The Wholesaler Blog

The World Plumbing Council has chosen today, March 11, to be World Plumbing Day. This is the first year for the event, which is themed “Plumbing — Vital to Global Health”; it is designed to become an annual tradition.

World Plumbing Day was established to help the general public better understand the vital role the plumbing industry plays in protecting public health and safety, the degree to which helps limit mankind’s environmental footprint, and other important work performed by contractors, inspectors, installers, engineers, manufacturers and distributors that is often taken for granted.

World Plumbing Council chairman Robert Burgon noted, “Our hope is that on  World Plumbing Day, the world will come to realize that plumbing is essential in protecting both the health of our people and the health of our planet. Where countries have developed plumbing systems, the role of our industry is often taken for granted. In developing countries, many people have yet to discover the real difference that plumbing can make. WPC hopes that newspapers and other media will help many more people understand that our indsutry is a key player in so many aspects of society.”

For more information, visit www.worldplumbingday.org.

The Granite Group Wholesalers LLC opened their 26^th location at 266 Mechanic Street in Lebanon, N.H. Headquartered in Concord, N.H., Granite Group is a full-service wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, cooling & water supplies. This new location also includes an Ultimate Bath showroom featuring the finest kitchen and bath products displayed in an eye-appealing space, perfect for homeowners, designers, builders and plumbers.

“We look forward to bringing our superior service and products to customers in the greater Lebanon region,” said P. Kevin Condron, chairman and CEO of The Granite Group. “We have long been attracted to the area and are excited to add a service counter and showroom in a such strong marketplace.”

The Granite Group wholesale branches are staffed with plumbing, hydronic and HVAC technical specialists available for design, product recommendation and technical support. To ensure the best delivery of products, The Granite Group operates a 160,000-square-foot Central Distribution center in Londonderry, N.H. The distribution center is the largest in the area with daily delivery to all locations.

The Granite Group offers 13 Ultimate Bath showroom locations. Each showroom is fully decorated with a wide variety of product distributed by The Granite Group as well as staffed with trained plumbing design specialists. The Ultimate Bath showrooms are located in Concord, Manchester, Rochester and Exeter, N.H.; Rutland and Burlington, Vt.; Putnam and Groton, Conn.; Lowell and Worcester, Mass.; Portland, Maine; and Westerly, R.I.

Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International joined 26 other organizations calling for the U.S. Senate to oppose any healthcare reform legislation that includes the controversial “construction industry provision.”

This provision passed in the Senate healthcare reform bill (H.R. 3590) in late 2009 would apply the bill’s coverage mandates exclusively to construction-related employers with five or more employees, seemingly as a means of providing a competitive advantage to unionized workforces. Unionized workforces are free to leverage group health insurance plans across state lines unlike their non-unionized competitors.

In addition to supporting the interests of HVACR contractors who would be most directly affected by such a provision, HARDI also has concerns that HVACR wholesale distributors could also be covered under this targeted extension of the bill’s healthcare mandates. HARDI opposes both the House and Senate passed healthcare reform bills, but supports true cost-saving reforms as outlined on HARDI’s website. The HVACR wholesale distributor association opposes this specific provision in any form of healthcare reform legislation.

To learn more, visit www.hardinet.org.

On March 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program released its final specification for showerheads. Manufacturers can now submit their showerheads for testing to earn the WaterSense label, and consumers will soon be able to renovate their bathrooms with the full suite of WaterSense-labeled products.

Showering is one of the leading ways water is used in the home, accounting for nearly 17% of residential indoor water use, or about 30 gallons per household per day. WaterSense-labeled showerheads will use 20% less water and perform as well or better than standard models. The final specification sets the maximum flow rate at 2.0 gpm at a flowing pressure of 80 psi.

Like all WaterSense-labeled products, showerheads must be independently tested and certified to meet EPA’s criteria for water efficiency and performance. To determine what makes a good shower, EPA conducted consumer testing and worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop performance attributes, such as water coverage and spray intensity. As a result, WaterSense-labeled showerheads can be tested and certified to ensure that users will not have to sacrifice a good shower in order to achieve water savings.

With WaterSense-labeled showerheads expected to be on retail shelves later this spring, contractors can offer their customers a full bathroom makeover that saves about $60 each year on utility bills. Replacing older, inefficient fixtures with WaterSense labeled toilets, faucets, and showerheads can save a home more than 7,000 gallons of water annually, or enough to wash six months’ worth of laundry.

WaterSense is an EPA partnership program that seeks to enhance the market for water-efficient products and services. WaterSense is both a label for products and a resource to help people use water more efficiently.

To learn more visit www.epa.gov/watersense/products/showerheads.html.

Frank Heenan and David Bauders of Activant discuss the benefits of strategic pricing and how it can really make or break a wholesaler’s profitability. Sponsored by Hansgrohe.

