Some companies are content to find some success and rest on their laurels.  Nailor Industries (Nailor International Group) will never be among those so charged. 

Words like "innovation," "customized," and "flexibility" dominate the language of Nailor employees as well as the work they perform.  This culture drives product development and the delivery of related services.  In turn, this culture has led to continuous growth in both sales and market share, even through macro-economic turmoil. 

 

The Nailor "group" (www.nailor.com), headquartered in Houston, Texas, consists of highly synergistic subsidiaries with plants in Toronto, Calgary, Las Vegas, Houston, and Thetford, England.  Collectively, they create leading-edge solutions for air distribution, air control, and mechanical equipment including terminal units, fan coil units, and air handlers.

Nailor operates out of a half dozen facilities headquartered in Houston. "In the past 18 months alone," says Curtis Peters, one of Nailor's Regional Sales Managers, "we've acquired two new buildings totaling over 100,000 square feet.  That gives us a total of more than 12 acres under roof in Houston."

This investment in real estate is related to Nailor's vision for growth.  "The investment in real estate has been accompanied by a significant investment in software development," says Peters.  "This infrastructure enables us to develop the tools that will support our customers in the future."

These, and related investments in product development and manufacturing, reflect the optimism that exists within company management that they have their fingers on the pulse of future customer needs.

"We deal extensively with the engineering community," says Greg Rodgers, Nailor Marketing Manager.  "In addition" he continues, "we chair and participate in several committees within industry organizations such as AHRI and ASHRAE.  We do so to both see and influence what's coming down the pike."

"In turn," adds Peters, "we can put products in the development pipeline now so that they're fully vetted when the market window opens."

One reason Nailor can illustrate such dynamic flexibility is due to the fact that the company remains family-owned despite its growth.  "We can't hide in corporate policies and processes," Curtis Peters says.  "Our reps know that whether they have good news or concerns to share, they can pick up the phone and talk to Steve Nailor directly."  (Steve is Chief Operating Officer.)

"By the same token," adds Greg Rodgers, "we are not limited to selling exclusively out of our catalog.  We built this business on highly engineered and highly customized products.  Accordingly, we won't shy away from any engineering challenge."

"We're seeing, for instance," says Rodgers, "more focus on standards in the critical care arena.  There have always been multiple ways of meeting a particular mechanical challenge in these environments.  With our participation, ASHRAE is trying to standardize the design criteria, not only to maximize energy use, but to minimize contaminants.  Our focus is to help engineers understand proper design practices."


Customizable solutions from Nailor exist in many forms.  Their pioneering use of ECM motors led to their endeavors in fan-powered boxes and fan coil units.  In turn, that led to a complete product offering. 

Not long ago, Microsoft approached Nailor seeking a solution for an installed underfloor air distribution system in Redmond, WA.  They were looking for better thermal comfort, controllability, leakage rates, and improved energy consumption.  This prompted Nailor to make a considerable capital investment in producing a new 10" aluminum UFAD swirl diffuser.  The installation of this new product resulted in significant improvements on all fronts, including a major reduction in central plant energy consumption.   This is yet another example of flexibility and customization translating into a major addition to the Nailor product line. 

 

Nailor's new high-capacity swirl diffuser for UFAD applications offers a low profile, a low pressure drop damper assembly, and

cast aluminum construction.  It meets NFPA 90A requirements

and was tested to UL 2043.

Their air handling division, Thermal Corporation, has released several new configurations which promote sustainable design concepts.  One example is a dedicated outdoor air handler with multiple energy recovery wheels which is used to supply pre-conditioned outside air to chilled beam systems.  Such sustainable innovations are finding receptive buyers among "green" professionals.  Also from this same division, Nailor introduced to their rep channel a software package, four years in the making, that enables their reps to sit down in front of engineers and model a custom air handling solution.  The software package can then output pricing, CAD files, scope of work, and quotes. 

 

Custom air handling equipment characterizes the work of Thermal Corporation, one of Nailor's operating divisions.

Making their reps successful is a driving force for Nailor.  "We take care of our software programming in house, which allows us to update and release our products to the market in a very aggressive manner," says Peters.  "Our motivation is to help our distribution channel to be as efficient as possible, which gives our reps more time for sales-related activities. And, as a supplier of both sheet metal and equipment, along with the widest diversity of product offering, we can be very competitive."  As a result, the majority of Nailor reps are exclusive to Nailor." 

The working relationship with reps is handled by Nailor's Regional Sales Managers such as Curtis Peters.  "'Regional' is somewhat misleading," Curtis explains.  "In reality, we pair up sales managers and reps according to backgrounds, experience, and like market interests.  In this way, we can form a true partnership." 

It seems that such a partnership mentality also extends to Nailor's suppliers:  "Seventy-five percent of all our new products are highly engineering with controls," Peters says.  "That's why we value our corporate partnership with KMC."

"Visionary," "Innovative," "Flexible" "Customer Care."  Such words have always defined Nailor and supported its reputation for customized solutions to air distribution, air control, and equipment challenges.  But they may be among the few constants for this dynamic company that is always inclined to push the envelope.