Marshall W. Nelson and Associates

What Marshall W. Nelson and Associates does

Marshall W. Nelson and Associates, Inc. is a value-added industrial distributor and engineering services firm headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, founded in 1958 and operating additional offices in Eagan and New Brighton, Minnesota. The company specializes in gas-fired process heating and combustion equipment, distributing products from premium manufacturers including Honeywell (with sub-brands Eclipse, Maxon, Kromschroder, and Hauck), Siemens, Dungs, ASCO, Sensus, Pietro Fiorentini, Fox Thermal, Algas-SDI, Gefran, Reimers, Antunes, Future Design Controls, and Protection Controls. Its product catalog spans more than 328 SKUs across gas burners, combustion components, instrumentation, gas regulators, meters, heat exchangers, propane/LPG equipment, standard gas valve trains, control panels, and boilers.

The company's business model combines hardware distribution with engineering and technical services. Custom fabrication capabilities include a UL 508A Certified Panel Shop producing built-to-order industrial control panels and engineered gas valve train assemblies developed using 3D modeling, with pre-shipment testing and calibration. Service offerings encompass application solutions from concept to implementation, engineering design using AutoCAD 2D and 3D, field services (burner tuning, system troubleshooting, furnace uniformity testing, safety audits, and preventative maintenance), customer training, and warehousing with same-day shipment options. Go-to-market is sales-led through direct offices in Milwaukee and Minnesota, complemented by the ShopRelevant.com e-commerce storefront, serving customers across more than ten industrial verticals including building materials, chemical processing, food & beverage, metals, oil & gas, pollution control, power generation, thermal processing, water/waste, and HVAC.

On August 7, 2023, Marshall W. Nelson & Associates was acquired by Relevant Industrial, LLC, a Houston-based value-added distributor of instrumentation, automation, rotating equipment, valves, purification, and thermal equipment. The combined entity operates from 37 strategic locations with over 450 employees serving the majority of the lower 48 states. Mark Nelson remains with the company under the new ownership structure, and the Marshall W. Nelson brand continues to serve as the combustion applications arm of the broader Relevant Industrial platform.

Name

Marshall W. Nelson and Associates

Legal name

Marshall W. Nelson & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://marshallwnelson.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Marshall W. Nelson and Associates is a Milwaukee-based value-added distributor and engineering firm founded in 1958, specializing in gas-fired industrial combustion equipment, custom UL 508A control panels, and field services for industrial customers across multiple verticals. It was acquired by Relevant Industrial in August 2023.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Combustion Equipment Sales: Sale of industrial combustion equipment including gas burners, combustion components, instrumentation, gas regulators, meters, heat exchangers, and related products from manufacturer partners like Honeywell, Siemens, Eclipse, Maxon, and others.
2. Engineering and Technical Services: Application solutions, engineering design services, field services including burner tuning, system troubleshooting, furnace uniformity testing, safety audits, and training services.
3. Custom Fabrications: Custom control panels and gas valve train assemblies built to customer specifications, including UL 508A certified panels.
4. Complete System Solutions: Turnkey combustion system solutions including custom control panels, gas valve trains, and OEM assemblies with engineering, assembly, testing, and installation support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Marshall W. Nelson and Associates is a value-added distributor of industrial combustion equipment and engineering services firm that supplies gas burners, combustion system components, instrumentation, gas regulators, meters, heat exchangers, and custom control panels sourced from manufacturers like Honeywell, Siemens, Eclipse, and Maxon. The company complements product distribution with engineering design, field services, custom gas valve train fabrication, UL 508A certified control panel building, and training services for industrial process heating applications.

