Omega Flex, Inc. is a manufacturer of flexible metal hose, which is used in a variety of ways to carry gases and liquids within their particular applications.
Some of the more prominent uses include: carrying fuel gases within residential and commercial buildings; carrying gasoline and diesel gasoline products (both above and below the ground) in a double containment piping to contain any possible leaks, which is used in automotive and marina refueling, and fueling for back-up generation; using...
Omega Flex, Inc. is a manufacturer of flexible metal hose, which is used in a variety of ways to carry gases and liquids within their particular applications.
Some of the more prominent uses include: carrying fuel gases within residential and commercial buildings; carrying gasoline and diesel gasoline products (both above and below the ground) in a double containment piping to contain any possible leaks, which is used in automotive and marina refueling, and fueling for back-up generation; using copper-alloy corrugated piping in medical or health care facilities to carry medical gases (oxygen, nitrogen, vacuum) or pure gases for pharmaceutical applications; and industrial applications where the customer requires the piping to have both a degree of flexibility and/or an ability to carry corrosive compounds or mixtures, or to carry at both very high and very low (cryogenic) temperatures.
The company’s business is managed as a single operating segment that consists of the manufacture and sale of flexible metal hose (also described as corrugated tubing), as well as the sale of the company’s related proprietary fittings and a vast array of accessories.
The company manufactures flexible metal hose at its facilities in Exton, Pennsylvania and Houston, Texas in the United States (U.S.), and in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The company primarily sells its products through distributors, wholesalers and to original equipment manufacturers (‘OEMs’) throughout North America and Europe, and to a lesser extent other global markets.
Over the years, most of the company’s business has been concentrated in North America, but the company also has foreign subsidiaries located in the U.K. and France, which are largely focused on European and other international markets. The company also has a U.S. subsidiary, which owns the company’s Exton, Pennsylvania real estate, and in October 2024, formed a new U.S. subsidiary, Flex-Trac, Inc., for its MediTrac corrugated medical gas tubing products.
Most of the company’s sales are derived from the sale of TracPipe and CounterStrike CSST systems, including Autoflare fittings and a variety of accessories. Sales of the company’s flexible metal hose for other applications represent a small portion of the company’s overall sales and income.
Almost all the company’s products and product lines are sold by outside sales organizations. These independent sales organizations or sales representatives are geographically dispersed in certain territorial markets across the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.
Of the various sales channels that the company uses to sell its products, a significant portion of such sales are made through the company’s wholesale stocking distributors. These and other distributors purchase the company’s products, and stock the goods in warehouses for resale, either to their own local branches or to end users. During 2024, the company derived 3% to 4% of the company’s revenue from sales to customers located outside the U.S.
Strategy
The company’s strategy has been, and continues to be, focused on its core strengths in the development, manufacture, and sale of flexible metal hose for use in a variety of applications. The company is uniquely situated to exploit its capabilities in this area due to its long experience in engineering and bringing new products to market, and its proprietary rotary process, which permits the company to manufacture flexible metal hose with superior quality and efficiency as compared to its competitors. The company’s strategy is to develop flexible metal products in new and developing markets that would recognize and compensate for the value-added propositions that each product brings to that industry. Typically, this would involve a new flexible metal hose that replaces traditional rigid products, and thereby improves the quality of the installed product, increases installation efficiency, and provides time savings. Examples of such products are the company’s flexible gas piping sold under the TracPipe CounterStrike trademarks, the company’s MediTrac corrugated medical gas tubing, the company’s DoubleTrac double-containment piping, and DEF-Trac flexible piping. In each instance, the products the company brings to market offer customers superior quality, expanded applications due to the products’ flexibility. The company seeks to protect its investments in product development by obtaining patent protection for new and unique features of its products.
Sales, Products and Customers
The company sells its products to customers scattered across a wide and diverse set of industries ranging from construction to pharmaceutical. These sales channels include sales through independent sales representatives, distributors, OEM, and direct sales. The company utilizes various distribution companies in the sale of the company’s TracPipe and Counterstrike CSST, and these distribution customers in the aggregate represent a significant portion of the company’s business. In particular, the company has one significant distribution customer, whose various branches had sales in the range of 14% to 15% of total sales during the periods of 2023 to 2024 and were 23% of the company’s accounts receivable balance as of December 31, 2024.
