Industry Leader Interview: Pat Tillisch

The “Industry Leader” series features interviews that aim to shed light on energy efficiency and energy-related activities that are shaping strategic initiatives in leading U.S. industrial companies. This month, the Alliance interviewed Pat Tillisch, President and General Manager of Spirax Sarco, Inc. 

Alliance: How would you describe Spirax Sarco’s approach to helping manufacturers improve energy efficiency and what opportunities and/or barriers do you find to it?

Tillisch: Our goal with our global energy-using customers is to help them become more productive and energy efficient in as safe a manner as possible.  Historically, we have focused on their steam systems (which has been our core competency) as the opportunity where we bring the most value.  However, as we’ve evolved along with our customers, we’ve come to recognize that the energy and productivity savings across the whole spectrum of utilities in total is truly significant.  Fast forward to today, we regularly provide consultation on savings when it comes to steam, but also water, gas, emissions and even electricity in association with one of our strategic partnerships.

The problem is where to look for the best opportunities, especially after the obvious areas for improvement are identified and then actioned.  That’s where companies like Spirax Sarco and others who are qualified, can offer sound advice and then be a valuable partner in constructing a well thought out approach to the “next level of improvement and efficiency.”

Alliance: Spirax Sarco has been involved in many initiatives over the years (Steam Challenge, BP Steam Committee, development of the Steam System Assessment Tool, Better Buildings/Better Plants and Superior Energy Performance). How does Spirax Sarco leverage these tools and programs to improve energy efficiency both in your own facilities as well as in manufacturing plants and industrial-scale facilities belonging to the federal government? 

Tillisch: Clearly we believe in these programs based on our involvement over the years.  Once again, while our core competency has been in steam systems, we’ve come to understand these tools interface with all utilities and the savings opportunities are wide spread.  That’s why as partners and good stewards of our industry, we’ve lent our expertise to these programs over the years and then readily embraced the Better Buildings/Better Plant initiative as an opportunity for improvement in our own business.  Once we started, we recognized the Better Buildings/Better Plants programs were only the “tip of the opportunity iceberg.”  We recently received ISO 14001 certification; expect to get certified to ISO 50001 yet this year and even ISO 17025 certification on the metering side of our business.

Having had these experiences, along with our involvement with the recent advanced metering initiatives, we feel we are better qualified than ever to increase our outreach to utility-using companies, be they private institutions, industrial plants or the government.  Said another way, we have the credentials and undeniable experience we can use as a proof statement…it can be done.  Armed with the expertise and solutions (and our many training centers around the world), we can help guide our customers toward the many tools they too can use to their advantage, be they in the private or government sector.

Alliance: How do you see the market for energy efficiency assessments and implementation changing with respect to the industrial sector in the coming years?

Tillisch: Our hope is that as time goes on, there will be a better understanding that alternative energy is great, but it’s not instantaneous and alone won’t necessarily allow us to reach our energy saving goals.  From our perspective, the best opportunities lie in conservation by eliminating the wasted energy that clearly exists across all industries.  That’s the value of energy efficiency assessments and goes hand in hand with our country’s need for “sustainability” both now and in the future.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we not only see “metering” as a key component and the interim step between assessments and energy saving actions…but also evolving into a true validation tool, integral to smart systems that use sub-metering for improved efficiency.  We truly believe it’s becoming more and more of a metering world as businesses recommit to energy saving projects for their own personal benefit, but also in what clearly is a worldwide effort to conserve energy.

About Pat Tillisch:

Pat Tillisch is President and General Manager of Spirax Sarco, Inc.  Prior to his current role, he was Vice President of Sales responsible for all domestic and export sales.  He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, sits on the Supplier Advisor Council for Affiliated Distributors, is a member of the Valve Manufacturers Association and sponsors the Better Buildings, Better Plants program at Spirax Sarco.

About Spirax Sarco:

Spirax Sarco is the world leader in steam system management.  The company provides a broad range of fluid control products, engineered packages, systems expertise and site services for its diverse range of over 100,000 industrial and institutional customers.  The company helps its customers to optimize production capacity, reduce energy costs and emissions, improve product quality and enhance the safety of their operations.  Spirax Sarco has strategically located manufacturing plants around the world and employs approximately 4,700 people, of whom around 1,300 are direct sales and service engineers.  Further information can be found at www.spiraxsarco.com/us.