Expanding to suit your needs: new warehouse features one-stop shop for parts. (Sudbury: Special Report).

Trane is well underway in positioning itself as a serious player in the Northern Ontario HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) market with its new 5,400-square-foot location at 760 Notre Dame Avenue in Sudbury. The Sudbury store serves as the focal point for other areas in the North such as Timmins, North Bay, Kapuskasing and Kirkland Lake.

"We believe our Sudbury expansion is a great fit for Trane and a great fit for our Northern Ontario clientele," says Guy Bourbonniere, District Manger for the Trane Central Canada region. "To date, the HVAC market in the North has remained largely untapped, and we think the North deserves more attention. There is a great group of communities out there and we will enjoy the opportunity to serve these people."

Trane is a world leader in air conditioning systems and has been in business since 1913. Customers can count on Trane's Total System Support when planning a new building project, retrofitting an existing building, or looking to maximize the life of their current HVAC system. Trane designs and manufactures HVAC systems and controls and provides parts, training, and service to these systems.

Trane has a broad range of customers. The company can deal directly with various types of commercial and industrial building owners such as Inco, Domtar, and Falconbridge, as well as hospitals, schools, retailers, hospitality, or government. Trane helps them with all of their current HVAC needs, but also helps them plan for the future by addressing such issues as indoor air quality, energy efficiency or the phase out of CFCs. The company very often teams up with consulting engineers or mechanical contracting professionals to indirectly assist with HVAC building challenges and opportunities.

Trane also participates in what is known as "Performance Contracting". Performance contracting is all about saving money by reducing energy costs in a building. When invited, Trane will go into a building and identify sources that are draining energy dollars. Trane then works with the customer to determine the most cost-effective plan for improving the building's energy efficiency. Trane professionals will install the equipment without investment capital from the client. Instead, the cost savings resulting from the energy improvements will go towards the cost of the upgrades. Once the equipment installation is paid off through the cost savings, the equipment then belongs to the customer.

"We can make facilities efficient with very little initial capital outlay from the customer," Bourbonniere says.

Another service Trane offers to its customers is the "own and operate system" where Trane will own, install and operate the equipment and charge the company a leasing fee. Trane also performs building-automation contracting, which means that Trane will go into a facility and not only supply the HVAC equipment, but also provide controls, lighting, and security to the building.

Trane plans to be in Northern Ontario for the long run. The company has set up a new HVAC parts and supply store as a "One-Stop-Shop" with a fully stocked warehouse and showroom full of not just Trane OEM parts but brand names such as Alco, White-Rodgers, Fluke, Reftec, Yellow Jacket and many more so service contractor customers and building owners can enjoy faster and better service.

"In order to repair equipment, contractors need parts and not always during the normal working day," says John Holland, Parts Manager of Trane Central Canada. "With our 24 hours, 7 days a week emergency parts service (888-TRANECO), channelled to either Sudbury or Ottawa, we can get parts to our customers quickly. This makes our customer look good in front of their customers as they may be able to repair the equipment the same day they get the call." Right now Trane service technicians are dispatched out of Ottawa. As the company grows, its long-term goal is to have service technicians based out of Northern Ontario. In the meantime, to help solve emergencies, Trane has subcontracting partnerships with local Northern Ontario customers.

Trane's goal is to provide the best possible service to its Northern Ontario customers...that is to be "the people they can count on". To achieve this, Trane trains their associates to be the best. In addition to their engineering degrees, Trane's system sales associates participate in six months of intensive training at the company's LaCrosse, Wisconsin headquarters.

"It's like having your Masters in HVAC", says Steve Johnston, New System Sales, Northern Ontario. Every Trane employee experiences ongoing training in their respective fields so they can help solve the customer's problems. But this company does not just train its own employees. At their local training centre, customers are invited to get training in equipment and operation and maintenance procedures. Trane also shares its technical training resources with customers via their on-site satellite hook-up and regular bulletins on the trends and regulations that affect the HVAC industry.

"There is no secret as to why Trane has stayed in business since 1913," says Bourbonniere. "We firmly believe in offering our clientele what they want and doing whatever it takes to meet their needs. And we look forward to doing the same in Northern Ontario."

You can personally see what Trane is all about at their open house on Sept. 17th (3:00 - 7:00 p.m.) at 760 Notre Dames Ave. in Sudbury.

www.transcentralcanada.com.