The company sells its products within North America, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The company also sells its products internationally, primarily in Europe through the company’s manufacturing facility located in Banbury, the U.K. The company’s sales outside of North America were in the range of 3% to 4% of the company’s total sales during the last two years, with most of the sales occurring in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. The company does not have a material portion of its long-lived assets located outside of the U.S.
TracPipe CSST
The company has had the most success within the residential construction industry with its flexible gas piping products, TracPipe CSST, which was introduced in 1997, and its more robust counterpart TracPipe CounterStrike CSST, which came to market in 2004. Partnered with the development of the company’s AutoFlare and AutoSnap fittings and accessories, both have enjoyed wide acceptance due to their reliability and durability. In late 2023, the company discontinued the AutoSnap fitting, due to overwhelming market acceptance of the AutoFlare fitting. Within the residential construction industry, the flexible gas piping products that the company offers, and similar products offered by the company’s competitors have sought to overcome the use of black iron pipe that has traditionally been used by the construction industry in the U.S. and Canada for the piping of fuel gases within a building.
The flexibility of the tube allows it to be bent by hand without any tools when a change in direction in the line is required. In contrast, black iron pipe requires that each bend in the pipe have a separate fitting attached. This requires the installer to thread the ends of the black iron pipe, apply an adhesive to the threads, and then screw on the fitting, all of which is labor intensive and costly, including testing and rework if the work is not done properly. As a result of these advantages, the company estimates that CSST now commands over one-half of the market for fuel gas piping in new and remodeled residential construction in the U.S., and the use of rigid iron pipe, and to a lesser degree copper tubing, accounts for the remainder of the market. The company plans to continue its growth trend by demonstrating its advantages against other technologies, in both the residential and commercial markets, in both the U.S. and overseas in geographic areas that have access to natural gas distribution systems.
CounterStrike CSST
As previously mentioned, in 2004, the company introduced a new brand of flexible gas piping sold under the registered trademark ‘CounterStrike’. CounterStrike CSST is designed to be more resistant to damage from transient electrical arcing. In a lightning strike, the electrical energy of the lightning can energize all metal systems and components in a building. This electrical energy, in attempting to reach ground, may arc between metal systems that have different electrical resistance, and arcing can cause damage to the metal systems. In standard CSST systems, an electrical bond between the CSST and the building’s grounding electrode would address this issue, but lightning is an extremely powerful and unpredictable force. CounterStrike CSST is designed to be electrically conductive and therefore disperse the energy of any electrical charge over the entire surface of the CounterStrike line. In 2007, the company introduced a new version of CounterStrike CSST that was tested to be even more resistant to damage from electrical arcing than the original version, and substantially more effective than standard CSST products. As a result of its robust performance, the new version of CounterStrike CSST has been widely accepted in the market, and thus during 2011, the company made the decision to sell exclusively CounterStrike CSST within the U.S. This move demonstrated the company’s commitment to innovation and safety and further enhanced its leadership in the marketplace.
DoubleTrac Piping
In 2008, the company introduced its first double containment piping product – DoubleTrac. DoubleTrac double containment piping has earned stringent industry certifications for its ability to safely contain and convey liquid fuels. DoubleTrac piping received certification from Underwriters Laboratory, the testing and approval agency, that the company’s product is fully compliant with UL 971A, which is the product standard in the U.S. for metallic underground fuel piping, ULc S679 which is the product standard in Canada for metallic underground fuel piping, as well as approvals from other relevant state agencies that have more stringent testing procedures for the product. Additionally, DoubleTrac is fully compliant with UL 1369, which is the bi-national U.S. and Canada standard for aboveground piping for flammable and combustible liquids. DoubleTrac piping is one of a select few piping systems having listings and approvals for both belowground and aboveground piping systems. Similar to the company’s flexible gas piping, DoubleTrac piping provides advantages over older rigid pipe technologies. DoubleTrac piping is made and can be installed in long continuous runs, eliminating the need for manually assembling rigid pipe junctions at the end of a pipe or at a turn in direction. In addition, DoubleTrac piping has superior performance in terms of its ability to safely convey fuel from the storage tank to the dispenser, primarily because DoubleTrac piping is essentially a zero permeation piping system, far exceeding the most stringent government regulations. Originally designed for applications involving automotive fueling stations running from the storage tank to the fuel dispenser, the ability of DoubleTrac piping to handle a variety of installation challenges has broadened its applications to include refueling at marinas, fuel lines for back-up generators, and corrosive liquids at waste treatment plants. In short, in applications where double containment piping is required to handle potentially contaminating fluids or corrosive fluids, DoubleTrac piping is engineered to handle those demanding applications.
