For plumbing, mechanical contracting services, clients seek convenience of turnkey resources.

When a company has an established history, certain characteristics reveal themselves as more than just seasonal variations. For the plumbing and mechanical contracting industry, one trend that has become a fact of life is the drive toward comprehensive, turnkey resources for service. That means that, increasingly, building owners and managers want "basement-to-roof" service that completes multiple assignments with one company responsible for the whole job.

Ironically, the experts said it wasn't supposed to turn out this way.

Not that long ago, the big idea was that firms would specialize in niche markets, offering a very specific service that no one else could perform. Under this theory, highly specialized companies would prosper, while firms that ignored their core business by offering too many products or services would suffer.

Becoming a Value Added Specialists

As it happens, a funny thing happened along the way to specialization in the plumbing industry: some firms realized that by offering clients the widest range of services, they not only keep existing customers, but add new business with them. In addition, when new clients came on board, they were pleased to find that all their needs could be met by the guy (or gall) they already knew. That turns out to have been a big plus.

In today's competitive marketplace, clients want the best value. They want the job done right, and they want the lowest price. But when it comes to their buildings, they need to know that the professionals they trust to maintain and protect valuable capital assets are treating each job with diligence, care and attention to detail. A company that earns the respect of its clients needs to offer more than just one color of paint, more than just one size bolt or one mechanical system expertise.

This is especially true when the interrelation of building systems becomes a factor in determining the overall useful life of heating, air-conditioning and water and fuel systems.

The challenge, of course, is that firms have to find new ways to combine services that complement each other, and build on each other's strengths to provide an integrated unit that makes sense. Simply adding layers of service on top of each other won't work. Integration only works when the services work together to make the corporate family attractive to clients, so that the divisions serve as the provider of choice.

That's real specialization.

American's 100 Years of Experience

American has learned this truth over generations. With almost 100 years of service history, the American Family of Tank, Plumbing and Cooling Tower Specialists today encompasses four separate companies that provide all the skills and know-how necessary for all the in-building water supply needs, from back-flow preventers to rooftop water tanks. The firm also provides steel fuel-tank services, emergency plumbing services and all aspects of cooling tower installation and maintenance.

Specifically, the four companies that make up the American Family include:

American Pipe & Tank Lining Co., which serves the residential and commercial wood and steel tank market. It also handles oil tank maintenance and replacement. American Pipe & Tank installs, repairs and maintains hot water, cold water (tire and domestic) and fuel-oil tanks (wood and steel), as well as all typical plumbing systems.

American Contracting Co. specializes in plumbing services for Con Ed steam systems and also provides general plumbing and plumbing-related contracting services. American Contracting handles installation of water meters, water drainage and filtration systems, and heating systems.

Manhattan Cooling Towers Inc. provides a variety of repair and maintenance services for cooling towers. Work in this area often includes upgrading of towers with high-efficiency fill, as well as calibration and adjustments to maximize efficiency and conserve energy.

New York Wood Tank Co. specializes in replacement, repair and installation of wood domestic and fire tanks, fire controls, tank plumbing and insulation.

Through these four companies, we offer our clients all of the services they might require, with the very substantial benefit that they always know they are dealing with a single source of responsibility, since many of the systems we maintain and install interrelate with other building systems. Not only does that make things easier, but it means that when clients have a problem, one telephone call is all it takes to get the answers they need.

In an all-too-busy business environment, a company that can save time and hassle has a real advantage. By offering full service professionals with expertise in a wide array of related building systems, smart companies provide the protective umbrella of a dependable, cost-effective outsourcing resource.