Lordan Group’s History

Lordan was established in the late 1950s in Israel the entrepreneurial spirit of the time. Headquartered in Kibbutz Kfar Szold at the foot of the Golan Heights, the company was founded by members of the Kibbutz who sought an alternative source of income to supplant the settlement's agricultural business.

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Established in 1958, this is a rare look at Lordan's first make-shift plant in one of the Kibbutz's old warehouses
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Members of the Kibbutz entrusted with the manufacturing secrets of the newly established Lordan in the year 1963.
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One of the first heat exchangers manufactured in the new kibbutz factory
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First manufacturing line on the Lordan plant 1962 producing its "blazing coils"
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Construction begins on the new factory, 1961
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Members of the Kibbutz working around the clock on urgent production orders, 1974
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Members of the Kibbutz working around the clock on urgent production orders, 1974
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David Felder accepts the award for Outstanding Exporter from the President of Israel, Mr. Itzhak Navon and Gidon Pet, Minister of Trade and Industry, in 1981
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Inside look at the first Lordan plant, 1959.
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Among the first heat exchangers developed and built at Lordan, 1969
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Elderly Kibbutz members working at the Lordan plant, from right to left Shula Catz and Miriam Dror, 1974
 

Benjamin Cohen was given the task of exploring new economic options available to the Kibbutz, and went on to become the first general manager of the Lordan plant, following a special connection that was forged at that time with an Austrian heat exchanger company known as Schiff and Stern.  The founder and owner of Schiff and Stern, Mr. Roland Stern, was also the inventor and first manufacturer of coil exchange technology. Mr. Stern was very impressed by the enterprising pursuits of the Kibbutz members, and their trade skills, that he generously donated his knowledge in the field, as well as his patented designs and techniques for the purposes of founding a heat exchanger plant at the Kibbutz. In honor of his magnanimous contributions, the new plant was named Lordan. The name Lordan was Mr. Stern's pseudonym pen name that he conceived as an anagram of his given name. The Lordan pen name was signed to the works of poetry that got published during his undergraduate years when he studied mechanical engineering (Roland - Lordan).

Lordan opened its doors in 1958, developing coil heat exchange technology, known as "slil-lahat," Hebrew for "blazing coils."

The manufacturing of the coils was a guarded process, and as such, it was given a special room under lock and key with only very few authorized personnel allowed to enter and learn about the secretive manufacturing process. In 1960's the first exports entered the Persian marketplace, and slowly afterward began to penetrate various European markets.

By the end of 1976, Lordan added a new product line, solar collectors. The energy crisis of the late 70's that followed, brought about a rise in interest in alternative sources of energy and fuel efficiency, and opened up a new market - the American marketplace.

From the 1980's onwards, Lordan concentrated on developing high quality custom-made fin and tube heat exchangers for the HVAC&R markets that is known for today.

In 2004 Lordan UK began as the only other manufacturing site outside of Israel.