Inside SharkBite - Episode 3: Total Solution
This is Inside SharkBite. With a push for more efficiency and performance for plumbing systems at its highest level, manufacturing a total end-to-end plumbing solution is not only extremely unique to the market, but is very important.
Total Quality Control
"So, we have a full range of pipes and fittings and valves and everything that a contractor would need when they're building a house and plumbing a house," explains Dixon Thuston, the Global VP of Operations.
Jeff Long, Global Marketing Director, notes that "The plumbing trade is starting to recognize all the benefits they're getting from using a total end-to-end system like SharkBite, pipe valves, and fittings. There are a ton of efficiencies that can be gained through that. As a result, right now we are taking off."
"The push connect system is taking the homeowner into account," says Ken Sanchez, VP of Operations. "Also, the plumbers are out in the trade doing the work. They want to get in and out and get the job done with no leaks. So, our system provides the grip and the ceiling needed to hold that water in that system without having any future issues in your house."
"Certainly, it's much easier for the contractor to have a single source for all the solutions that they would need in a plumbing job. But second to that, it also allows us to control the entire system so that we know when we manufacture the pipes, valves, or fittings, they're being manufactured to our high level of quality. It's so we know what we're putting in a house is first-rate quality," explains Dixon Thuston.
"That's one of the things about SharkBite; we've engineered the solutions into the product. You just need to have the ability to know the distance you need to travel with the pipe and where you want it to connect, and we'll take care of the non-leaking," as noted by Ken Sanchez.
Watch More:
- SharkBite Quality Test
- Testimonial: SharkBite EvoPEX Commercial New Construction Installation
- Testimonial: Multi-Family New Construction Build with SharkBite EvoPEX
All In-House
So you guys do the entire end-to-end and have total control of the whole system. When someone is buying SharkBite, they're not just buying a brand name, they're not just buying something small, like a connector. They're buying a whole system. And that's absolute, you're the only company that can do that, right?
Jeff Long replies, "We are! We have some competitors that can make valves, some that can make pipes or make fittings, but there's not one out there that exists today that can do all three. The great thing about it is we control all of the quality right here in house. Every fitting is tested and every valve is tested so that we can ensure quality at every step."
"It's two sides," explains Dixon Thuston. "We want to be a one-stop shop for every solution, but we also know that if we can control more of the parts, we can guarantee that level of quality."
Is it really that easy in the field?
According to Ken Sanchez, "You know, it is that easy. We try to mimic any situation possible. We have men and women come in and try our product and in our testing, we want make sure that it's easy enough for anyone to be able to fix their plumbing at any level and any strength that they have."
"It's a great feeling to know that we can take a piece of raw material, a piece of raw brass, and out the other end of the machine comes a perfect shark bite fitting. But we know with confidence, that it's going to be installed, it's going to work, and it's going to last. It's a great feeling," explains Jeff Long.
Dixon Thuston notes that "absolutely everything from our safety valves that have to work every single time all the way through our pipes and fittings that have to work every single time; they have to deliver water, they can't leak, they have to be absolutely bulletproof for the homeowner."
There are certainly market segments more progressive than plumbing, but SharkBite has committed itself to ensure that isn't always the case with state-of-the-art technology, end-to-end system manufacturing, and a fitting that has changed the way builders and plumbing contractors do their work. We saw today that if anybody is on the cutting edge of this market, it is SharkBite. I'm Adam Grub and thanks for going Inside SharkBite.