Schmitt Industries Profile
Schmitt Industries, Inc. (Schmitt) provides precise test and measurement products and services.
The company’s operating businesses include propane tank monitoring solutions, precision measurement solutions and ice cream production and sales through the retail, wholesale, and e-commerce channels.
Segments
The company operates through two segments, the Ice Cream and the Measurement.
Ice Cream segment
The company’s Ice Cream segment is consisted of Ample Hills (Ample Hills Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, Ample Hills Creamery, Inc., a New York corporation, and their subsidiaries (collectively, Ample Hills). Ample Hills primarily sells artisan ice cream directly to customers at its retail locations, with additional sales by the pint in grocery stores and through the internet on the company’s website. The company also sells ice cream cakes, serves ice cream at catering events, and holds a variety of community-building events, such as ice cream classes and live comedy and music performances.
Ample Hills revenues are generated through the sale of the company’s ice cream products at retail locations in New York, New Jersey and California, as well e-commerce and wholesale sales. The company’s ice cream manufacturing is conducted in its Brooklyn, New York factory.
Products and Services
The company manufactures, wholesales and retails ice cream and related products. The factory produces ice cream for its retail, wholesale, and e-commerce customers. The company also utilizes available capacity to manufacture ice cream for third parties through co-packing arrangements.
Customers and Markets
The company sells its ice cream wholesale to a network of resellers, primarily located in the New York metropolitan area and throughout the northeast. The company is actively expanding its wholesale footprint into other geographic regions. Additionally, customers nationwide can purchase products for home delivery through the company’s website. These wholesale and e-commerce sales are facilitated through the company’s Brooklyn, New York production facility and at third party distribution centers located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Reno, Nevada. Additionally, the company operates a network of retail locations throughout New York, New Jersey and California where customers can purchase the company’s ice cream and ice cream-related products. In July 2022, the company opened its twelfth retail ice cream shop, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York. In September 2022, the company opened its thirteenth retail ice cream shop, located in Long Island City, Queens, New York. The company has signed leases for future retail shops at Greenwich Village, New York, and Beverly Hills and Pasadena, California.
Business and Marketing Strategy
The Ice Cream segment facilitates wholesale activities by actively marketing its products to resellers in the New York metropolitan area. Such activities include accommodation of celebrations by offering four different types of parties, comedy shows, concerts, ice cream classes, ice cream factory tours and various other events. Additionally, the company markets its products for nationwide e-commerce sales.
Proprietary Technology
Ample Hills produces ice cream from scratch and by hand at the company’s 15,000 square foot Red Hook Factory in Brooklyn, New York. The company made ice cream history as the first to pasteurize on-site in New York City, which registered the plant as a dairy plant and earned the nickname of Brooklyn’s freshest. In addition, the company bakes its mix-ins for the ice cream and controls every step of the process to create its ice creams in-house using its proprietary technology. The company has 15 wholesale proprietary recipes and 55 retail proprietary recipes.
Schmitt Industries Measurement segment
The company’s SMS family of products includes the Acuity and Xact product lines. The activities from these product lines comprise the company’s Measurement segment. In this segment, the company’s measurement solutions support a wide range of industries through laser solution products, applications, and tank monitoring products. The company’s subsidiaries include its Measurement segment (SMS) and its Ice Cream segment, which consists of Ample Hills.
Acuity
Acuity products utilize both triangulation and time-of-flight measurement principles and are known for their speed and accuracy. Acuity products are used in a wide variety of industrial, commercial and research applications. Xact ultrasonic measurement technology monitors the fill levels of propane and other liquid tanks via satellite-connected devices. Together with the Xact gauge reader, Xact systems can detect and communicate fill levels, along with other information, such as tank size and configuration, to customers through the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem using the company’s satellite provider and a secure website. Typical users of Xact systems are bulk propane, diesel, jet fuel suppliers and ammonia users and distributors.
Products and Services
Products sold under the Acuity brand include lasers utilizing both triangulation and time-of-flight methods of measurement, and confocal chromatic white light sensors. These lasers are used in a wide range of industrial applications, including manufacturing, lumber production, steel casting, glass and paper production, medical imaging, crane control and micron-level part and surface inspection.
On October 27, 2021, Schmitt announced the AR2700 High-Speed Long-Range Sensor, its highest speed long range sensor to as of May 31, 2022. Typical applications for the AR2700 include bridge crane monitoring; trolley positioning; and altitude measurements.
On January 18, 2022, Schmitt announced its new 8-inch Touch Panel Display. The new 8-inch Touch Panel Display can be used in many applications, including cut-to-length measurements in lumber and steel industries; log length measurements; general applications, such as thickness, width, height, and other dimensional measurements; and plane analysis, such as for battery expansion or elevator control.
XACT REMOTE TANK MONITORING SYSTEMS
Xact product line includes satellite focused remote tank monitoring products and related monitoring services for markets in the Internet of Things (IoT) environment. The products measure the fill levels of tanks holding propane, diesel and other tank-based liquids and the related monitoring services includes transmission of fill data from the tanks via satellite to a secure website for display.
