Progressive Dynamics, Inc.

Progressive Dynamics, Inc. is a privately owned corporation, established in Marshall Michigan in 1964. Its initial product was a high-quality LP gas regulator manufactured for use in recreational vehicle heating and cooking systems. Since 1968, PDI has been producing power converters and battery charging systems for the RV industry. In 1969, we introduced our first series of 12-volt interior lighting products the PD760 Series. Since that time we have introduced several series of interior lighting products designed for both the RV and Marine industries.

Due to severe sales decreases in the Recreational Vehicle market caused by the Mideast oil crises of 1973 and 1979, PDI management decided to look into other markets where the company's electronic engineering and manufacturing expertise could be utilized. As a result, our organization was soon working with major corporations including Westinghouse, Cutler-Hammer, 3M Corporation, Zimmer, Pentax and Machida, to develop and manufacture some of their products.

Progressive Dynamics personnel worked with Westinghouse to design and develop test equipment for high voltage distribution systems. The 3M Corporation requested our assistance in the design and manufacture of security systems for retailers. The systems utilized small magnetic tags to track merchandise, and we developed very sensitive magnetic sensor systems for them. The 3M project also required PDI's engineering group to design and manufacture sophisticated and highly regulated switching type power supplies to operate sensitive electronic circuits. Zimmer, Pentax, Machida and Circon ACMI—to name a few—contracted with our company for services involving the design and manufacture of custom 250-watt metal halide fiber optic illuminators. These illuminators are used in delicate endoscopic surgical procedures. Due to the sensitive nature of the extremely high candlepower of a metal halide system, it was necessary for our engineering team to develop reliable high-voltage switching power supplies. Today we continue to manufacture and private brand metal halide and halogen illuminators for several companies.

In 1991, we had the opportunity to develop a product to treat and prevent hypothermia in hospital recovery and operating rooms. This led to the development of the LIFE-AIR 1000® Hypothermia Treatment System, which we manufacture and sell under our own brand name. Our current markets include hospitals in the US, Canada, Taiwan and mainland China. The LIFE-AIR system uses our own heater/blower unit, which provides heated .2 micron filtered air to our patented SOFT-FLEX® patient warming covers. We manufacture six different types of warming covers to meet various requirements for the operating and recovery rooms. These warming covers have proven to be very beneficial in preventing adverse medical problems associated with hypothermia including reduced post operative infection rates, faster recovery time, reduced mortality rates and cardiac dysfunction.

In 1993, after fifteen years of developing electronic switching power supplies for other industries, Progressive Dynamics began manufacturing its first electronic power converter, the Inteli-power 9000® series, for the Recreational Vehicle market. This new design gave the RV manufacturer a reliable converter that was smaller, lighter, and provided regulated and filtered DC power to all 12-volt RV circuits. The sales success of this new design convinced us to look at ways to improve the battery charging capabilities of our power converters.

During extensive testing on the recharge cycle of batteries, our engineers soon realized the need to develop an intelligent battery charging system using a microprocessor. By 1996, they had designed a circuit that could continuously monitor battery charge status and then use this data to automatically increase or decrease the charging voltage as needed.