How We Became the World Class Solution for Finned Tubes
When Ken Sr. first began DuraFin Tube as Machine Dynamics & Engineering, Inc. in 1984, his first customers came to him because there was nowhere else to turn. He identified the need for a world-class finned tube provider that could offer a better solution with a completely diversified selection. The son of a boiler shop machinist, our founder Ken Barkan Sr. first learned to make finned tubes from his father Louis Barkan. Straight out of college, Ken Sr. helped several companies set up their own finned tube shops. Yet dissatisfied with the solutions then available on the market, he set out to design his own.
From a Niche Provider to an Industry Standard
Ken Sr. progressively grew the business from a niche provider into an industry standardized solution with the largest variety of finned tubes and surface tubing heat exchanger equipment in North & South America. He bought out his then competitor Energy Transfer, Inc. in 2003 and renamed the company as the dba Energy Transfer.
The Progress of a Vision
Following Ken Sr.’s retirement in 2008, his sons Kenny Barkan and Paul Barkan have strived to progress their father’s vision through continued investment.
In 2012 as CEO, Kenny moved the corporate headquarters to a 245,000 square foot major manufacturing campus in Minerva, Ohio. The new space enabled Energy Transfer to increase its product offerings, streamline manufacturing, and customize solutions with dedicated customer work cells to create specialized solutions.
To better explain our products to the tubing industry the Durafin® Brand was created. This brand sets our company with three prime focuses.
• World Class ISO Quality System
• Advanced Manufacturing Processes
• Customer-Centric Products
• In 2022, the company name was changed to reflect this corporate focus from Energy Transfer to Durafin Tube.
Today, the company continues to pursue its same core values: Discipline, Respect, Integrity, Value Creation, and Excellence.
We feel we are part of a higher calling to create an amazing company because it is the right thing to do. Our passion is to serve our customers with absolute integrity and solutions that are second to none.