Aerus/LuxInternational discontinuation?

[cheesewonton]

I don't have it handy but I did see a recent Facebook post for an Aerus company picnic at Bristol VA and it mentioned vacuum operations. My dealer acquaintance was in Bristol last year and said he saw Legacys and Classics being made there.

Here is a 2023 newspaper article mentioning that Active Pure Technologies, formerly Aerus LLC is hiring 50 more people for their Bristol VA plant.

https://heraldcourier.com/news/article_485a21ec-1c23-5713-96f1-365fd88e2c8a.html

More info

https://www.industrynet.com/listing/3679648/activepure-manufacturing-llc

I think the name change to ActivePure is the source of some of the confusion.

 

[paul]

Thanks for the link. I do not dispute that ActivePure assembles its machines from parts made by another company, and that ActivePure possibly manufactures some of its own parts for other products. I simply have found no evidence of it.

These questions remain:

1. What does ActivePure (and your dealer friend) regard as being "made" and what does "vacuum operations" mean? Do they include BOTH manufacturing AND assembly? How do you know? Have you seen photos of actual manufacturing of parts at the Bristol factory?

2. Did ActivePure presumably leave all its production equipment in place when the plant was closed in 2003 with the hope that manufacturing would one day return? I found no indication of that in the 2003 news, and it's difficult to consider that a company would close a factory and mothball the equipment without such a plan. It's equally hard to believe that ActivePure would/could invest in reestablishing its in-house 1980s-era floor & surface care parts production for a dwindling market. Even if that did happen why is there no accessible news coverage regarding it?

3. Does ActivePure give tours of its plant in Bristol? If so, has anyone on this forum seen parts for surface care appliances and other products being made? No one has mentioned it here that I have seen.

4. Why does ActivePure's website not post information and photo's on its website about what it manufactures, if indeed it does manufacture? I have read claims that ActivePure rebrands its heating and purification products, which adds to my speculation.


It seems to me that ActivePure customers and shoppers are to presume that it operates very much the same way as when it was Electrolux Corporation/Electrolux Canada, Inc. to maintain their loyalty and to broaden the appeal of patronizing a business that is perceived as it once was; although information available to the public lacks clarity to support the notion.

Outsourcing manufacturing is not necessarily a bad thing, but covering it up would be. Customers and shoppers deserve transparency; especially for high-cost products. Aerus floor & surface appliances may still be of good quality regardless (I am unable to personally verify it).

 

[cheesewonton]

One of the news articles I linked showed some ActivePure / Aerus employees assembling something, not sure what, at the Bristol factory.
The Tristar dealer I patronize claims Aerus was casting Tristar metal bodies until 2019 and assembled the last ones in 2022. I bought one of the last ones made. Their air purification technology is proprietary and supposedly very advanced.
If you look at Indeed you see an employee review of working at Bristol as recent as late last year.

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Activepure-Technologies/locations/VA/Bristol

 

[cheesewonton]

Here is a 2021 press release saying ActivePure was hiring 50 new "associates" and among the jobs are "manufacturing".

https://newsroom.trizcom.com/uploads/1-15-2021-Bristol-Hiring-Final.pdf

Doesn't sound to me like the Bristol VA plant is closed.

 

[cheesewonton]

You might also notice that on the Aerus website the Classic and Legacy models are shown with American flags indicating they are US made, which matches what my Aerus dealer friend says he saw on his visit to Bristol last year. The Guardian Platinum, Heavy Duty upright and Veridian cordless stick vac do not as they are imported. The Lite Cordless also has an American flag as it is made in Missouri by Tacony.

 

[paul]

I thought I had mentioned in an earlier post that ActivePure does indeed operate its Bristol plant. My question is what do its operations include?

Did I suggest that the Lux Classic, Lux Legacy, Lux Floor Pro production occurred outside the United States? I simply question whether Aerus vacuum parts are actually made by ActivePure when there is no concrete substantiation.

It's quite possible that just as the LGP's parts are made overseas and assembled at Bristol, parts of the LL, LC & LFP are outsourced and assembled by ActivePure associates.

The open manufacturing associate positions may be for vacuum cleaner accessories, or parts for heating and purification products.

The questions in my previous post today remain unanswered.

 

[djub85]

I'd agree that the LL and LC are at least assembled in Bristol, even if some of the actual individual plastic pieces are made in China and shipped the Bristol for assembly/packaging.

My 2014 Lux Legacy has PRC stamped into the power nozzle and the mini power nozzle (Sidekick II), meaning they were made in China, but the actual canister has USA stamped into it. I believe that's why Aerus still has the US flag by those two models... The main vacuum itself IS made in the US, but the accessories are not. (Oddly, Type C bags were made in China around 2014, but they have since moved back to the US as a US flag was added to the boxes and China was removed from packaging.)

If the Guardian Platinum is going out of production, Aerus NEEDS HEPA filtration in the lineup. The Guardian Ultra doesn't need to go back in production necessarily, but that unit's sealed system and HEPA filter need to migrate to the LL if not also the LC. It couldn't be that had to do since Bristol made the Ultra out of essentially Legacy/Classic bones.