A-D announces Spirit of Independence awards winners
Affiliated Distributors announced its top affiliates and suppliers in terms of exceptional growth, increased market share and enhanced profitability as part of A-D’s Spirit of Independence awards ceremony held during the Plumbing and PVF North American meeting in Dallas.
Following are the 2007 Spirit of Independence award winners:
Plumbing Division
- Supplier of the Year for Performance -- Nibco Inc.
- Supplier of the Year for Leadership: -- Keeney Manufacturing Company
- Affiliate of the Year for Performance -- F.W. Webb Co.
- Affiliate of the Year for Leadership -- Ted Green, Pace Supply Corp.
- Best Conversion to a-d Supplier -- Hirsch Pipe & Supply and Keeney Manufacturing Company
- Best Annual Planning Process -- U.S. Supply
- Best a-d Exclusive Program -- F.W. Webb Co. and Elkay Manufacturing, Monster Move
PVF Division
- Supplier of the Year for Performance -- Silbo Industries Inc.
- Supplier of the Year for Leadership -- Conbraco Industries
- Affiliate of the Year for Performance -- Bakersfield Pipe & Supply Inc.
- Affiliate of the Year for Leadership: Ernie Coutermarsh, F.W. Webb Co.
- Best Conversion to an a-d Supplier -- First Supply llc.
- Best Annual Planning Process -- Charlotte Pipe & Foundry Co., Start Your Engines
A-D also recognized Julie Shannon from American Pipe & Supply Co. Inc. as the recipient of the 2007 PVF MVP award and Sandi Kegebein from First Supply as the recipient of the 2007 Plumbing MVP award. This award recognizes an employee of an affiliate company who has made a strong contribution to the overall success of the division. He or she has either contributed a “best in class” idea that benefited multiple affiliates or suppliers or demonstrated significant personal leadership at the grass roots level in the implementation of A-D initiatives within his/her company.
A.O. Smith teams up with home makeover show
A.O. Smith was recently named the water heater provider for season five of ABC’s hit TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Millions watch every week as the crew screams “Move that bus!” for a deserving family. A.O. Smith’s goal this season is to take care of the homeowners’ water heating needs by providing those families with a new Vertex™ water heater or another high-efficiency model.
Season five of the show premiered Sunday, September 30 and featured the Akana family of Honolulu, Hawaii. The Akanas were faced with a dilapidated, sinking home. The show’s crew worked diligently to help build a new home for this selfless family, who have opened their hearts to help the poor in their community.
For each episode, ABC selects a deserving family and builds them an entirely new house in one week or less. The crew built the Akanas their dream home, and A.O. Smith was a part of the experience by donating two electric water heaters -- selected due to the lack of natural gas service on the island.
Log on to www.hotwater.com to learn more about the A.O. Smith Vertex and the families who receive a helping hand. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on ABC on Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. CST.
As part of its ongoing efforts to simplify and streamline its eCommerce efforts, Basco Shower Enclosures upgraded and redesigned eStatus, a secure web portal for all Basco order information.
“eStatus is available 24/7 and provides a great way for customers to look up order details, shipment tracking, proof of delivery and other order information without the need to call customer service,” reported Greg Frye, Basco’s director of it and one of the architects behind the restructuring.“Many customers use it daily and see it as a valuable, time saving resource. It allows you to quickly find what you need.”
With performance and ease of use top of mind, upgrades include the following:
- Tracking -- The shipment tracking number is now shown and, for major carriers, it is an active web link that can be clicked on to open a new page that shows the tracking and proof of delivery information. For orders that are shipped via Basco’s semi trucks, the route and stop number are displayed.
- Searching made easy -- For customers with multiple ship-to customer ids, there is a new search that allows a bill-to login id to search across all ship-to accounts simultaneously. Lost an invoice and need another copy? Let eStatus do the work for you by searching for the particular invoice by number, customer or date.
- Security -- For people at your company who need to look up order status information, but don’t need to see the prices, a new security option provides a way to hide prices by login.
With no special software required, all one needs to experience the benefits of eStatus is a computer with an internet browser. All your data is safe and secure protected by a Basco-assigned user id and password.
For additional information, visit www.bascoshowerdoor.com.
WaterSense specification available for bathroom sink faucets
On October 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its High Efficiency Lavatory Faucet Specification. Manufacturers may now have their products tested to earn the WaterSense label for their high-efficiency faucets and faucet accessories such as aerators.
Currently, Americans are wasting 60 billion gallons of water every year while simply washing their hands or brushing their teeth. That translates into $300 billion in water bills and more than $500 million in the energy costs to supply, heat and treat that water. WaterSense-labeled bathroom faucets will reduce water use by 30%, with no sacrifice in performance or change in routine. Savings could be even greater for households replacing older faucets, which can flow at rates as high as 3-7gpm.
Residential lavatory (or bathroom sink) and kitchen faucets account for more than 15% of indoor residential water use in the U.S. -- equivalent to more than 1.1 trillion gallons of water used each year. Most existing faucets, however, flow at rates that are much higher than what is actually necessary.
The new specification establishes a maximum flow rate of 1.5 gpm, but not less than 0.8 gpm. The WaterSense specification also includes minimum pressure requirements, meaning that the faucet will continue to meet the needs of the user.
