Industry News

MORSCO, Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based distributor of commercial and residential plumbing products; heating and cooling equipment (HVAC); pipe, valves and fittings (PVF); and underground utility products, is launching a suite of Online Solutions offering customers a robust e-commerce experience that’s much more than just a website and shopping cart. Two of the sites – Read more

MORSCO, Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based distributor of commercial and residential plumbing products; heating and cooling equipment (HVAC); pipe, valves and fittings (PVF); and underground utility products, is launching a suite of Online Solutions offering customers a robust e-commerce experience that’s much more than just a website and shopping cart.

Two of the sites – ExpressPipe.com and MorrisonSupply.com – supporting MORSCO’s Express Pipe and Morrison Supply brands, are already live. Sites for Farnsworth Wholesale, Wholesale Specialties, Murray Supply and DeVore & Johnson are in beta testing and are scheduled to launch this quarter, bringing six of MORSCO’s eight brands to the Online Solutions platform by the end of 2017.

Each of MORSCO’s Online Solutions offer a personalized experience that includes:

  • More than 200,000 products with technical documents, organized into customer-specific catalogs.
  • Real-time pricing and local availability.
  • Material order, release and tracking for delivery or pick-up at a local branch.
  • Access to invoices and proof of delivery for easy record keeping.
  • Integration with a customer’s purchasing system and job management tools.
  • Much more, with 24/7 access from a desktop, tablet or mobile phone.

MORSCO E-Commerce Screen Shot“We design our Online Solutions side by side with customers and associates to get their jobs done faster, whether on a job site, on the go, or in the office,” said Darren Taylor, MORSCO CMO. “Nearly every customer who tries it uses it regularly to get quotes, check local inventory, quickly order for scheduled delivery and much more. We also invest in training and data so our solutions become an indispensable part of our customers’ everyday lives. With Online Solutions we’re making MORSCO easier to do business with and providing better, faster service, while still maintaining an unmatched level of face-to-face support for local customers.”

“Our experience has proven that MORSCO’s Online Solutions are much easier to use than other e-commerce sites,” said Rich Langenwalter, Vice President, Trilogy Plumbing. “It is certainly more complete than what local distributors offer, if they offer an online option at all. MORSCO’s Online Solutions work seamlessly and improves our work flow between the field, job sites and our offices.”

MORSCO powers its digital customer experience with top-tier e-commerce, search, marketing automation, analytics, and data platforms to not only give customers the 24/7 access they need, but also increase MORSCO’s ability to make complex online transactions, varying by a customer’s particular needs or wants.

“MORSCO is streamlining processes and systems across all of our brands, helping us create efficiencies to become more sophisticated as a company,” said Mike Swedick, President of Plumbing for MORSCO. “Our Online Solutions platforms are reshaping the way we do business and giving us the opportunity to reach current and new customers like never before. Online Solutions will allow MORSCO to deliver an unmatched experience within our industry and significantly grow sales through customer loyalty and new customer acquisition.”

For additional information regarding MORSCO or any of its brands, please visit the website at www.MorscoUSA.com.

Milwaukee, Wis. — Which is better for zone control in hydronic heating systems: a pump or a zone valve? At the next Coffee with CaleffiTM webinar on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 12 noon CST, Cody Mack, Caleffi applications engineer, joins Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr, our training and education manager, to showcase a number of system Read more

Milwaukee, Wis. — Which is better for zone control in hydronic heating systems: a pump or a zone valve? At the next Coffee with CaleffiTM webinar on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 12 noon CST, Cody Mack, Caleffi applications engineer, joins Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr, our training and education manager, to showcase a number of system designs that utilize either zone valves, pumps or a combination of both. They will discuss wiring schemes and control concepts that deliver optimal zone control that result in a quality system and a happy customer.
mr1117-coffeewithcaleffi

A familiar and favorite speaker to the webinar series, Hot Rod is sure to delight the audience with his expertise and quick wit. He travels from sea-to-sea, sharing his 30+ years’ of experience as a plumbing, radiant heat and renewable energy contractor.

