VIEWPOINT
phc April 2022 www.phcppros.com
7-Power Contractor............................................................. 59
www.7powercontractor.com
AB&I Foundry ....................................................................... 3
www.abifoundry.com
American Standard ............................................................. 19
www.cleanerhands.com
AquaRex ............................................................................. 10
www.aquarex.com
Chase Brass ......................................................................... 17
www.wieland-chase.com
Eastern Energy Expo ........................................................... 47
www.easternenergyexpo.org
Easyflex ............................................................................... 15
www.easyflexusa.com
General Pipe Cleaners, a div. of General Wire Spring ... 41, 61
www.drainbrain.com
Hodes Company ................................................................... 7
www.hodesco.com
Holdrite .............................................................................. 29
www.holdrite.com
IAPMO ............................................................................... 37
www.iapmo.org
Jefferson .............................................................................. 35
www.jeffersonvalve.com
Jomar .................................................................................. 38
www.jomarvalve.com
Legend .................................................................................. 5
www.legendvalve.com
Liberty Pumps .................................................................... 21
www.libertypumps.com
Lync ...................................................................................... 9
www.lyncbywatts.com
McGuire ........................................................................................ 11
www.mcguiremfg.com
Mill-Rose ......................................................................................14
www.cleanfit.com
Mr. PEX ........................................................................................13
www.mrpexsystems.com
Sioux Chief ...................................................................................48
www.siouxchief.com
SupplyHouse.com .........................................................................23
www.supplyhouse.com
ThermOmegaTech .........................................................................33
www.circuitsolver.com
Towle Whitney ..............................................................................25
www.towle-whitney.com
Tyler Pipe ......................................................................................43
www.tylertough.com
U.S. Boiler ..................................................................................IFC
www.usboiler.net
Uline ..............................................................................................51
www.uline.com
Utica Boilers .................................................................................31
www.uticaboilers.com
Wal-Rich ......................................................................................56
www.wal-rich.com
Walton ...........................................................................................24
www.waltontools.com
Watts..............................................................................................49
www.watts.com
Zoeller ........................................................................................ IBC
www.zoellerpumps.com
Zurn ..............................................................................................BC
www.zurn.com
ADVERTISERS' INDEX
BY STEVE SMITH , EDITOR
I
t used to be that "going above and beyond" was reserved only for an extraordinary effort to get the job done. Commendable, of course. But no one expected it had to be done every day. Now, however, the extraordinary effort is just an ordinary effort to get the job done. With supply chain matters continuing to vex most every industry, we've read plenty recently about the routine efforts made to help PHCP customers get what they need. When a boiler in a 20-unit apartment went out, Brian Stack, president of Stack Heating, Cooling & Electric, Avon, Ohio, needed a $500 circuit board to make the repair. But the replacement board wouldn't get to his supply house for another three weeks. So, Stack went a route he would have never considered otherwise and that most distributors would never give an OK on. Stack placed an order for the board, but also bought a whole new boiler for $13,000. He removed the circuit board from the new one and put it in the old boiler to get heat back on to the apartment building. Then, once the replacement board finally arrived, Stack put that into the brand-new boiler and returned it to the distributor, which had already approved the return. In the past it's in stock at a supply house, we just call up and say we need this piece of equipment," Stack says in an article published in the March 2 edition of the Wall Street Journal. And we'll go and put it in. Now, it's a scramble." Scramble, indeed. The feature makes us think of the classic line, "I've got good news, and I've got bad news." Want the good news first? In many cases, the pandemic has proved to be a boon for our industry. Apparently, it's dawned on plenty of people stuck working from home for the past two years that their homes require plenty of professional work to be comfortable. ACCA, for example, says shipments for central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps increased more than 9 percent in 2021 from 2020. Meanwhile, HARDI distributors reported a 35 percent increase in January sales, with an average annual sales growth for the 12 months through January 2022 up 25 percent. Want the bad news first? Makers of HVAC equipment can't keep up with the demand created by the pandemic because of all the various manufacturing and shipping problem created by the pandemic. The WSJ article, for example, reports Trane, Carrier and Johnson Controls have said order backlogs are rising, in some cases hitting record levels. It's very, very disruptive," says Dave Regnery, Trane's CEO, in the article, adding that his factories are making constant adjustments to staffing and inventory to keep production rolling. "This is a plant manager's kind of nightmare." The article goes on to discuss many other creative, but expensive stopgaps contractors and wholesalers have had to take. How about you? What have you had to do to get what you need to get the job done? Tell me about in an email at: steve@phcppros.com. l
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Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary
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