DEF-Trac Piping
DEF-Trac piping, a complementary product which is very similar to DoubleTrac piping, was brought to the marketplace in 2011. DEF-Trac piping is specifically engineered to handle the demanding requirements for diesel emissions fluid (DEF). Federal regulations require all diesel engines to use DEF to reduce the particulate contaminants from the diesel combustion process. However, DEF is highly corrosive and cannot be pre-mixed with diesel fuel. This requires that new diesel trucks and automobiles must have separate tanks built into the vehicle so that the diesel emissions fluid can be injected into the catalytic converter after the point of combustion. Similarly, a large portion of fueling stations carrying diesel fuel are now also selling DEF through a separate dispenser. In addition to being highly corrosive, DEF also has a high freezing temperature, requiring a heat trace in the piping in applications in northern areas of the U.S. DEF-Trac flexible piping is uniquely suited to handle all of these challenges, as the stainless steel inner core is corrosion resistant, and DEF-Trac piping also comes with options for heat trace that is extruded directly into the wall of the product. In summary, DEF-Trac piping provides a complete solution to the demanding requirements of this unique application, as such, DEF-Trac piping has been met with wide acceptance from the industry that was searching for a solution to the new environmental requirement. The advantageous market position of DEF-Trac has leveraged the penetration of DoubleTrac piping into the broader market for automotive fueling applications.
MediTrac Corrugated Medical Tubing
In 2019, the company commercialized MediTrac corrugated medical tubing (‘CMT’), following its 2018 launch with several beta sites. Developed for the healthcare industry, the product can be used in hospitals, ambulatory care centers, dental, physician and veterinary clinics, laboratories, and any facility that uses medical gases (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.). Made from a copper alloy with an exterior fire-retardant jacket, MediTrac is made and sold in long continuous-length rolls. MediTrac CMT’s flexible nature and storage in rolls allows it to be transported to and installed in health care facilities much more easily and quickly than traditional medical grade rigid copper pipe, which generally comes in 20 foot long sections. MediTrac CMT is unrolled from a spool and installed in a medical facility in one long continuous length and is bent by hand when a change in direction is needed. The long lengths and ability to change direction with ease eliminates labor that would otherwise be needed to braze connections to straight sections of copper pipe or elbows or tees for changes in direction, while increasing installation efficiency and operational safety and minimizing downtime for healthcare facilities. Easy to assemble axial swaged brass fittings connect with all K, L and DWV medical tubing that is sized from ½’ to 2’ in diameter and provides a leak-tight seal using ordinary hand tools. The patented fitting also prevents tampering or disassembly using a tamper-proof sleeve that is required by the Health Care Facilities Code (NFPA 99 – 2018 edition). Rated at 185 psig, MediTrac CMT can deliver the necessary volume of gas wherever it is needed across a facility. A recent case study comparing the installation of rigid copper pipe and MediTrac CMT showed that MediTrac CMT increases installation efficiency by a factor of five (i.e., a 500% increase in efficiency). By reducing the number of joints and brazed connections, MediTrac CMT also reduces possible contamination into the medical gas system along with the fire risk associated with brazing. MediTrac CMT is currently listed at UL 1365 and has an ASTM E84 rating of 25/50 and meets all 2018 requirements of the Health Care Facilities Code (NFPA 99 – 2018). MediTrac CMT also meets Canadian standard Z7396.1, Medical Gas Pipeline Systems.
