Labor savings on the job. Less waste to clean up at the jobsite. Less work in the warehouse. There are so many reasons that Ryco Inc. in Pennsylvania is loving the Viega PureFlow System.
Getting Ryco converted to Viega from a couple of different cold-expansion competitors has been a huge win in the northeast. In fact, two new points of distribution carry Viega products now, thanks to the demand from Ryco.
The company, which provides plumbing and fire protection services in the greater Pittsburgh area, employs about 200 people. Commercial projects account for about 70 percent of the company’s business. That’s where Jeremy Richter, who runs the residential division for Ryco, said the biggest gains will be realized using PureFlow.
“We had been using Uponor and switched the residential over to it, too, but we lost a ton of money there because it was taking longer and the tools were cumbersome. We couldn’t test efficiently and pipe wouldn’t hold for us. We needed heaters on the job to expand [the product],” said Richter.
“Commercially, we do a lot of 2″ or 11⁄4″ risers in hotels and multi-unit jobs and the Uponor tool must weigh something like 50 pounds. It’s so big and heavy, and being up on the ladder with this thing is terrible. We had a guy in a hotel that was taking almost 10 minutes a joint with 2″ Uponor, so we started talking about a switchover.”
Viega District Manager Justin Young had already met with one of the former owners of the company and left some samples of PureFlow fittings. Richter said when he saw them, he noticed how everything with Viega is rolled into a single product, so he knew using PureFlow Press fittings would eliminate snap-off pieces on the ground and also eliminate the need to stock rings in the warehouse.
“It’s one less scan code and one less bin to go pull items from,” Richter said. “So we’re saving not only as far as the waste goes, but on the stocking and labor in the warehouse too.”
On the jobsite, Richter said he and a superintendent noticed workers had to continually descend their ladders to get different rings for their Nibco fittings. Seeing the time wasted, Richter said he knew they needed to give Viega PureFlow a try.
Ryco put PureFlow to work at the Mt. Lebanon senior apartments in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The new build features 60 units for residents age 62 and older. The 6,400-square-foot complex will include laundry, a community room and common areas, a lounge area and an outdoor deck.
Viega PureFlow PEX was used for all the mains, in sizes from 1⁄2″ to 2″. PureFlow provides potable water to each of the units, as well as the laundry facilities. Marc Bosco, the superintendent for the project, said installation at the apartments was excellent.
“There was definitely time savings, labor-wise,” he said. “It was easy to use. We had Justin come out and do some training with my guys and answer any questions, showed us some little tricks. We had no issues and no reason to need to call Justin back out.
“I could tell right away how much better the Viega PureFlow Press fittings were – and I wasn’t even doing the installation!” Bosco said.
Richter is excited to do comparisons and break down the savings thanks to PureFlow. Ryco began using Viega last summer, and their fiscal year ends September 30, so he said the end of the fiscal year in 2019 will bring a full year of Viega use and data to compare.
“We estimate – and we’re big on historical data – that we’ve got at least a 25 percent savings with the PureFlow Press on the Mt. Lebanon job,” he said. “In residential we’ll have less waste and less stocking, and our guys love the tool and the product. It’s been a great transition to Viega for us.”