Beyond water savings, these WaterSense-labeled products can also help consumers save on their gas or electric bills. Using WaterSense-labeled faucets or aerators could save 70 kilowatt-hours of electricity used for heating water annually - that’s enough electricity to power a hair dryer for about eight minutes a day for a whole year.
To learn more about water efficient faucets and the final specification, visit www.epa.gov/watersense/specs/faucet.
Morrison Supply opens destination showroom
To mark the opening of their newly remodeled, 18,000-square-foot showroom, Morrison Supply Company hosted an event on October 18 that showcased the newest in plumbing, home appliances and hardware. Partygoers enjoyed cocktails and gourmet appetizers prepared by corporate chefs from Sub-Zero-Wolf, Gaggeneau and Viking in the fully designed and functional kitchen models. While guests feasted their eyes on the elite brands of plumbing, appliances and hardware displayed, a live jazz band entertained the crowd throughout the expansive showroom.
“Selecting appliances and matching the right hardware with complimentary plumbing can be overwhelming, so we created a “destination” showroom showcasing the latest design options, giving the buyer the option to visualize how items will look in a space,” said national sales manager Joel Selzer.
Displaying the finest plumbing, appliances and hardware in shop-like settings, this new concept is designed to inspire ideas for the builder, designer, architect, developer and homeowner. Customers visiting the new, state-of-the-art showroom will encounter professional, one-on-one customer service from the experienced associates at Morrison. Working together as a team, the salesperson walks customers through each dimension of the showroom, piecing together their exact needs.
Morrison Supply’s destination showroom is located at 6867 Wynnwood Lane, Houston, Texas and is open by appointment only. For an appointment, phone 713/861-2343.
Warren Alloys opens new Florida location
Warren Alloy announced the opening of its “shipping depot” in Lakeland, Fla. The facility has 16,000 square feet of indoor storage plus a pipe yard, putting products customers need where they want them, when they want them.
Matt Patton, an 18-year PVF sales veteran, has joined the Warren Alloy team to manage the new Florida facility and to lead the outside sales effort in the Southeast market, further assisting Warren Alloy’s Houston, Charlotte and Cincinnati operations. Patton can be reached at 407/376-3600 or via e-mail at mpatton@warrenalloy.com. The new location is at 4100 South Frontage Road, Building 200, Lakeland, FL.
With an ongoing commitment to being a pure master distributor selling only to distribution, Warren Alloy’s extensive inventory is now closer than ever. Among its offerings are pipe, tubing, weld fittings, pressure fittings, flanges and nipples, along with Warren and Neway Valves.
Customers can expect the same commitment to service and on-time shipments that they have come to rely on from Warren Alloy’s Houston, Charlotte, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati locations.
Warren Alloy is proud to provide 99% error-free performance, same-day shipments and an iso-9002 certified operating system.
Industrial Valco hosts Open House
Master distributor Industrial Valco unveiled its new corporate and regional offices at its Rancho Dominguez, Calif., headquarters at an Open House on October 24.
“UberFest” was the theme of the event, which was Industrial Valco’s take on the traditional “Oktoberfest.” Upon arrival, guests were welcomed by German musicians, had their picture taken with hostesses dressed in traditional “Beer-Garten” attire and received a tour through the new offices and warehouse.
A theater-sized screen flashed Oktoberfest-themed photographs, along with creative pictures of Industrial Valco’s stock of inventory.
“We’re very proud of our new faciltiy and wanted to creatively show it off for our customers and suppliers enjoyment,” said company president Rob Raban.
“Uberfest” was attended by more than 250 guests from the U.S., Canada and Asia. “We served several hundred brautwursts, apple struedels and giant pretzels so judging by consumption, I believe our guests had a good time,” Raban added.
Founded in 1947, Industrial Valco stocks one of the largest inventories of weld fittings, flanges and valves in North America throughout its network of warehouses. The company serves as nationwide master distributor for Bonney Forge, Walworth, Kitz, Crane, Beric Valves, tfa, Boltex, Westbrook and Sureflow Equipment, among others.
PACE Supply celebrates customers with Fiesta! Day
On Sept. 21, pace Supply Corporation’s Santa Rosa branch held a Valued Customer Day. The theme was a Mexican Fiesta! Celebrating customers is not unusual for pace, whose Santa Rosa branch holds Customer Appreciation Days monthly.
“This time we wanted to do it on a much larger scale with a festive feel to it,” said pace’s Santa Rosa branch manager Dean Smith.
Approximately 400 customers attended, and more than 50 manufacturers supported the event, many by displaying their products. The day was gorgeous, the Mexican food delicious and the Mariachi band lively! Raffle drawings were also held, and a delighted customer won the Grand Prize of a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico.
According to Smith, “It was the biggest turnout we have ever had. There was a lot of excitement and support, and we owe the event’s success to teamwork and exceptional communication with our customers.”
Pace Supply Corporation is an employee-owned plumbing wholesale distributor headquartered out of Santa Rosa, Calif. The company serves customers from eight distribution locations throughout Northern California, as well as one decorative plumbing showroom. For additional information about the company, visit www.pacesupply.com or www.premierbathandkitchen.com.