In 2020, the MediTrac product line experienced increased sales in use and acceptance in the marketplace resulting from its ability to be quickly and safely installed to meet the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous medical institutions and emergency medical centers used MediTrac CMT to quickly install medical gas lines in tent hospitals or in converted facilities to handle the surging demand. For example, MediTrac medical gas piping was installed in a City of New York temporary hospital located in Central Park and in the Cleveland Clinic for patients with COVID-19 infections and in need of supplemental oxygen treatments. On September 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a waiver allowing the use of CMT in new and existing healthcare facilities based on the provisions in NFPA 99 – 2018, allowing MediTrac CMT to be installed in all facilities in the U.S.
In 2024, the company formed a new U.S. subsidiary, Flex-Trac, Inc., for the MediTrac CMT product line.
Additional Market Applications
In addition to the flexible gas piping and other previously described markets, the company’s flexible metal hose is used in a wide variety of other applications. The company’s involvement in these markets is important because just as the flexible gas piping applications have sprung from the company’s expertise in manufacturing metal hose, other applications may also evolve from the company’s participation in the industry. Flexible metal hose is used in a wide variety of industrial and processing applications where the characteristics of the flexible hose in terms of its flexibility, and its ability to absorb vibration and thermal expansion and contraction, have substantial benefits over rigid piping. For example, in certain pharmaceutical processing applications, the process of developing the specific pharmaceutical may require rapid freezing of various compounds through the use of liquefied gases, such as liquefied nitrogen, helium or hydrofluorocarbons. The use of flexible metal tubing is particularly appropriate in these types of applications. Flexible metal hose can accommodate the thermal expansion caused by the liquefied gases carried through the hose, and the total length of the hose will not significantly vary. In contrast, fixed or rigid metal pipe would expand and contract along its length as the liquid gases passed through it, causing stress on the pipe junctions that would over time cause fatigue and failure. Alternatively, within certain industrial or commercial applications using steam, either as a heat source or in the industrial process itself, the pumps used to transfer the liquid or steam within the system are subject to varying degrees of vibration. Additionally, flexible metal hoses can also be used as connections between the pump and the intake of the fluids being transferred to eliminate the vibration effects of the pumps on the piping transfer system. All of these areas provide opportunities for the flexible metal hose arena, and thus the company continues to participate in these markets, as it seeks new innovative solutions, which will generate additional revenue streams for the future.
In each instance, whether the application is for CSST for fuel gases, flexible metal hose for handling specialty chemicals or gases, flexible double containment piping, unique industrial applications requiring the ability to withstand wide variations in temperature and vibration, or copper alloyed CMT for medical facilities, all of the company’s success rests on the company’s metal hose. Most of the company’s flexible metal hoses range in diameter from 1/4’ to 2’ while certain applications require diameters of up to 16’. All of the company’s smaller diameter pipe (2’ inner diameter and smaller) are made by a proprietary process that is known as the rotary process. The proprietary process that the company uses to manufacture its annular hose is the result of a long-term development effort begun in 1995. Through continuous improvement over the years, the company has developed and fine-tuned the process so that the company can manufacture annular flexible metal hose on a high speed, continuous process. The company’s own rotary process for manufacturing annular corrugated metal hose is the most cost efficient method in the industry, and that the company’s rotary process provides the company with a significant advantage in many of the industries in which the company participates. As a result, the company can generally provide its product on a demand basis.
Intellectual Property
The company has a comprehensive portfolio of intellectual property, including over 120 patents issued in various countries around the world and trademarks registered around the world, such as OmegaFlex, AutoFlare, TracPipe, CounterStrike, DoubleTrac, and MediTrac. The company also has several patent applications pending in the U.S. and internationally covering improvements to the company’s CounterStrike and MediTrac products.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development expenses were $301,000 for the year ended December 31, 2024.
History
The company was founded in 1975. It was incorporated in 1975 as a Pennsylvania corporation. The company was formerly known as Tofle America, Inc. and changed its name to Omega Flex, Inc. in 1996.
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