Mack applies his 10 years’ of field support experience assisting in product design and helping our technical support team provide top-notch service. He’s heard about it, troubleshot and solved real-time field perplexities. Our audience will appreciate his thoughtful delivery and product insight.

The one-hour educational webinars are always free and are intended for contractors, designers and wholesalers. A Certificate of Attendance is emailed to all attendees following the event for continuing education audits. Please visit our website at www.caleffi.com for schedule details and registration.

Atlanta —The 2017 edition of ASHRAE’s major thermal comfort standard has been published to incorporate seven published addenda to the 2013 edition. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, simplifies the language of the 2013 standard and clarifies the three comfort calculation approaches in Section 5.3.3, “Elevated Air Speed.” The 2017 edition includes Read more

Atlanta —The 2017 edition of ASHRAE’s major thermal comfort standard has been published to incorporate seven published addenda to the 2013 edition.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, simplifies the language of the 2013 standard and clarifies the three comfort calculation approaches in Section 5.3.3, “Elevated Air Speed.” The 2017 edition includes a new requirement to calculate the change in occupants’ thermal comfort from direct solar radiation.

“The updates to Standard 55-2017 are the result of a continuing series of modifications made based on new research, experience, and proposals from designers, manufacturers and users,” says Abhijeet Pande, chair of the Standard 55 committee. “Standard 55 has been rewritten with a renewed focus on application of the standard by practitioners and use of clear, enforceable language.”

The three comfort calculations methods provided in the 2017 edition are:

• a graphic method for simple situations,
• an analytical method for more general cases, and
• a method that uses elevated air speed to provide comfort.

Other additions include simplification of Appendix A to a single procedure for calculating operative temperature; clearly stated requirements and calculation procedures appearing sequentially; an update to the scope to ensure the standard is not used to override health, safety; critical process requirements; and removal of permissive language.

The cost of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017 is $89 for ASHRAE members ($105, non-members). To order, visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore or contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada), 404-636-8400 (worldwide) or fax 678-539-2129.

More than 1,600 tradeswomen representing various crafts in the building and construction industries attended the 2017 Women Build Nations (WBN) conference last week in Chicago to raise awareness and build support for tradeswomen. The conference provided tradeswomen a platform to address every day challenges and learn about opportunities to advance their careers. It offered a Read more

More than 1,600 tradeswomen representing various crafts in the building and construction industries attended the 2017 Women Build Nations (WBN) conference last week in Chicago to raise awareness and build support for tradeswomen.

The conference provided tradeswomen a platform to address every day challenges and learn about opportunities to advance their careers. It offered a buffet of workshops to build collective knowledge to ensure equal opportunities for tradeswomen to succeed and lead in the construction industry. The workshops covered a range of relevant timely topics including recruitment and retention, leadership development, safety, politics, policies affecting tradeswomen and issues beyond the tools.

The conference celebrated recent victories in the movement to improve diversity and inclusion. The Iron Workers (IW) took center stage at the conference with its groundbreaking paid maternity leave benefit and the recently trademarked “Be that One Guy” campaign to raise awareness about adversities tradeswomen experience based on gender.

The IW introduced the first-ever paid maternity leave benefit in the industry with six months of pre-delivery and six to eight weeks of post-delivery paid maternity leave. The news made headlines in major news outlets. It was a breakthrough for all tradeswomen and a giant leap forward in the movement to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace.

In the final plenary session, an IW panel shared the inspirational story behind the paid maternity leave benefit, encouraging other trades to follow the lead. Bridget Booker, ironworker from IW Local 112 in Peoria, Ill. Shared her tragic story of trying to hide pregnancy in fear of losing the job, having a miscarriage as a result and how her story inspired the groundbreaking paid maternity leave benefit.

“It’s bittersweet for me because I wish the paid maternity leave benefit had existed before and prevented my tragic experience but I’m so happy for my ironworker sisters who will never have to hide their pregnancies in fear of losing their jobs anymore,” said Bridget.  “It feels great to know that my story inspired that change for them”.

