Custom Air Products & Services Inc. (CAPS) has remained a leader in the HVAC industry by providing high-quality, innovative products and services. Over the past two years, however, a focused interest in providing technological tools for internal processes has resulted in a shift from mere products to engineered solutions for customer problems.
Located on a single site in Houston, CAPS has provided for industrial and commercial customers' HVAC needs through four distinct areas of focus: manufacturing, installation, service and parts. Historically, manufacturing focused on providing the highest-quality manufactured units to customers; installation on exacting field placement, ductwork, etc.; service on preventive maintenance and field servicing of equipment; and parts on providing difficult-to-find, expedited replacement parts as needed.
This segregation of business focus has provided CAPS with the ability to grow and develop expertise in each area. Due in large part to n ew technologies, tools and increasing expertise in these areas, CAPS has recently experienced a logical shift to a more customer-solutions-based approach.
Technologies
- Office 365 and SharePoint. When CAPS introduced Office 365 and SharePoint to employees, it opened doors by providing access to information on computers, tablets and phones across the site and beyond. As workers, supervisors and managers began to have more information available at their fingertips, they found the "walls" between divisions blurred and connections across the company strengthened.
- PowerApps. The ability to provide employees with customized applications offers improved communication, information and action status updates. CAPS managers describe the ability for any employee to report an issue using a phone app on any unit in any area of the site, for example, as "empowering."
- Autodesk CFD. The CAPS Engineering team recently added this software to its arsenal. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation software is expected to be a real game-changer. Imagine the value of being able to show customers potential hot spots in their large variable-frequency drive houses, modular power substations (e-houses), battery houses or motor control centers before the HVAC solution is designed. Then, after designing and loading final specifications into the software, produce a 3-D view of the potential hot spots when large heat loads are applied. This software not only impacts the design of the units but also visually communicates to customers the impacts that design choices have on the final installation.
Other tools on the market have seen greater adoption at CAPS as the value of such precision and data collection abilities becomes more obvious across the site. Advanced gauges, tools designed to track and record temperature and humidity, and tools to analyze and visualize collected data are the kinds of advancements that have increased CAPS' trajectory into the engineered solutions approach to product and service design and delivery.
"As little as five years ago, we knew we were headed down a path toward increased technology implementation. But we honestly did not foresee this," explained CAPS CEO Taylor Norris.
Norris described forklift operators monitoring phones for automated notifications to indicate completed quality checks triggering unit movements from one area (like electrical) to another (like paint). He described installation technicians pulling up production progress reports on their phones to estimate workload requirements for the upcoming week. He also described sales team members accessing production data while sitting in a customer's parking lot.
But Norris' excitement was hardest to contain when he talked about the cumulative effect of all the new data sources and technologies on the now-integrated division approach to meeting customer needs. In this new era, installation technicians view documents and interact with the shop during field commissioning.
"Our focus used to be on providing high-quality products followed by trying to engage customers in our installation, commissioning, service and parts offerings," he said. "Now we all -- salespeople, managers, project managers, engineers, etc. -- start off every prospect by asking ourselves, 'What problem is this customer trying to solve, and how can we provide them with informed solution options?'
"By providing customers with data-backed information about the value of equipment options, installing and servicing their newly designed, engineered solutions, and providing them the appropriate spare parts up front, we are helping them make better decisions about equipment selection, reduce potential downtime, and improve equipment longevity and performance from day one."
For more information, visit www.CustomAirProducts.com or call Senior Account Executive Don Doss at (281) 802-1678.
