CALEDONIA - Unico will put its oil-pumping system up against anyone else's in the world.

Since unveiling its Linear Rod Pump, or LRP, about three years ago, Caledonia-based Unico has made a good case in the oil and gas extraction industry that it makes no sense to use anything else. Hundreds are already working around the world, said Paul Vanderheyden, account manager of Unico's Alternative Energy Division.

At the start, Unico made controls for automotive component manufacturers, Vanderheyden said. It still makes controls for seven or eight major markets, but oil and gas is now the main focus; that market has grown to 40 percent of revenues.

Unico made a quantum leap into that industry with its LRP, grabbing several big advantages over traditional oil-pumping equipment.

Marty Foutz is a production analyst with Dugan Production, a drilling company based in Farmington, N.M. He said Dugan, which has about 1,200 wells in operation, so far has installed five of Unico's LRPs.

Safer system

"The safety of them was really what caught our eye," Foutz said. "A few years ago, we had a little girl get killed." She had been playing at an oil well, got caught in the moving metal parts and was crushed to death.

That's happened before, said Joseph Glover, vice president of Unico's Alternative Energy Division. With the rocking action of traditional oil jack pumps, teenagers have been known to try to ride them, sometimes with tragic results.

In contrast, the LRP has no rocking arm, and its moving parts are enclosed in a simple-looking, 10- to 15-foot column.

Another major advantage is the degree of control an LRP gives, Vanderheyden said. A standard oil rig pushes down and pulls up at a fixed speed, he explained. That often causes severe wear and tear on the shaft.

With the LRP, whose action comes from a rack and pinion turned vertical, "we can make that profile look like anything we want to," Vanderheyden said. "We can speed it up and slow it down very dynamically to reduce the effects on the rod and maximize efficiency."

"Every mistake costs about $25,000," Glover added.

Foutz said Dugan Production usually has to work on each standard oil pump every three or four months.

"Since we put these LRPs on them, the frequency is way down." One pump, installed in October 2007, is still operating trouble-free, he said.

"What we really like about this," Glover said, "is you get more oil, there's less wear down-hole and it's slightly less in price."

Expansion plans

All Unico oil pumps also have a computerized monitoring system that allows an company to keep tabs on the oil well from afar. The system reports output, pressure, the last time it was shut down, if there is a problem and more.

"The monitoring system acts like a well tender," Vanderheyden said. "It can even page you if the well goes down."

With the early success of the LRP and Unico's new solar power station, the company is on the verge of roughly doubling its 68,000-square-foot building.

The project should be under way by next year, said Unico President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Beck. He said Unico's work force could grow by half in the next five to 10 years.

As the company grows, its headquarters and manufacturing will stay here, Unico officials said. "We don't want to farm anything out," Glover said. "We're currently the stewards of our intellectual property.

"And Wisconsin can be as competitive as anybody," he added. "This is material-intensive - not labor-intensive."

Beck said, "We're no better in Oman than we are in Racine."

Unico at a Glance

Headquarters: 3725 Nicholson Road

Local employment: About 250

Total employment: About 500

Annual revenue: About $100 million

Founded in 1967, Unico is privately owned, and employees hold about 35 percent of the stock.

The largest single shareholder is President/Chief Executive Officer Tom Beck of Yorkville.

On the Net:

http://www.unicous.com