“Bridget’s story tugged at my heart and I couldn’t just overlook the issue of our ironworkers having to sacrifice their family lives and put their unborn children at risk,” said IW General President Eric Dean. “I brought it to our board of trustees and we all agreed that it’s not only the right and morally responsible thing to do but also a good way to recruit and retain ironworker women.”

“We are always looking for things a good union and an employer association should do to improve diversity and inclusion, and providing our ironworkers paid maternity leave made sense morally and economically,” said CEO of Ben Hur Construction and Co-Chair of IMACT Bill Brown.

The IW became a pioneer in the industry for diversity and inclusion with its “Be That One Guy” campaign and the groundbreaking paid maternity leave benefit. “Our ironworker women shouldn’t have to choose between having a family and working,” said Vicki O’Leary, IW district representative of safety and diversity. “So many members had to hide their pregnancies and that will no longer be an issue.”

“The IW paid maternity leave is a milestone moment not just for tradeswomen but for women everywhere, and the fact that it came out of the building trades is huge,” said Lauren Sugerman, national policy director for Chicago Women in Trades. “It happened right here at the WBN conference last year when Bridget Booker, a brave young ironworker stood up and shared her story with the IW leadership.”

The WBN conference is a catalyst for progress and positive change in the construction industry and continues to be the national platform for all tradeswomen.

Naperville, Ill. —  By the year 2030, water demand is expected to exceed sustainable supply by 40 percent, but only 42 percent of respondents from a recent survey conducted by Ecolab and GreenBiz Group cited water management as a strategic corporate initiative. According to the research, 82 percent of the 184 large businesses surveyed say Read more

Naperville, Ill. —  By the year 2030, water demand is expected to exceed sustainable supply by 40 percent, but only 42 percent of respondents from a recent survey conducted by Ecolab and GreenBiz Group cited water management as a strategic corporate initiative. According to the research, 82 percent of the 184 large businesses surveyed say they are not sufficiently using advanced tools and technologies to better manage their water use.To encourage better water management practices, Nalco Water, Ecolab’s global water management business, has created Water University, a hands-on training facility for Nalco Water clients and associates. The new Water University will be officially dedicated today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nalco Water’s Naperville campus. Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, State Senator Michael Connelly and Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico, as well as leaders from industry and non-governmental organizations and other local representatives, will be part of the opening ceremonies.

Water University will provide the tools and training businesses need to strategically manage water more efficiently. The innovative learning environment showcases water management technologies serving a variety of industries. It also features a training facility with a lab and a range of equipment for hands-on training. Water University is expected to host more than 2,200 global visitors in 2018.

“In partnership with our customers, our goal by 2030 is to help save 300 billion gallons of water annually – equal to the yearly drinking needs of more than one billion people,” said Christophe Beck, executive vice president and president of Nalco Water. “Water University is a state-of-the-art facility where 200 scientists share solutions to conserve our most precious resource – water.”

Ecolab’s 25,000-strong field team serves customers globally, and they have access to data from tens of thousands of digitally controlled and remotely monitored IoT devices to ensure immediate problem identification and resolution.

The Ecolab/GreenBiz Group survey further underscores the need for companies to rethink their water management. Key findings of the survey include:
• Water is an increasing priority – especially in the consumer packaged goods and healthcare industries – but it still is not a key factor in corporate decision making.
• Most companies have water-related targets (75%) – but the retail and healthcare sectors are lagging in integrating water into corporate decision making.
• Respondents said the key drivers for managing water are: mitigating business risk (48%); meeting regulatory requirements (33%); saving money (30%); achieving internal goals (28%); protecting local sources of water (28%); and improving company brand (23%).
• The majority of companies (82%) say they lack the tools and strategies to turn data into actionable insights.

“We need to start thinking about how we can do more with the water we are using,” said Jason Morrison, president of the Pacific Institute and head of CEO Water Mandate, which partnered with Ecolab to evaluate the survey findings. “We all need to help drive this shift from thinking of water as a consumable good to managing water as a reusable asset.”

For more information about Water University as well as photos, please visit Ecolab.com.