Recently I attended Rothenberger’s Tool Academy located in Loves Park, Ill. The Tool Academy provides hands-on training for Rothenberger and Greenlee products. The first event of the day was a tour of Rothenberger’s new 50,000-sq.ft. facility. The facility had a grand opening last year, which CONTRACTOR staff attended. To read our coverage of the event click here.
After the facility tour, we went to the Tool Academy to learn about Rothenberger’s tool offerings.
April Jeras, account specialist, instructed the seminar. She provided hands-on experience with tools, discussed selling techniques and offered tool demonstration ideas. A benefit of the Tool Academy is that not one session is the same, they are all unique. I asked April how contractors go about signing up for classes and she told me that usually it’s the wholesale distributors and manufacturers reps that tell their contractors about the Tool Academy, so they come in as groups, and sessions are designed to the specific needs of the wholesalers and contractors.
“During the Tool Academy sessions, customers will have an opportunity to use our Rothenberger USA tools, as well as competitive ones, which will allow them to see and feel the difference,” said GM Chera Ellis. “This will be a much more customized approach to training. We’ll profile the customers who are coming for each session and focus in on what would be most beneficial to them.”
The Tool Academy session I was a part of was also attended by Jeff Thomm and Kevin Zaleski of Evergreen Sales and Dan Figerhut and Chris Foster of McKinney Agency. The day consisted of learning about Rothenberger’s press tools, threading machines, cameras and hand tools. Two new products we learned about were the Rogrip Waterpump Pliers and the the Roscope 1000 video scope.
Rogrip Waterpump Pliers are available in two models and sizes that provide 30% more grip capacity. The Rogrip 3-point clamping capability allows the user to grip up to the maximum dimension of the pipe. The 7-in. and 10-in. Rogrip F model pliers fits up to 1-1/4-in. pipe and has 18 different size settings. The 7-in. 10-in. Rogrip M model pliers fits up to 2-in. pipe and has 10 different size settings. Both come with an integrated scale that provides for quick adjustment to pipe dimensions.
The Roscope 1000 Video Scope is a versatile and high performance handheld battery-powered inspection device designed for plumbers and HVAC contractors to quickly and easily inspect connection and collector pipes. By using different types of modules pipes from DN40 up to DN100, hollow spaces can also be precisely inspected. The patented system in the camera head always keeps the picture upright and prevents loss of orientation in unclear, huge hollow spaces. The upright picture alleviates misdiagnosis during inspection and in post processing.
The zoom function makes it possible to enlarge the picture and makes it easier to evaluate details as the picture resolution is set at 720x480, while the scrolling feature allows scrolling over details when the picture is zoomed. The recording feature allows recording of pictures and videos on SD card for documentation and post- processing on laptop and PC.
Interested in signing up for Rothenberger's Tool Academy? At this time there are two remaining dates currently sent for the Tool Academy: September 17-19 and December 10-12. In addition to these dates, Rothenberger is able to customize a program to meet customers’ needs. For more information, please e-mail [email protected] or call 1-800-545-7698.