Connecting with customers

Tipco Technologies learns how the NAHAD Hose Assembly Guidelines can cement stronger customer relationships

by Rich Vurva

You know you’ve made a lasting impression when customers begin incorporating your recommendations into their engineering requirements. That’s what happened to Tipco Technologies after the Baltimore-area hose distributor demonstrated to major customers how it uses the NAHAD Hose Assembly Guidelines in its quality program.

Tipco was one of the first companies to sign up for the NAHAD Listed Members program introduced in 2005. Listed Members agree to fully comply with assembly guidelines defined by NAHAD – The Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution.

The five Hose Assembly Specification Guidelines include recommendations for specifying fabricated hose assemblies, and a basic set of performance factors related to selecting components, fabrication procedures and testing hose assemblies. Hose assemblers and other employees who pass a written test demonstrating their knowledge of the Specification Guidelines earn a certificate from NAHAD.

“Everything we do in our assembly procedures refers to one of the Guidelines,” says Tipco president Rob Lyons. “No assembler can touch a particular family of products unless they’ve passed the test.”

Tipco representatives recently explained the program to a quality engineer from a nearby Northrop Grumman manufacturing plant. After touring Tipco’s facility and learning how the company follows the Hose Assembly Guidelines, the engineer agreed to grant supplier status to Tipco for hose assemblies used on environmental detection devices.

“He actually went back, changed his requirements to reflect our input and then sent us a letter saying that they would consider us ISO compliant. We considered that a tremendous success,” says territory manager Mike Daddario.

Sales manager John Genco says the Specification Guidelines have been especially helpful with large corporations that demand documented proof that suppliers follow a written quality control process.

“In the past, customers would request documentation and there really wasn’t any way to provide it to them, other than internal pressure testing of hose,” says Genco. “Once the Hose Assembly Guidelines were developed, we had a target group of customers that we felt would find value in them.”

Nationwide network
The Guidelines played an integral part in another project for Rockwell Collins, which designs and manufactures communication and aviation electronics for the aerospace industry. After being introduced to the program by Tipco, the company updated its engineering drawings for flight simulators to include NAHAD’s Hose Assembly Guidelines. Tipco also helps Rockwell Collins locate local NAHAD distributors to do final assembly work on assemblies shipped to other parts of the U.S. In the past, when local hydraulic shops provided hose assemblies, quality often varied greatly from one supplier to the next.

“We had the opportunity to say whether you’re at Tipco or using a distributor in Houston, Texas, we can make sure you’re going to get a product onsite that meets this set of requirements,” says Genco. “It gives them a level of confidence that they can utilize a local distributor that’s going to maintain the same level of quality.”

The Guidelines give salespeople an opportunity to penetrate deeper into existing accounts because it offers a reason to speak with engineers, quality control and safety personnel.

“It’s an advantage that we have over most of our competitors right now. It gives salespeople something targeted to focus on,” says Genco.

Lyons says the Guidelines impact virtually every aspect of the company’s operation, from receiving, storage, assembly and packaging, to documentation and testing.

“After explaining to customers how we incorporate the Guidelines into our overall quality program, I typically find that customers didn’t realize all we do for them. They very often agree that we really do deserve to be paid for all that we provide, he says.

Premier suppliers on board
When he recognized how the program improved his company’s marketing and sales efforts, Lyons contacted his premier suppliers to make sure they were Listed Members. Nine out of 14 premier suppliers were signed up for the program, and Lyons quickly convinced the remaining companies to participate.

“It was critical for our premier supplier base to be NAHAD listed. Our quality policy has no teeth if our supplier base doesn’t buy into the Guidelines,” Lyons says.

One premier supplier, Goodyear Engineered Products, incorporates the Guidelines into its Star distributor program, which currently includes more than 51 distributors in North America. In order to be considered a Goodyear Star distributor, companies must be a NAHAD member and also must agree to follow the Guidelines. Underwriters Laboratories conducts an annual audit of each Star distributor to verify their adherence to the program.

“A lot of good things happen when you listen to customers. That’s what this is about. The customers are asking for a safe, reliable, consistent product. NAHAD heard what the customer said and came out with this program,” says Keith Collett, Goodyear’s industrial hose marketing manager.

Tipco employees selected Goodyear to receive the company’s 2006 Best of the Best Award. The annual award recognizes a premier supplier for offering innovative products and processes, selective distribution, acceptable service levels and targeted account success.

Lyons says Goodyear’s Hose Trakker program is an example of a service that helps his company compete more effectively. The Web-based tracking system enables Tipco or its customers to track when hoses were put into service, and to schedule maintenance inspections. The system automatically generates an e-mail notifying a customer when it’s time to replace or test a hose or assembly.

For example, Vane Brothers, a Baltimore-based shipping company that ships petroleum on barges that travel along the East Coast, uses the program to know when to take dock hoses out of service.

“Because hoses might be moved from one ship to another, they had a tremendous problem tracking when hoses need to be tested. The Hose Trakker method is much more user friendly,” Lyons says.

After making sure major suppliers were on board, Lyons explained the benefits of the Guidelines to assemblers and his sales force. He believes the Guidelines need to be ingrained into the corporate culture, so employees intuitively understand the importance of following the advice contained in the documents, but also know how to explain the benefits they offer customers.

Today, virtually every employee in all six Tipco branches are familiar with the Guidelines and most have passed the online test for the product groups assembled in each branch.

“It gives us a framework of reference and puts the customer at ease when they find out that we have an established set of Guidelines,” says John Blair, a member of Tipco’s Customer Fulfillment Team. When Blair sends quotes or orders to customers, he typically includes a note that the assemblies comply with a specific NAHAD Guideline.

Spreading the word
Lyons currently serves as chairman of NAHAD’s marketing sub-committee of the NAHAD Standards Committee, which developed the Hose Assembly Guidelines. He participated in a training seminar in Cleveland last November that attracted more than 160 hose industry participants. His presentation focused on marketing strategies for members to maximize their use of the Guidelines. The sub-committee developed two PowerPoint presentation templates that Listed Members can adapt for their own efforts to train employees on the Guidelines and to explain their benefits to customers.

He has also given presentations to other distributors to explain how their companies can utilize the Guidelines. Lyons has been willing to donate his time for the program because he believes it benefits the entire industry.

“Many distributors are already applying the practices outlined in the Guidelines everyday. The documented Guidelines and testing give us a powerful tool to communicate all that we do for customers,” he says.

Lyons says the days of moving boxes for manufacturers are long gone. Distributors must sell solutions to continue to be the channel of choice for customers and suppliers.

“As we encourage more members to participate, eventually the customer base will start demanding it, which raises the stature of all NAHAD members,” he says.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2007 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2007.

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