Arcet is Virginia’s largest independently
owned and operated distributor of Welding Products and Industrial
Gases. We serve Virginia with 21 locations located throughout the
state. We sell welding equipment, industrial, specialty and medical gases in addition to supplying restaurants with gases through our Beverage Carbonation Division.
We are driven by the same commitment to service that the company was founded on in 1946. Each
of our locations has it’s own delivery trucks, most of which are radio
dispatched offering same day service in many cases.
We
still offer an automatic “Check Stop” service where our drivers stop by
your shop to automatically replenish empties. This practice ensures our
customers an uninterrupted flow of welding gases and supplies.
We operate our own Service Centers.
With seven Centers statewide we service everything we sell in addition
to many brands sold by our competition. Most large nationally owned
companies have long since abandoned these services due to the high cost
of operating them. “It wouldn’t be right to sell a customer a piece of equipment and not be able to offer proper service” says Parker Dillard. "It’s always been part of our culture and will continue to be".
Our team of 17 sales representatives is extremely competent and
responsive. Located statewide, they have over 400 years of combined
experience in the welding industry. They are professionally trained to
show your company how to do everything from set up a new welding shop
to offering Cost Reduction Analysis and Welding Safety Program. As
members of the Arcet team, if they can’t solve your problem they will
find someone who can. Arcet is large enough to offer you the best in
equipment and service and lean enough to respond to your needs quickly.
“Being locally owned and operated is often underestimated,” says Parker Dillard, president of Arcet. “If a customer or employee wants to call me to discuss an issue, I’m always available.”
Arcet is not an organization of many levels of management. If the local
store manager cannot solve a problem getting to the top level is easy
and effortless. At Arcet we truly believe that service makes the
difference”.
Arcet History
ARCET (a derivative of the words “arc-acetylene”) was founded
in
1946 in Richmond, Virginia by entrepreneurs John Tepper and
Charles Dillard as
an independent full-service welding supply
distributor. The company quickly
developed a reputation for outstanding
service in all aspects of the
business: fast deliveries, welding
expertise and equipment repair.
An attitude of growth was adopted early on with the opening of
Norfolk
Welders Supply in the mid 1950s. In the years that followed,
strategic
acquisitions of Blue Ridge Oxygen in Roanoke Va, Brammer
Welding Supply in
Lynchburg Va, Watkins Welding Supply and the
Staley Company in Richmond and
Airweld of Winston-Salem, N.C.
spurred further growth. In 1978 we took a
giant step towards better
serving our customers by opening an acetylene
manufacturing and
gas fill plant in Chester, Virginia.
We are proud and fortunate to have established relationships with
some of the
welding industry’s finest manufacturers. Companies
like NCG, Southern
Oxygen, Air Products, BOC, Praxair, Lincoln
Electric, Miller Electric,
Thermal Dynamics, Tweco, Smith, Victor, and many others who have helped us
provide quality products and
achieve success.
Another contributing factor in our longevity has been the ability to attract
and hold an excellent, diverse work force (which numbers approximately 200).
Most important to our success, however, is the loyalty of our customer base.
Over the years we have developed many long lasting friendships among our
customers, and without them we would not be here today.