It was 1964, and Ernest Hotze, a mechanical engineer who put himself through Oklahoma University working in oilfields, was trying to sell Tennessee Gas Pipeline some large compressors. Hotze worked for Clark Brothers, one of four big compressor manufacturers, and the business was very different from its modern incarnation. Prices were standard. The difference between one manufacturer and the next often came down to the parts and the salesperson. Tennessee Gas was happy to take the Clark compressors, but it wanted them with Ingersoll Rand-style channel valves instead of Clark's standard poppet valves. Hotze agreed. But neither Clark nor any other provider would produce valves that fit on the necessary schedule. So Hotze took the problem home.
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