February 5, 2025 | News

HOSE ASSEMBLIES JOINS THE MRCA FAMILY

For over 40 years, Hose Assemblies has provided custom hoses for OEM appliance makers (and some notable brands). Given its size and scope, Hose Assemblies is a high volume, low-margin business – this derailed some prospective buyers seeking higher margin opportunities.

Mat Veldman led the process of taking Hose Assemblies to market. “I’ve been in manufacturing for a long time, and you can tell a lot by reactions on the plant floor. The few firms who actually came to visit us were awestruck by our everyday reality: the machinery, equipment, and automation. If that wowed them, I had a hunch we would not be a fit.”

His first impression of MRCA was: they showed up. They took time to visit us and to better understand Hose Assemblies. MRCA execs are manufacturing veterans – they arrived on the plant floor and knew what to expect. This stood out to Mat because the few others who visited seemed to get lost among the machinery or automated systems. MRCA demonstrated through its actions this was not their first rodeo.

Mat continued, “As a high-volume/low-margin business we needed a partner who saw us as something more than just that. We kissed a lot of frogs.” – few came to visit; not one wanted the whole package – they all seemed to want different things. “We were not a turnaround. I’ve been involved in turnaround businesses and, that is not what we are,” continued Mat.

Mat and his team felt MRCA approached the conversation with a relaxed style that felt like a fit for how they operate. MRCA understood business continuity was the focus (not a need to be ‘fixed’).

His team was struck when the MRCA execs asked, “How do you make the US more competitive when labor costs are so much higher?”

The team felt this was a higher-order question – not solely for his business but dug into their brain and operating principles. It felt like the game had been elevated from selling to partnering.

Operational improvements? Sure. But no wholesale change was needed: On paper (and in reality) Hose Assemblies reliably met all its financial needs but was not growing. Its state-of-the-art plant was under capacity. It needed some fresh ideas. MRCA knew the enterprise was just fine – and that was an ideal place to start. Precisely the kind of partner Mat and his team were looking for.

At MRCA, we’re taking a different approach to ensure America’s manufacturing capacity grows.