Prater Technical Partners — Manufacturers’ Representative Agency

Prater Technical Partners, Inc. is a Technical Manufacturers’ Representative agency & Distributor for select brands, for industrial instrumentation, electric heating, motors, and off-grid solar power. The firm represents Badger Meter (flow), Indeeco / Heatrex / Accutherm / Solar Products / Hi-Heat (electric heating), Fluke Process Instruments / Raytek / Ircon (infrared temperature), WIKA-ST / tecsis (force and pressure), CSZ (environmental test chambers), Reuland Electric (specialty motors), and SunWize Technologies (remote solar power). Prater handles technical Q&A, specification assistance, quoting, PO order processing & status updates, and post-sale support across each brand’s territory.

The Manufacturers’ Representative a/k/a Sales rep is a factory authorized facilitator and conduit of information. Sales Reps are here for much more than attracting new customers. They are here to speed the quote to order to fulfillment process, avoid things ‘falling through the cracks’, and work out any issues that may arise. They help to keep the trains running on time as well as possible in any given set of circumstances. Typically Sales Reps are much faster to respond, and have more ‘skin in the game’ vs manufacturer staff. Whereas a manufacturer as a whole deals with 100x the customers that are in a given territory, and thus the priority given to each can only be commensurately attributed, the Local Sales Rep has a better history reference for specific customers within their territory, and is generally just as or more knowledgeable as the Manufacturers’ internal staff. The Sales Rep knows all of the key players at the manufacturer, including Factory Engineers, Production & Management, is not as affected by ‘group think’ and knows how and to whom to contact at the manufacturer to escalate situations, and to mitigate occasional situations where things don’t go to plan. The Sales Rep not only represents the manufacturer to you, but also represents you to the manufacturer.

Yes — cross-referencing and obsolescence replacement is a routine request. Send the nameplate data, the model number, and a few photos, or application details and Prater identifies the current equivalent in the lines we carry — a direct catalog match, an engineered drop-in, or the closest substitute. For example, Reuland builds drop-in replacement motors for obsolete Louis Allis, GE, Westinghouse, Yale, P&H, and Shaw-Box designs. Legacy Ircon and Raytek infrared instruments cross to the current Fluke Process Instruments Endurance and Thermalert series, where the original has a specific measurement principle — a two-color ratio pyrometer, for example — the replacement preserves it. For process & freeze protection heaters, flow meters, gas detection sensors/systems or force or pressure transducers, they can cross to a form, fit and function drop-in replacement, sometimes with improved attributes. For environmental chambers, they can review the use cases with you to find the best fit chamber without cost-driving options that aren’t needed, or omitting important options that provide greater value over the long run.

Yes — selection is core to what a manufacturers’ representative does, and you don’t need a part number to start. Describe the application: what you need to measure, heat, move, condition, test or power, along with the process conditions (temperature, pressure, flow, fluid, area classification, voltage) and the operating environment. Prater discusses and develops the solution with you and pulls in the factory’s application engineers when needed to extend the conversation and come to a precise configuration based on what the application calls for. Technical and application discussions go to Scott Prater directly — scott@pratertechnical.com or 917-580-0878. The more complete the process data up front, the faster and tighter the recommendation.

The manufacturer is the vendor of record, so to that point, legally it is the same — the manufacturer ships the product and invoices you. Prater handles the customer-facing work — specification, quoting, PO entry into the manufacturer’s system, status updates, technical Q&A, post-sale support — so acts as a Factory authorized regional sales department in effect. The buyer pays the same price either way; the rep firm adds increased value in that they flow information both ways, they are more focused on you as the local customer vs the manufacturer who is dealing with 100x the customer list, and the rep has ‘skin in the game’, and knows the key players at the manufacturer. So they know who to contact to escalate if a situation ever goes sideways, and doesn’t have the same tendency towards ‘coworker protection’ as any direct factory personnel may have, just based on human nature. The Sales Rep not only represents the manufacturer to you, but represents you to the manufacturer. For distributor lines — the Badger Meter family, Raytek Mi3 / CI / CM / 3iPlus, Hi-Heat, and SunWize — Prater handles everything, is the vendor of record and invoices you directly. See the manufacturers’ representation page for the full treatment.

Rep-firm lines are quote-only — no published pricing. Distributor lines (the Badger Meter family and Raytek Mi3 / CI / CM / 3iPlus) have published unit pricing on our webstore. The reason: rep-firm products are commonly built or configured to the application — heating element assemblies, motors, chambers — and a meaningful pre-determined price doesn’t exist; distributor catalog products have stable list pricing because they ship as catalog SKUs.

Both. As a rep firm — quote & order facilitating, with the manufacturer shipping and invoicing — for Indeeco, Heatrex, Accutherm, Solar Products, WIKA-ST, tecsis, CSZ, Reuland Electric, and most Fluke Process Instruments / Raytek lines. As an authorized distributor — with Prater as the vendor of record — for the Badger Meter family (Blancett, Cox, Hedland, Preso, Dynasonics, Flo-tech, IOG, RecordAll, ATi/GasSens, ModMAG, Telog), Raytek Mi3 / CI / CM / 3iPlus, Hi-Heat and SunWize Technologies. Badger and Raytek distributor stock typically ships from Brooklyn-to-customer; SunWize, Hi-Heat and some Badger products drop-ship from the factory.

Meter programming (customer-specific configuration, calibration parameters, communication settings) and commissioning assistance (remote or on-site startup support) are available from Prater as an optional, quoted service. Prater does not provide full field installation, standalone calibration services, or ongoing on-site repair directly — those are referred to manufacturer-authorized service networks or qualified third-party shops.

Call rather than email when something is down — 917-580-0878, call Scott Prater directly for triage and next steps, or 917-673-2787 to Tif Olson, for when Scott is with a customer or otherwise not immediately available. Tif can provide direct access to factory technical and service personnel for troubleshooting and next steps. Do note that both Prater Technical & the factory technical personnel are typically available only during business hours. Knowing who to reach and how to expedite is a real part of a representative’s value. Tell us what failed, the nameplate, and the operational impact, and Prater works the fastest viable path: a stocked replacement, an expedited factory build, or an interim substitute when possible.

Prater Technical Partners is a small, focused firm — you work with the same people each time, not a call center. General quoting and order questions go to Tif Olson — tif@pratertechnical.com or 917-673-2787. Scott Prater, the firm’s principal, handles technical assistance directly — application discussions, product selection, and troubleshooting — reachable at scott@pratertechnical.com or 917-580-0878 (direct/mobile). A representative means a consistent, accountable contact who knows your history and your sites.

Email sales@pratertechnical.com with the application brief, required spec, or legacy nameplate (for exact duplicate replacement) along with some photos if possible. Phone 917-673-2787 reaches Prater Technical personnel directly. Each category page has a “Request a Quote” button that pre-populates the subject line for that category. For lead times: distributor catalog SKUs note when In-stock and ship from Brooklyn; distributor special order, Drop-Ship and rep-firm custom-engineered products run from a week to months, depending on brand and product type. For webstore products that are temporarily out of stock, contact Prater Technical personnel directly for current lead times before processing a cc order. If a PO-based order is needed, contact Prater Technical personnel for processing steps.