Product overview

Marshall W. Nelson & Associates is a value-added distributor of industrial combustion equipment and service provider. The company's product portfolio centers on combustion system components—Gas Burners (including air heating, furnace, tube firing, and large capacity types), Combustion Equipment (actuators, valves, pressure switches, blowers), Instrumentation (flame safety, temperature controllers, recorders), Gas Regulators, Meters (rotary and thermal flow), Heat Exchangers, Propane/LPG Equipment (vaporizers, mixers), Standard Gas Valve Trains, Control Panels, and Boilers. These products are sourced from manufacturer partners including Honeywell, Siemens, Dungs, ASCO, Fox Thermal, and Algas-SDI. The company complements its product distribution with services including Application Solutions (concept-to-implementation engineering), Engineering Services (AutoCAD design), Field Services (on-site maintenance and calibration), a UL 508A Certified Panel Shop for custom control panels, custom Gas Valve Train Assemblies, Training, and Warehousing/Shipping. The company operates primarily in the upper Midwest serving industrial markets including building materials, chemical, food & beverage, metals, oil & gas, and thermal processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gas Burners Industrial gas burners including air heating, furnace, tube firing, and large capacity types for various process heating applications in industrial settings.
• Combustion Equipment Components Components for combustion systems including actuators, air and gas control valves, gas safety shutoff valves, pressure switches, air blowers, gas boosters, and accessories.
• Instrumentation Industrial instrumentation including flame safety systems, recorders, temperature controllers, and thermocouples/RTDs for combustion monitoring and control.
• Gas Regulators Gas pressure regulators including direct acting, large capacity, lever action, pilot operated, relief/back pressure, and zero governor/proportionator types.
• Meters Gas measurement meters including Dresser Roots rotary meters and Fox Thermal thermal flow meters for measuring gas flow rate and total.
• Heat Exchangers Industrial heat exchangers including aluminum, bayonet recuperator, bayonet ultra recuperator, cross-flow recuperator, and stainless steel sinusoidal plate heat exchangers for heat recovery.
• Propane/LPG Equipment Propane and LPG equipment including vaporizers, mixers, packaged systems, and air mixing systems for gasification and blending applications.
• Standard Gas Valve Trains Pre-engineered and custom gas valve train assemblies for industrial combustion systems, built to customer specifications.
• Standard Control Panels Industrial control panels including the Fire Marshall standardized combustion safety supervisor panel and custom UL 508A certified panels.
• Boilers Electric steam and hot water boilers from Reimers including models ranging from 1.5kW to 900kW heating power for industrial applications.
• Application Solutions Engineering consultation and combustion system design from concept to implementation for various industrial markets.
• Engineering Services Engineering design services including consultation, application review, AutoCAD 2D and 3D modeling, and system design for combustion applications.
• Field Services On-site field services including burner tuning, combustion calibrations, system troubleshooting, furnace uniformity testing, and preventative maintenance throughout the life of installations.
• Gas Valve Train Assemblies Custom fabrication of gas valve train assemblies with 3D modeling, engineering review, component selection, inspection, testing, and installation support.
• UL 508A Certified Panel Shop Custom industrial control panel fabrication certified to UL 508A standards with testing and documentation included.
• Training Training services for combustion equipment operation, burner management systems, and control panel operation since 1958.
• Warehousing and Shipping Stocking and shipping of combustion equipment with same-day shipment options, safe crating, and various shipping methods.

