Our associates

Our associates
are the heart
of our business

Joe Smith, National Sales Manager for PP-R (polypropylene random) pipe, has been with Ferguson for 44 years. Joe joined Ferguson through the acquisition of Atlas Supply in 1977 as a Warehouse Manager. “At the time, there weren’t many of us at the location, so the role encompassed everything the business did which meant I got trained in everything,” remembers Joe. It was this attitude from Joe, and Ferguson’s Best Associates culture, that has seen him develop his career to become a National Sales Manager.

“Ferguson sent me on every product training there was. Whether it was US Steel’s training in Lorain, Ohio, Top Lines sanitary fittings training in Bradford, Pennsylvania or our own valve actuation training, I was very hands-on and gravitated to that side of the business,” said Joe. He continued, “I’ve done every kind of internal and external training. Anything you can imagine for 44 years, I’ve been involved in it at some point, including classes like time management or sales training. Ferguson associates have an incredible thirst for knowledge – we’re training people all the time whether it’s basic product knowledge or on job sites installing products. As part of that training, we’re developing our associates to be the trainers of the future so it’s constant learning for all our associates – it’s great.”

When a pharmaceutical customer approached Joe and Ferguson needing to enlarge its manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, the challenge they faced was that the roof of the existing facility could not support the weight of a larger cooling system required to make the expansion viable. The cost and operational disruption of reinforcing the roof was not an option for the business and so CRB, the construction and design firm awarded the contract, turned to Joe and Ferguson for help. Joe’s idea was to use prefabricated polypropylene pipe, which is about one-fourth the weight of steel pipe, reducing the load on the roof without extensive reinforcing.

The result saved the customer more than $50,000 in direct costs, as well as the costs associated with any downtime that would have been required for extensive structural reinforcing. It also helped to reduce on-site construction hours and was completed with no recorded injuries. The customer was so impressed that they have awarded a second-phase contract that is currently being fabricated and shipped.

Omnichannel

Empowering
customers through digital capability

Our digital capabilities mean that our customers are more efficient, saving them time and money. Through our digital platforms, we continually keep our customers updated with their order details when they are on the go. This means that our customers know where their products will be – exactly when they need them. Through geolocation technology implemented across our delivery fleet, customers can pinpoint the exact location of the truck that has their order on it and know precisely what has been loaded so they can plan for the day ahead. This also reduces call volumes, freeing up our associates to concentrate on sales and service.

Customer, Aaron Walton, with Stillwater Group LLC, often runs several high-end, large residential projects simultaneously. Aaron is able to schedule installation with his Ferguson Install Coordinator, Alexandra Miller, and return to other aspects of his job. During a recent project, the layout of a new construction home required the rental of a boom truck to lift the appliances in through the second-floor terrace. Aaron was able to confirm his requested date and time of installation with Alexandra and leave her to arrange the details. Behind the scenes, Alexandra worked with a local company to rent a boom truck and have it delivered to the job site on the morning of installation.

Global supply chain

Scale
delivered
locally