Ductmate Industries Has HVACR Sealed

Creating airtight seals throughout a ductwork system is the premise upon which Ductmate Industries was founded more than 30 years ago. That one simple idea — and that one product that continues to be a part of an extensive Ductmate product lineup — helped build this company that in 2009 employed 250 people throughout the United States.

The Ductmate System is what started it all — a rectangular duct product consisting of roll-formed flanges, corner pieces, gasket and cleat that creates a leak-free connection between ducts. Developed by Peter Arnoldt, one of Ductmate's founders and its first president, this product changed how contractors and engineers viewed ductwork accessories — they were no longer just commodities but products that offered superior quality. Here was a product that could deliver real energy and material savings. In effect, Ductmate was a leader in the green movement before the catchphrase even came about. Buoyed by its early success, Ductmate quickly expanded its product line and its distribution network across the United States and around the world.

Today, Ductmate has 15 product lines. It is one of the largest HVACR accessory manufacturers in the world. Based in Charleroi, PA (about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh), its products are manufactured in nearby Forward Township as well as Lodi, CA. Its president and CEO, Raymond Yeager, joined the company in 1984 as a controller and, after moving up through the ranks, became president in 2006.

New and innovative products fueled Ductmate's growth, and it continues to set the standard in the HVACR industry. A supportive ownership group, strong management team and a hands-on board of directors have contributed to smart growth. The company guide is a series of five-year strategic plans, which it updates annually. Yeager says the company began the strategic planning process in the early 1990s. “We believed that in order for us to maintain long-term growth, it is exceptionally important to have plans and strategies in place,” he says.

The company has begun to embark on the planning for its new five-year strategic plan, called “DMI 2015,” Yeager says. “It's a fairly sophisticated process that we go through that gets us where we want to be over the next five years.” Each year's process includes the critical success factors and detailed action plans that fit with the overall five-year strategy.

Yeager also credits the company's board of directors for helping to move the company forward. “We have a very active board of directors; the majority are professionals who live in the Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania areas,” Yeager says. “That lends a lot of credibility to the process. We're a privately held company, and the owners have decided that they want to differentiate themselves — they want professional advisers, which is unique for a medium-sized company.”

After completing its recent Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis as part of its strategic planning process, Yeager says Ductmate's strengths are clear. Its brand is highly regarded, its distributor network is very strong and it runs an efficient operation applying Lean manufacturing capabilities and sustainability philosophy. The intertwining of each part contributes to making Ductmate a stronger company. The strengths are fortified by the experience and expertise of Ductmate channel managers, product managers, inside sales staff, skilled workers as well as many engineers (“chemical, mechanical, material and architectural engineers, and we even have an energy engineer,” Yeager notes).

Aided by new products and enhanced by its reputation for quality and customer service, Ductmate is intent on keeping this status. The company works closely with its distributors and their customers. Its channel and product line managers often travel with distributors to job locations to see how contractors and engineers are using their products and to gauge their experiences with them. Yeager says they are trying to find the “pain points” of their distributors and the distributors' customers and how to best alleviate them.

A research and development department within Ductmate's engineering group works on new product development and updates. Their work ties closely to that of the company's new product committee, which is charged with bringing forward new opportunities — whether in the form of new products, enhancements to existing products or other ways in which Ductmate may better serve customers. A distributor advisory group provides the “Voice of the Customer” and helps keep the ideas moving, Yeager says. With Ductmate's pedigree in the industry, others often approach the company with ideas on new products, and Yeager says his staff will often collaborate with them. Yeager estimates that the company has about 40 to 50 patents on various products.

At Ductmate, new ideas from employees are encouraged, says Mark Smith, business development manager. “New product development is a responsibility of everybody in the company,” he says. Employees in the machine shop have ways of fine-tuning products, while the sales staff may come off the road with personal experiences that can help improve all facets of the operation. Meanwhile, the customer service department brings the perspective from distributors who may call with technical or logistical questions.