Author: Nedjine Doreus

Our colleagues at Airtech Vacuum in Rutherford, New Jersey hosted a Job Readiness Workshop for 25 high school students from Great Oaks Legacy Charter School and Covenant House this month, in partnership with Jersey Cares.

The workshop was designed to help young adults and teens preparing to enter the workforce, connect with industry professionals, strengthen their resumes, participate in mock interviews, and explore career opportunities within manufacturing.

Throughout the day, students had the opportunity to engage with a wide range of Airtech employees representing diverse career paths and professional backgrounds. These conversations offered valuable insight into real world career journeys and the many possibilities within our industry.

Students toured our factory, a first-time experience for many, allowing them to see how manufacturing facilities operate and how everyday products are made and brought to market.

Some of the students are from Covenant House, which provides food, shelter, crisis care, and other supportive services to young people experiencing homelessness and who are survivors of human trafficking. Prior to this event, Airtech organized a separate initiative last December called “First Night Kits,” supported by an IDEX Foundation grant. During that effort, Airtech employees assembled kits filled with toiletries, blankets, and other essential personal hygiene items designed to help young people get through their first night without a home. Many of the students are still using those First Night Kits today.

Overall, this month’s workshop was another successful example of Airtech’s commitment to corporate responsibility and to preparing and educating the next generation of the workforce. These students may very well become our colleagues in the years ahead.

A sincere thank you to all the volunteers who shared their career insights, helped students build their resumes, and supported them in preparing for future interviews. Special recognition goes to the Airtech Engagement Committee for making this event possible.

Across 15 different departments, nearly 20 employees at Gast, a unit of IDEX, gathered to pack 400 backpacks for kids participating in a Girls on the Run event.

Girls on the Run offers programs designed to inspire girls of all abilities to recognize and embrace their inner strength and make meaningful connections with others. Trained coaches use physical activity and dynamic discussions to build social, emotional and physical skills while encouraging healthy habits for life. 

Backpacks contained items such as socks, hats, hair ties, fanny packs, bracelets and personal hygiene items. The team applied manufacturing concepts to get the job done in just one hour, forming an assembly line for maximum efficiency.

The annual girls’ event is held in Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S.A., with support from the United Way Southwest Michigan. The full cost of the backpacks and their contents was covered through a generous donation from the IDEX Foundation and in accordance with National Volunteer Week from April 19–25.

If you are interested in learning more about Girls on the Run Southwest Michigan, check out their website here: Girls on the Run Southwest Michigan

IDEX Fire & Safety used the stage at FDIC International 2026, the most important fire service gathering of the year, to highlight how it is advancing intelligence, interoperability and performance across the modern fireground. 

Across its portfolio, IDEX Fire & Safety introduced new solutions that reflect a clear focus on intelligence, interoperability and performance.

“FDIC is where first responders come to see what’s next,” IDEX Fire & Safety President Brian Houk said. “These announcements reflect how IDEX Fire & Safety is focused on delivering intelligence, connectivity and real‑world performance, helping departments get more from the equipment they rely on today while preparing for what’s ahead.”

AI Comes to Equipment Service

At the center of IDEX Fire & Safety’s presence was the launch of Captium™ IQ, an industry‑first AI Technician from HURST Jaws of Life^®. Built to support service and equipment readiness, Captium IQ brings AI‑assisted diagnostics and guided support directly to technicians, helping accelerate troubleshooting, standardize service workflows and improve equipment uptime.

• Puts technical guidance in technicians’ hands at the point of service
• Helps diagnose issues faster and identifies likely issues based on past usage patterns
• Promotes more consistent, documented maintenance to support fleet readiness

Available through a mobile app starting in May 2026, Captium IQ is designed to reduce service complexity while strengthening long‑term aftermarket and support capabilities across the Captium platform. Over time, these AI‑enabled insights can help departments and service teams make more informed maintenance decisions and keep critical rescue tools in service.

“Captium IQ is designed to make servicing HURST Jaws of Life tools more efficient, consistent, and accessible,” said Phil Griffin, Director of Product Management with HURST Jaws of Life. “By combining guided diagnostics, clear repair workflows, and AI-powered support, Captium IQ helps departments and service partners improve uptime and maintain confidence in their equipment.”

Turning Apparatus Data Into Fireground Insight

IDEX Fire & Safety also announced expanded Captium integrations, enabling departments to stream data from existing apparatus into trusted third‑party platforms, without new trucks or data plans.

By acting as a secure data hub, Captium helps deliver real‑time pump, water and response intelligence directly to command staff and firefighters, unlocking more value from equipment already in service and reinforcing IDEX Fire & Safety’s commitment to interoperability.

Expanding Water Control Options

Akron Brass introduced the Flat Out™ Assault Ring Kit, a field‑installable upgrade that adds a flat disperse discharge pattern to select Assault nozzles. Designed for exterior attack, wildland and wind‑driven conditions, the new pattern delivers controlled, linear surface coverage while retaining straight stream and power cone functionality.

The kit integrates with SAM™ and SAM BOOST™ and installs quickly with no permanent modification.

Previewing the Future of Fire Pumps

Rounding out the announcements, Hale previewed the next‑generation QMAX‑APX Fire Pump at FDIC. Building on the legacy of the widely specified QMAX platform, QMAX‑APX introduces a more modular, future‑ready design intended to simplify apparatus engineering, accommodate evolving emissions systems and support expanded connectivity through Captium.

