Colmac Industries Inc., a Colville, Wash.-based company that makes pressing equipment for commercial laundries, has acquired the assets of Count On Us Corp., of Kansas City, Mo., which manufactures soiled-linen counting software and machinery.


The transaction included the rights to Count on Uss products, patents, and intellectual property, says Ross West, Colmacs vice president of marketing. Colmac will use the Count on Us name on the products it has acquired as a result of the sale, he says.


Colmac projects the acquisition will boost its overall revenues by about 20 percent by 2005, says West, who declines to disclose the Colville companys total revenues. Colmac will employ Count on Uss two Kansas City-based employees, a sales manager and a technical manager, and will begin manufacturing that corporations proprietary equipment in Colville. Count on Us previously subcontracted out that work, but Colmac will hire one to five new employees in Colville to manufacture the equipment, West says.


Were going to get an immediate bump in business, he says. From the acquisition, there are some major orders on the horizon.


West declines to disclose how much Colmac paid for the Missouri companys assets.


Colmac also is probing other industries, seeking new applications for its products in non-laundry businesses, West says.


Our business removes wrinkles by the application of heat in a controlled environment, and were looking at what other industries could use this technology, he says, adding that the packaging industry is one such opportunity Colmac is pursuing.


One of the products Colmac acquired from Count on Us, called an Accucounter, could be applied to other industries, West says. It uses a computer to count items as theyre sucked through its vacuum conveyor system. The computers software interfaces with a laundry companys accounting software, and helps a laundry company more accurately track the number of napkins, tablecloths, and other items that it launders in large quantities.


What we find happening is that the customers of the laundry companies are oversupplying (Count on Us) clients, resulting in excess inventory, West says.


The customers often are overloading their orders by 10 percent, getting more laundry cleaned than what theyre paying for. The laundry businesses are losing money because they must use more detergent, water, and labor to get the work done. West claims Accucounter pays for itself because of the improved accounting it provides, which allows for more accurate billing.


Accucounter can count more than just dirty laundry, West says.


We think there are many opportunities out there for us because so many things need to be counted, even an inventory of teddy bears, he says. Just throw them in the tube and count them.


Colmac, which sells its equipment to businesses in more than 45 countries, including China, India, and Saudi Arabia, says the Accucounters technology is relatively new to the industry. Count on Us was established only five years ago, and Accucounters penetration is low in the U.S. market and even lower in Europe and Asia, West says.


We expect this to generate a lot of interest overseas, he says.


Colmac Industries and its sister company, Colmac Coil Manufacturing Inc., together employ about 140 people in Colville. Colmac Coil manufactures heating and cooling coils, heat-pipe coils, air-cooled condensers, and fluid coolers.