Quantifiable outcome

• Improve burner efficiency up to 65% with heat recovery equipment (Bayonet Ultra Recuperator)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HoneywellcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarshall W. Nelson represents and sells Honeywell products including actuators, gas valves, burner controls, temperature controllers, flame safety systems, pressure switches, and UV flame detectors.
• Honeywell EclipsecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation and sales of Honeywell Eclipse products including industrial burners (air heating, furnace, tube firing), heat exchangers, flame safety equipment, and combustion components.
• Honeywell MaxoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation and sales of Honeywell Maxon products including APX burners, MegaFire, OvenPak series, Kinemax, TUBE-O-FLAME burners, Smartlink meters, safety shutoff valves, and flow control gas valves.
• Honeywell KromschrodercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Honeywell Kromschroder products including industrial burners, pilot burners, gas pressure regulators, safety shutoff valves, burner control units, butterfly valves, actuators, pressure switches, ignition transformers, gas filters, and valve proving controls.
• Honeywell HauckcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Honeywell Hauck products including large capacity burners (BBG Beta Gas, MegaStar, Novastar, StarJet), SVG and WHG gas burners, and turbo blowers.
• SiemenscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Siemens combustion control products including butterfly control valves, gas valve actuators, VG series valve bodies, LMV5 and LMV3 linkageless burner management systems, LME7 flame safeguards, SQM4/SQM5 rotary actuators, valve actuator assemblies, and temperature controllers.
• Dungs Combustion ControlscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Dungs products including dual modular valves (DMV series), single modular valves, gas regulators (FRG, FRNG, FRI, FRS), pressure switches, actuators, butterfly control valves, and valve proving systems.
• AscocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Asco products including solenoid gas shut-off valves (Series 8030, 8040, 8210, 8214, 8215), gas safety shut-off valves, and motorized actuators.
• SensuscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Sensus products including direct acting gas pressure regulators, lever action regulators, pilot operated regulators, and large capacity regulators for gas measurement applications.
• Pietro FiorentinicoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Pietro Fiorentini products including direct acting regulators, lever action regulators, pilot operated regulators, and slam shut valves for the combustion industry.
• Fox Thermal InstrumentscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Fox Thermal products including thermal gas mass flow meters (Model FT1, FT2A, FT3, FT4A) for industrial gas measurement applications.
• Algas-SDIcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Algas-SDI products including propane/air systems, mixers (BLENDAIRE, Consta-MIX), vaporizers (AQUAVAIRE, AZEOVAIRE, Direct Fired, HYDREXX, TORREXX, ZIMMER), and packaged systems.
• Gefran ControllerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Gefran products including temperature/process controllers (650, 1350 series), indicators, alarm units, and high limit controllers for industrial process control.
• ReimerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Reimers electric steam and hot water boilers for commercial and industrial applications including garment pressing, jewelry cleaning, medical sterilizers, and industrial processes.
• AntunescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Antunes products including air and gas pressure switches (JD-2, SMD, SML, SMR, Model A, D, G, H, Versa Plus) and temperature controllers.
• Future Design ControlscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Future Design Controls products including temperature and process controllers (FDC series), recorders (CR06, DR-5000, PR series, VR18), and HMI operator interfaces.
• Protection Controls, Inc.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Protection Controls products including flame safety controls (Protectofier series), UV scanners, control panels, purgers, test equipment, and unified control panels.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Power Flame Inc: Manufacturer of industrial gas-fired burners, boilers, and combustion systems for process heating. Directly comparable to Marshall W. Nelson's burner and valve-train business, though Power Flame is an OEM while Marshall W. Nelson is the value-added distributor/integrator for competing OEMs.
• Cleaver-Brooks: Designs and manufactures industrial boilers and combustion equipment with packaged burner systems and aftermarket service. Overlaps with Marshall W. Nelson's boiler, burner, and complete-system-solutions portfolio across similar food, chemical, and metals end markets.
• R.W. Beckett Corporation: Manufactures residential, commercial, and industrial burners and combustion controls. Comparable as a burner-and-controls specialist serving process-heating applications analogous to Marshall W. Nelson's gas-burner and instrumentation offering.
• Zeeco: Global designer and manufacturer of combustion and pollution-control equipment for oil & gas, petrochemical, and process industries. Comparable in scope of process-heating solutions, though Zeeco is an OEM serving multinational customers while Marshall W. Nelson serves regional industrial customers.
• Coen Company (a Hamworthy company): Manufactures industrial burners, flares, and combustion systems for process heaters and boilers. Directly comparable to Marshall W. Nelson's burner product line and process-heating use cases (refineries, chemical plants, food processing).

Broad incumbents

• Honeywell Thermal Solutions: Parent business unit behind the Honeywell Eclipse, Maxon, Kromschroder, and Hauck brands that Marshall W. Nelson exclusively distributes. It is both a critical supplier and a broader combustion-equipment incumbent with global reach, scaling well beyond the niche Midwest channel.
• Siemens Building Technologies / Smart Infrastructure: OEM of the burner management systems, flame safeguards, valve actuators, and temperature controllers that Marshall W. Nelson integrates. A broad incumbent that could in theory bypass distribution by selling direct, making it both a partner and a competitive risk.
• Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG: German manufacturer of gas valves, pressure regulators, and valve-proving systems that Marshall W. Nelson represents exclusively in the Midwest. Overlaps on the gas valve train and combustion-safety component portfolio at a much larger global scale.

Regional players

• Wajax Industrial Components: Canadian industrial distributor and service provider for process equipment, fluid handling, and combustion-related components. Comparable as a multi-line industrial value-added distributor, but operates primarily in Canada with limited overlap in Marshall W. Nelson's Midwest US territory.

Emerging players

• Industrial Combustion & Equipment Co. Niche regional distributor and service provider of industrial combustion equipment. Highly comparable business model (distributor + field services + custom engineering) and serves overlapping Midwest industrial customers, though smaller and less brand-deep than Marshall W. Nelson.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnBFAT3_5ERl9qqRKPTdkAA

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marshall W. Nelson and Associates