LouwersHanique, a unit of IDEX, is committed to sustainable business practices. This year, they took an important step in their environmental efforts with the installation of a new hydrofluoric acid (HF) neutralization system. HF is highly toxic and must be handled carefully. It is primarily used in specialized industries such as semiconductor manufacturing for etching silicon wafers, glass processing, and metal cleaning/pickling.

Previously, their processes generated about 12,000 liters of HF waste per year, all treated as hazardous chemical waste. With the new neutralization system, this HF waste is converted into clean water and just a few kilograms of non-dangerous sludge. The water is safely discharged into the municipal sewer system in accordance with environmental regulations, and the remaining solids are responsibly disposed of.

The new system reduces our chemical waste and requires fewer transport trips of hazardous materials, which lowers our environmental impact and enhances safety for our employees and waste handlers.

The IDEX Health & Science (IH&S) platform has been actively pursuing the IDEX Green certification, and the Bristol, Connecticut site achieved it! By identifying a few relatively simple fixes, the IH&S Bristol achieved meaningful energy reduction.

The team attained IDEX Green state in part by leveraging the Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program from their energy advisory service partnership with Cascade Energy.

Cascade’s SEM framework provides a comprehensive, long‑term approach that helps industrial facilities cut energy waste, reduce utility costs, and advance decarbonization through expert coaching, data‑driven decision‑making, and peer‑based learning.

When IH&S Bristol joined the SEM program in late 2024, the team initially believed they had limited opportunities for efficiency gains, having already upgraded major systems like lighting. But Cascade’s structured process, including a full‑day “treasure hunt” facility walkthrough and real‑time energy‑use analysis, revealing significant hidden waste.

Weekend CNC & Compressor Shutdowns

The most impactful discovery was that CNC machines and compressed air systems were left running through weekends, causing energy consumption to remain nearly as high during downtime as during production. A simple procedural change, shutting down equipment at the end of each Friday shift, immediately reduced energy use by nearly 20%.

Over the full program, the site identified 25 additional opportunities and achieved sustained annual reductions of over 12%, avoiding roughly 247,300 kWh in energy use. That translated into $37,000 USD in annual energy savings, and 100 metric tons (100,000 kg) of CO₂e emissions reductions each year.

These behavioral changes cut costs and accelerated the team’s achievement of the IDEX Green certification.

This outcome shows how behavior-based, non-capital improvements can lead to significant and lasting gains in both operational efficiency and sustainability.

Huge shout‑out to Daryl Moore for helping IH&S Bristol implement these opportunities!

Read the full success story posted on Cascade Energy’s website:

Success Stories | Cascade Energy

With over 85,000 of our paint tinting dispensers in the field and nearly 450 third-party field service engineers on the ground, managing aftermarket operations has posed a significant challenge for the Fast and Fluid Management (FFM) team in India.

India’s Digital team recently partnered with FFM-Asia Dispensing to develop digital tool to efficiently manage growing field service business demands.  

Through their United Expertise, both teams designed a seamless, data-driven workflow that connects multiple stakeholders—customers, service partners, and over 450 on-contract field service engineers. This collaboration led to the creation of the Service Relationship Manager (SRM) tool, a digital platform that automates and streamlines aftermarket support.

Key Features of SRM:

• Automated Ticket Assignment: Service tickets are auto-assigned in seconds based on engineer location, reducing manual effort from 5–6 hours to mere moments.
• Real-Time Dashboards: Instant visibility into service performance and service level agreement (SLA) compliance.
• Integrated Reporting: Automatic generation of service reports and KPI tracking for customer satisfaction.
• Partner & Team Management: Monitor third-party service partners, track digital attendance, and measure team performance.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Secure data insights enable smarter business strategies. 

The Impact

• Delivered an intuitive user experience with digital ticket access and real-time Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reporting.
• Reduced ticket assignment time from hours to seconds through automation.
• Enabled real-time monitoring of service partners and field engineers.
• Empowered business decisions with secure, data-driven insights.

What started as a challenge – managing aftermarket support for 85,000 dispensers and hundreds of engineers – became an opportunity to collaborate with extended colleagues. Together, the Dispensing Service team and India’s Digital team created Service Relationship Manager (SRM), a solution that redefines how they deliver service: faster, smarter, and always customer-first.

Our colleagues at Mott continue to embrace Lean Manufacturing principles, with a recent project transforming the efficiency of a critical cell so the team could quickly meet a tenfold increase in demand with speed and quality.

On the cusp of winning a new project, the team knew they had to ramp up iso-tube production. Fast!

Led by IDEX VP of Business Operations & Integration Mike, the Mott team carried out a series of improvement activities, including two value stream mapping sessions, three standard work events, and two 3P (Production, Preparation, and Process) workshops.

Mott’s iso-cell had struggled to hit daily output. With projected order targets, they had lots of work to do.

Through discipline, collaboration, and focus, this cell is now able to produce a 10x increase! And, they now hit at a 21% increase! The team also reduced the number of actual walking steps from 19,548 steps per shift to 8,344 steps per shift, simplifying work and eliminating unnecessary motion.

Customers use Mott’s specialized iso-pressed porous metal tubes – typically stainless steel and other high-performance alloys – in filtration, flow control, gas diffusion, and fluid management. They are used in demanding applications where precise, uniform pore sizes are needed under demanding conditions, such as high heat and corrosive fluids.

Congratulations to the team. By minimizing the amount of waste and variation in producing goods for customers, Mott is now poised to deliver on this significant demand increase and satisfy an important customer.