Every week, we spotlight a family business that is using the Internet to help them grow.
These companies have run the gamut from manufacturers to distributors to retail sales, and they have found uses for the Internet as diverse as they are, whether they´re developing customized e-commerce solutions, extending the reach of their marketing or streamlining their work process.
This week, we´re taking a close look at NuAir Doors & Windows, a company in the preliminary stages of creating their Internet strategy.
Presently, the NuAir site is under development, but their initial effort is already live, and can be found at www.nuair.com. We will follow up with them in the future so our readers can track their progress.
NuAir Windows & Doors was founded in 1946 by Kenneth "Jack" Horner. The Tampa, Florida, company had its humble beginnings as an awning company operating out of a 5000 square foot building. In the early years, only two employees were responsible for all of the manufacturing.
Mr. Horner soon expanded with a second company, NuAir Manufacturing, which was dedicated to making and installing attic fans.
An aluminum embargo during the Korean War meant that supplies were too scarce to support both businesses, and a decision was made to combine the assets of both companies into the NuAir name.
In the early 1960´s, Mr. Horner purchased the Barrington Corporation, a window and door company located in Georgia.
At the time, they were the first window and door company in Georgia to manufacture and market a storm window and door. This purchase resulted in steady growth, and by 1977, NuAir outgrew its original manufacturing facility and moved into a new all-service 89,000 sq. ft. facility.
Today, NuAir´s corporate offices and manufacturing facility is located in a 190,000 square feet office and manufacturing facility in Tampa, FL.
NuAir Windows & Doors has over 200 employees at its main facility and 30 employees at a smaller production facility located in Buford, Georgia, and their distribution extends to the Caribbean, Central and South America. Despite its growth, it remains a family business: Jack´s daughter, Connie Horner, is the company president.
We spoke with NuAir´s Marketing Communications Director, Linda Aguirre, about the company´s decision to add a web component to their business. With over 50 years of success without a web site, we wanted to know what sort of value they felt a web presence could add.
Linda sees the site mainly as a customer service tool. Since NuAir´s customers are predominantly residential and light commercial builders inside Florida, the company generally doesn´t market outside that area.
They´re focused on using the web as a way to reach their current customers and optimize their internal processes rather than as a tool to expand their marketing reach.
Linda has been tasked with heading up the development of the site, but in a small office where every member of the team wears a number of different hats, projects like the web site often get put on the back burner. This is Linda´s first web project, and she has teamed up with a freelance graphic designer to create the site.
"It´s a very collaborative effort. We´ve gotten together and done a flowchart based on the information that we´d like to get out there and determining the appropriate navigation."
"I write up the sections and send them to him, he´ll create the page and send it back. Then I´ll proof it for copy, and once it´s approved, he´ll publish it to the live site."
Ultimately, the site will provide interactive features and information customized for different types of visitors—Architects, contractors, distributors and homeowners. For example, a homeowner might want to make a request for service or for a warranty claim.
As the site comes together, they will be able to download a PDF from the site that they can download, print, fill out and fax back. Someone interested in becoming a NuAir dealer will be able to fill out an application online, and companies or individuals will be able to receive catalogs via email.
"The biggest challenge is pulling together the information and turning it around so that when it does get published, it´s still current. Even though we´ve done the flow chart, every so often, you decide `let´s move this here!´ You´re always tweaking that final product."
"When you have something as massive as a building code change, which requires new products to meet changed standards, you´re not just looking at one piece that needs to be changed, but a domino effect requiring new product, new installation for current product. It affects many different pieces. It´s like a spider web."
Code compliance is a major issue for NuAir and their professional customers, particularly since Florida revised its building code in March 2002. As a service to their professional customers, NuAir has posted excerpts of the Florida building code pertaining to the fenestration industry on their site.
"One thing that´s currently on the drawing board is to include more of our technical information up for the architects. A handful of other window companies do this. The concern is the liability involved-- We need to make sure that they will be able to download true AutoCad files."
"It´s something I get a lot of requests for, particularly now that the building codes have been changed. We want to make this information as easily accessible as possible in whatever format they used. There are ways to do it, we´re just not ready yet."
Currently, there are no plans to include any e-commerce functionality on the site; their product line has too many variations to make e-commerce viable for them. However, an internet-based online order program will be offered to dealers through distributed CD-Roms.
"It´s not quite e-commerce because they won´t be able to pay online, but they´ll be able to get a quote online and place an order with us, and then we´ll connect it to our manufacturing process and it will go into production."
The ordering process is currently handled through direct communication with the sales reps, but using the online program to automate ordering will free up the sales reps for other tasks. Using the site to streamline repetitive activities will boost the company´s productivity on a day-to-day basis.
"With the customer doing all the front-end work themselves, the account rep can focus on special items or deal with orders that need to be specially hand-coded. It definitely cuts down on the back-and-forth."
We asked Linda where their company´s website stood in terms of their industry at large. By taking this step, are they setting the pace, or has the web become a standard? She felt that NuAir was right on target for a company of its size.
"If you look at the larger national companies like Anderson or Pella, they´re already online. I think that what smaller businesses like ours will do is wait and see what everyone else does. And that´s basically what we´ve done. I think that we´re ahead of the market in Florida with our site, but it´s nowhere near what the national companies are doing."