Products and Services
Xact Satellite Remote Tank Monitors include both ultrasonic and gauge reader sensors that provide remote fill level monitoring of propane, diesel and other tank-based liquids for tanks anywhere in the world. The Xact Tank Monitoring Systems are highly dependable, providing the ability to operate in a wide range of environments with temperatures ranging from -40ºC to 60ºC. The Xact systems can be used to monitor tanks as small as 125 gallons (473 liters) and as large as 90,000 gallons (340,686 liters). With Xact, users access timely and accurate remote tank-based data on a consistent schedule or by customized critical fill alarms to optimize inventory management processes.
The three main components to the Xact Tank Monitoring System are as follows:
Tank Sensors - Xact offers two sensors, the Xact Ultrasonic sensor and the Xact Gauge Reader.
The Xact Ultrasonic sensor incorporates patented technology and is externally mounted to the bottom of the tank with no reliance on existing mechanical gauges. The system employs a small electrical pulse, which is able to calculate the precise fill level inside using patented sonar technology (measurement accuracy to within ±2% for large tanks and ±1% for small tanks). Ultrasonic sensors work with any tank-based liquids, including propane, diesel and natural gas.
The Xact gauge reader connects to the face of a float gauge and detects the fill level that is reported by the gauge. The system then transmits that data by satellite in the same manner as the ultrasonic sensor. Float gauges have a typical accuracy range of ±4% to ±8%. Gauge readers are primarily used in the propane industry to monitor propane tanks and support refill optimization for distributors and customers.
Satellite Radio Transmitter: The Xact radio transmitter is placed on the top of the tank and is connected by cable to the tank sensor or gauge reader. The transmitter transmits the tank data using the GlobalStar satellite network to the secure Xact website. Xact satellite telemetry provides global coverage with no dependence on land lines, cellular networks or Wi-Fi signals, making it a reliable monitoring solution for tanks located anywhere in the world.
Xact Website - The Xact website is a secured location providing controlled access to the tank data for each customer's various tank locations. Customers can access the website to check fill levels and additional information, such as temperature, battery status, GPS coordinates and map location. In addition, the data can also be integrated into customer back-office software via an application programming interface. This integration can be automatically directed to a customer's inventory or delivery management system for full automation of the delivery process.
On December 16, 2021, Schmitt announced the release of its new tank monitoring device, the Xact Reader – Cellular (XRC), expanding Xact's existing satellite product line.
The XRC is a plug-and-play device that can handle any sensor with a 0 - 3.6VDC input and output. It also has capabilities to handle up to *4 sensors input with a single head unit. Sensor offerings include, but are not limited to:
Submersible Sensor – perfect for lubricants, fuels, chemicals, and many other non-pressurized mediums.
Hall Effect Sensor – this is utilized mostly in the propane industry. For use with remote-ready dials.
Ultrasonic Sensor – The external ultrasonic transducer that Xact is known for in the company’s suite of satellite devices.
With this new device and suite of sensors, Xact is ready to expand into all industries that handle the delivery and optimization of all bulk liquids.
Customers and Markets
To reach its customers and fill gaps in cellular monitor customers, Xact partners with select cell providers to provide the company’s Xact solution. Given the company’s niche market, Xact is well positioned to partner with various providers to offer a full range of solutions.
Customers of the Xact Tank Monitoring System include large, regional and local propane distributors, such as Superior Propane (Canada), Suburban Propane (U.S.), AmeriGas (U.S.), Dassel Petroleum (U.S.) and TermoGas (Mexico). The company is focusing its business development efforts on the propane industry in the United States and Canada.
Competition
Competitors offer telemetry options based on cellular or closed-loop communication networks, whereas Xact telemetry is satellite based. General tank monitoring competitors include Anova (Wesroc), NasCorp (SkyTracker), WACnGO, Silicon Controls, TankScan, SkyBitz, Otodata, Angus Energy (Gremlin), and Tank Utility. Competitors that offer satellite telemetry include Anova (WESROC), NasCorp (SkyTracker), and Micro-Design, Inc. (LevelCon).
Business and Marketing Strategy
The company designs, manufactures and markets all of its products with operations divided into a number of different channels and geographies.
The Measurement segment uses a variety of methods to market and sell its products. Primarily, the company’s sales and marketing managers direct the overall worldwide sales and marketing efforts for the Acuity and Xact products, including the employment and management of representatives and distributors in various markets.
Product Development
The company maintains an ongoing research and development program to expand the product lines and capabilities of its Measurement segment. During the year ended May 31, 2022 (Fiscal 2022), the company's research and development expenses for continuing operations totaled $40,456 (of which $40,098 was for the Measurement segment).
Major Customers
The company had one customer that accounted for 17.8% of accounts receivable, net as of May 31, 2022. With respect to discontinued operations, the company had one customer that accounted for 11.2% of consolidated net revenues for the year ended May 31, 2022. The company had one customer that accounted for 43.3% of accounts receivable, net as of May 31, 2022.
History
Schmitt Industries, Inc. was founded in 1984. The company was incorporated under the laws of British Columbia, Canada in 1984. The company was reincorporated in under the laws of the state of Oregon in 1995.
