Sleeping well with ammonia
Global refrigeration company Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration’s network of trained technicians is helping to bring this natural refrigerant to stores across the United States.
With a network of trained technicians across the United States, Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration is well placed to roll out more NH3-CO2 cascade systems here, heard participants in the ATMOsphere America 2017 conference in San Diego yesterday (5 June).
In a workshop titled ‘Building a Foundation for Long-term Operational Success with Alternative Systems’, Augusto Zimmerman and Michael Lehtinen of Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration spoke about how Heatcraft provides the necessary support and training, through multiple channels, to help relieve any apprehension that customers may have when switching to unfamiliar natural refrigerant systems.
Wide availability of support and training
Lehtinen discussed the availability of Heatcraft’s Global Center of Excellence, which includes experts from a variety of fields to support their customers.
“This is really where we are starting to make big leaps in terms of what we can do for refrigeration,” said Lehitnen. “We have over fifteen individuals with advanced degrees in thermodynamics as well as from a variety of different fields – from refrigeration service and design to the aerospace industry.”
Lehtinen also discussed Heatcraft’s push to make information resources more easily available online, through videos and social media.
“Training can be an inconvenience. It needs to be more available and easier to access,” said Lehtinen. “The idea is to make quick, to-the-point content available online, and make the process of solving your issues more convenient,” he explained.
In addition to this social media push, Heatcraft has invested in making high-quality technicians available to its retailer customers throughout the U.S.
“We realized the need to have very capable people out there to help support our retailers,” said Lehtinen.
Lehtinen emphasized the fact that Heatcraft looks for service technicians and dealers with significant experience, in order to encourage knowledge transfer to their customers.
“Heatcraft’s dealer network adds up to over 400 years of cumulative experience,” Lehtinen said.
“We want to have high quality and high caliber technicians out there, so that when you send someone to a food retailer, they transfer that knowledge, experience, and expertise.”
Natrefs: the end game
Both Zimmerman and Lehtinen acknowledged the regulatory uncertainty resulting from recent policy developments in the United States, but emphasized the importance of remaining focused on the long-term perspective.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with regulation, especially with Donald Trump in the White House. But leaders, and regulations, will change. We’re looking at the long term,” said Lehtinen.
“We see natural refrigerants as the core solution for the long-term game,” he continued. “We can choose to move the ball slowly or we can choose to get ahead and go to the end game.”
Heatcraft is headquartered in Stone Mountain, Georgia. State-of-the-art testing facilities are located in Stone Mountain and Columbus. GA.