 

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“Save Water — Save Money” is the motto of Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC’s new program serving the hospitality industry:  Gerber Water Conservation Services (“GWCS”). The initiative is collaboration between Gerber and leading hospitality renovation firms.  GWCS will offer turnkey water- and money-saving upgrades to hotel guest bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, HVAC and irrigation systems.

“Partnering with Gerber Water Conservation Services, we were able to substantially reduce our water usage and costs quickly without sacrificing comfort for our guests,” said Yousouf Jeerooburkhan, director of engineering for the Marina Del Ray Marriott Hotel.  “We are now a truly green property and our payback was only 14 months.”

Hotel owners and property managers can quickly realize the potential savings and benefits they can achieve by completing an online water savings audit on Gerber’s inclusive website www.gerber-conservation.com .

Once hotel owners realize that they can conserve thousands of gallons of water annually and reduce operating costs exponentially, Gerber will disperse a certified field audit professional to draft a full report on the potential water and cost savings available through GWCS. Subsequently, the hotel can be quickly transformed with high-efficiency faucets, fixtures and toilets. After the product installation, the benefits are continuous, as hotel and property owners experience a quick ROI, hassle-free turnkey operation and numerous green advantages.

“By joining Gerber Water Conservation Services, hospitality industry leaders can conserve the community’s natural resources, extend the effective capacity of water treatment facilities and contribute towards LEED certification,” said Michael Werner, CEO and president of Gerber. “The fact that they will also be saving an average of $22,000 annually in water and sewer costs is just an added bonus.”

The employee-owners of Hercules Chemical Company  announce that the company has officially emerged from bankruptcy.  After battling asbestos lawsuits for over 20 years for a single product manufactured prior to 1983, the company had no choice but to file for protection under Chapter 11 on August 22, 2008.

The reorganization plan was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on December 22, 2009.   The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey gave its seal of approval on January 6, 2010.  The effective date of the plan was February 9, 2010.

Pursuant to the confirmation order and plan, all present and future asbestos-related liabilities and obligations against the company will be channeled to an independent Asbestos Trust.

Hercules has been in existence for 95 years.  Founded in 1915, Hercules became an employee-owned company in 1995 and has been registered as an ISO certified manufacturer since 2003 and in November of 2009 was registered to the new 9001:2008 standard.

Hercules president David M. Siegal noted his particular pride in Hercules employee-owners: “Their terrific effort throughout the bankruptcy process allowed us to maintain the service levels for which we are known.”

Leonard A. Ruvolo, VP-Finance, noted that “the bankruptcy removed a major obstacle to our future progress with hardly a blip in our relationships with our suppliers and customers.”

Hercules offers a full line of plumbing chemical and related products primarily through plumbing and heating wholesalers through its association with Oatey Supply Chain Services (www.oateyscs.com).

HARDI is hosting a results-oriented online marketing webinar series with Bob De Stefano, who will be the keynote speaker at HARDI’s Annual Convention October 23-26 in Houston.

DeStefano will be asking wholesalers if they have truly harnessed the power of online marketing to produce business-building results for their company. The answer can be the difference between a website that is a money-maker and one that is nothing more than a glorified brochure.

In this results-focused three-part Webinar series, DeStefano will make online marketing understandable and provide wholesalers with a practical roadmap for transforming their websites into their most powerful marketing tool.

Participants will learn how to harness the power of a customer-focused website, search engine marketing and e-mail marketing into an integrated marketing system that will continually generate new business, strengthen relationships with customers and maximize the results of their marketing investments.

The three parts are:

• How to Make Your Website a Lead-Generation Machine — March 9 at 1:00 pm EST

• Seven Steps to Search Engine Marketing Success — April 13, 1:00 pm EST

• How to Be Successful with E-mail Marketing — May 11, 1:00 pm EST.

The series is being promoted in conjunction with the American Education Alliance.

Bob DeStefano is an online marketing strategist and professional speaker with over 15 years experience helping B-to-B companies produce business-building results. As president of SVM E-Business Solutions, a leading B-to-B online marketing agency, he has worked with a wide variety of companies, from Fortune 500 companies to small family-owned businesses, to help them leverage online marketing to achieve bottom-line results.

Mitch Harper, former distribution executive and Industrial Distribution program lecturer at Texas A&M and Baylor University, uses some baseball analogies to illustrate key areas of sales management, and gives specifics on how mismanagement can affect your organization. Sponsored by Activant Solutions, Inc.

 

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DDI System’s Adam Waller will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday, March 23 at 1:00 p.m. EST, entitled “10 Ways to Accelerate Your Business.”

During this webinar, Waller will highlight the new innovations completed over the last year and how DDI’s inform software continues to drive sales, efficiencies and lasting success for thousands of distributors.

For information, visit
www.ddisys.com.