Serving OEMs since 1983 · Bay Village, Ohio
Serving OEMs since 1983 · Bay Village, Ohio
Serving OEMs since 1983 · Bay Village, Ohio
Your coil supplier just pushed lead times past what your build schedule can absorb. Or purchasing wants a second source on a blower motor before the next price increase hits. Either way, you need a manufacturer who can build to your print, and someone who already knows which plants can do it.
That is our job. Back Bay Associates is a manufacturer's representative for OEMs in HVACR, Food Service Equipment, and related markets, and we have been doing it since 1983. We represent several world-class component manufacturers and put the right one in front of your engineering and purchasing teams.
A manufacturers' representative serves as an outsourced sales engineer who represents component manufacturers to OEMs. You share your print and requirements. We match them with a manufacturer we represent that builds that part well, then stay on the account through sampling, approval, and production, so you have one contact who knows both sides.
You could find a coil shop on your own. Plenty of OEMs do. What takes longer is learning which plants hold tolerance when your volume doubles, and which ones pick up the phone when your line is down. We already know because we work with these manufacturers every day.
Our principals build the parts that go inside the equipment you make. Because their product lines complement one another, a single conversation with us can cover the coil, motor, and fan in the same unit.
Condenser, evaporator, and heater coils built to the airflow, capacity, and footprint on your drawing.
AC, DC and EC motors, supplied alone or as complete blower assemblies. If you are moving a program platform to EC motors, bring us in early. The motor choice also affects your controls and wiring, and that’s much easier to sort out before the design freezes.
Propeller-style fan blades and blower wheels for condensing units, evaporators, and ventilation equipment.
Precision-molded components made to engineered tolerances.
Custom wire harnesses, relays, contactors, transformers, and thermistors for HVACR controls and power.
Tubing assemblies built to your print.
Some programs need a lower landed cost than a domestic plant can reach. Others need more capacity than one supplier has. For both, we keep established relationships with manufacturers in lowest-cost-country markets and bring them in when a project calls for it.
We manage the specifications, samples, and back-and-forth with the overseas manufacturer, so your engineers are not chasing answers across time zones.
The same network also extends beyond HVAC to include ATV and lawn-and-garden parts, plus ventilation, dock leveler and crane components.
We primarily focus on the HVACR and Food Service Equipment verticals.
Components must keep performing through heat, cold, humidity, and years of on-off cycling.
Equipment runs all day in kitchens that are not gentle on it, so durability decides which parts are specified.
Where repeatability part after part, and close tolerances, are non-negotiable.
Needs components that tolerate vibration and dust.
Where moisture and corrosion shorten the life of anything under-built.
An engineered drawing, or print is ideal. Add the material specs, estimated annual usage, and your timeline. If you have a realistic target price, include it; it saves a round of quoting and eliminates program expectation gaps upfront.
We look at the application, the part, the volumes, and your cost targets, then we present it all to the right manufacturer.
We coordinate samples and keep the technical questions moving between your engineers and the manufacturer until the part is approved.
We do not disappear after the first purchase order. When a delivery slips or a spec changes, you call us, and we deal with the plant. In many cases the customer is more comfortable working in direct communication with the plant on engineering, design, and delivery issues, while we monitor progress and are copied throughout the process.
Most of our OEM customers are within driving distance, and we like it that way. We can visit your plant, review the application, and if there are any issues, negotiate and resolve the problem very quickly.
Some principal relationships and account coverage are not limited by territory, though. Those accounts are managed on an account-by-account basis, so if your program is built outside our core states, please ask anyway.
Founded by William (Bill) R. Ketterer in 1983 and still run by the Ketterer family. Most key principal relationships have been established for decades. Customers deal with the company’s owners and their trusted, experienced support staff.
Often, our product lines cover multiple components in the same piece of equipment. That means fewer vendors to manage and one person who understands how the coil, motor, and other components work together in your unit.
When a domestic option does not meet a program’s cost or capacity needs, we have an overseas option ready. We have spent our history working at the OEM level, so we know how purchasing and engineering teams actually make decisions, with no compromise on quality or delivery.
William (Bill) R. Ketterer started The Back Bay Associates to help companies work with someone who would look out for their best interests. Jeff Ketterer, CEO and Principal, carries that forward. He applies the same two standards to every transaction: listen intently and do the right thing for the customer and for the manufacturer.
If you make engineered components and want better coverage with Upper Midwest OEMs, we should talk. In many situations, we bring valuable and established relationships with long-time customers at the OEM level. We also take a patient approach: win a foothold in one component, earn the customer's trust, and grow overall business share from there.
In 1983, by William (Bill) R. Ketterer.
The manufacturers we represent compensate us, so working with Back Bay Associates does not add a separate fee to your purchase. Many smaller to mid-cap manufacturers find this model a more financially efficient and effective way to reach their intended market and to achieve and maintain long-term relationship growth and success.
Primarily, heat-transfer air coils, fractional-horsepower motors and blower assemblies, fan blades and blower wheels, plastic injection moldings, electrical components, and fabricated tubing, to name several. Our global sourcing network adds a wider range beyond these.
Several world-class manufacturers with complementary product lines, so one call can cover multiple components in the same unit. This helps immensely from an established and vetted value and service perspective.
Primarily Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Some principal relationships extend beyond those states.
Your engineered drawing (print), material specifications, estimated annual usage and timeline. A realistic target price helps if you have one and can provide it. It can crystallize the overall project mission.
Send us the print and your volumes. We will review it and let you know if one of our principals can help very quickly.
Manufacturer's representative for HVACR and Food Service Equipment OEMs since 1983.
