, or critical polishing applications with the phenomenal high resolution, high accuracy, and repeatability of the Cordis line.