From the Marketing Team Archives - Unitherm Insulation Systems

May 21, 2015 by UniAdmin

Proactive Maintenance : Insulation

The mindset of “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it” is a thing of the past. It is a mentality that even the best of us have been guilty of from time to time. While it may sound like a good idea, it can be damaging to a company in the long run. Staying the course down a single path can lead to a business owner getting blindsided by future problems. Just because something is working at the moment, doesn’t mean that future problems won’t arise. The new trend is to start protecting your investments and wellbeing by stopping the problem before it ever begins with proactive maintenance.

Preventative Maintenance: Insulation

Stop The Problem Before It Happens = Greater Savings

Whether you’re trying to make the most of an ever-dwindling staff and budget, or looking for even more ways to trim operations and maintenance costs, preventative maintenance on equipment and facilities can help save time and money in the long run.

The key point to preventative maintenance is stopping the issue before it ever begins. While there are some expenses related to running a good proactive maintenance program, it costs less to properly maintain equipment and facilities than it does to repair the damage from a premature breakdown or early deterioration of property.

Proactive maintenance of equipment and facilities is very similar to regular vehicle maintenance. The key to keeping your vehicle running well today and down the road is routine proactive maintenance. Many times significant and expensive repairs can be avoided if the vehicle is properly and regularly maintained.

Increases Life Cycle of Applications

Regular equipment Untitled-2 maintenance leads to an improvement in the overall safety and reliability of the system. Planning and management of asset maintenance improve the life cycle of the assets and keeps them performing at peak productivity levels. As a result, costly unplanned downtime is minimized; workforce productivity increases; and asset lifecycle and return on asset (ROA) are improved.

Increases Performance

Regular improvements to the process for better machine efficiency and product quality increases maintenance productivity by detecting and identifying potential equipment problems before they grow. This reduces the frequency, severity, and cost of repairs while enabling your team to avoid unnecessary and unproductive tasks.

Provides a Safe Work Environment

More efficient and frequently maintained work environments (including equipment and personnel) lead to a safer work atmosphere. When machines break down and errors occur, accidents are more likely to happen.

Where Does Insulation Fit In?

Insulation is built upon the idea of proactive maintenance practices. Insulation does all of the benefits listed above plus more. Once installed, your insulation needs no further maintenance. So you can feel good, knowing you are doing your bit for the planet while creating a more efficient and more collaborative work environment, to reduce costs and support your organization’s work processes.

What’s Next?

You can head over to our online shopping cart and check out all of our possible solutions for your facility. For as little as $16, you could be protecting yourself, your employees, and your business for the future.

For more information about our products and UniTherm, check out our website and social platforms:

April 3, 2015 by UniAdmin

UniTherm @ NPE 2015

UniTherm has spent the last year preparing for NPE 2015 and boy what a year it has been. NPE 2015 wrapped up just last week, but we are still dealing with the aftermath. We decided to take our NPE presence one step further this year. We are a growing company, on the forefront of innovation. Just because we lead the way in our market, doesn’t mean we are going to stop moving forward. Here’s what NPE 2015 was like for us and what we got out of it.

NPE 2015 Preparation

Kendal, Danny, and Brandyn discuss literature handouts for NPE.

Before heading to NPE, we had to come up with our message and what we wanted to showcase at the conference. In the years past, we took a “see what sticks” approach, showcasing all of our products and trying to answer every question for every application. As you could expect, this became very exhausting and spread our team extremely thin. For NPE 2015, we wanted to do the exact opposite and shake things ups. We had one goal in mind: Promote and Inform customers about our standardized product lines, in this case, the UniVest® Insulation Systems line. This approach made everything much simpler and more focused. We moved forward with having our entire booth to be designed around promoting the UniVest® product line. Brochures, koozies, mock barrels, and live heated applications, everything was UNIVEST®. This more focused marketing approach allowed our entire team to be able to handle anyone and almost any questions they may have had. The simple and standardized design of the UniVest line is built for ease of use and presents a minimal learning curve for users. Literally, (as many of us put it) if you have heat, you can benefit from using UniVest®. We moved forward with this single goal in mind and put together one fantastic booth.

Show

UniTherm booth before the show opens.

For many on the UniTherm team, this was their first NPE. Some nerves were high, but we planned ahead of time to anticipate questions that could be asked and went over all of the key points of the UniVest® line. On Monday morning, we hit the ground running. Our booth was immediately swamped with attendees inquiring about our booth, our company, our products, and, of course, our T-Rex. Through the entire show, there were very few moments we had to ourselves. We had all types of questions, for a myriad of applications, and even received some that we hadn’t thought of before. We had our typical injection molders, extrusion, and blown film plastic processors interested in our jackets, but some attendees had different ideas for our jackets. Have you ever thought of heat loss in your BBQ smoker? Neither did we, but one gentleman thought our ThrowBlankets with magnets would be the perfect solution. How about insulation for marine turbine exhaust? The way it was explained to me was it’s basically a jet engine on a boat. Of course, we’d love to help with that!

We were able to generate more leads, within the first 3 days at NPE, surpassing the amount produced from an entire week’s worth of the previous years. The overall reception of our booth and products was fantastic. We ran out of handouts, our signature koozies, and 50 lbs. chiclet gum by day 4. What a good problem to have!

We also decided to expand our reach at NPE this year by doing a short video series highlighting some exhibitors at this year’s conference. Videos were produced, shot, conducted, and edited by our in-house marketing team and can be seen here:

Post-NPE 2015

NPE Leads, Leads, and More Leads.

The work doesn’t stop after the Expo ends. Once we got home, editing on the videos we shot began and came out quickly for people to see the recap of the show. We collectively took a sigh of relief we all survived the show. Now, with the great responses, leads, and business cards we received, now we have to follow up! This is where the real fun begins.

Let’s just say, this is going to take some time. It’s obvious why NPE is only every 3 years! We have some very special campaigns in the works for those who had the chance to visit us so be on the lookout!

Now, we prepare for NPE 2018. Who knows what we’ll bring to that show, but I can guarantee it will be amazing!

For more about UniTherm at NPE 2015, visit our social media pages:

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

January 21, 2015 by UniAdmin

4 Common Misconceptions About Industrial Insulation

We come across many people who have the wrong idea about industrial insulation and think what we offer is not right for them. We ask them a few questions, and usually they are left wondering why they haven’t insulated their equipment sooner. We throw them a UniVest and they rush out the door to install it (cause it’s really that simple).

So we don’t have to go through the same spiel every time, we’ve compiled the most common misconceptions people have when it comes to industrial insulation.

1. Insulation is for my home, not my machines

This is the most common one we come across and it’s pretty obvious why. The first thing people think about when you say insulation is their home and what’s inside their walls. That’s a perfect analogy because UniVests work the same way. Properly insulating your home saves you hundreds of dollars a year on home heating and cooling costs. It protects outside temperatures from affecting the temperatures you want inside. The easier it is for your home to maintain its temperature, the less you spend at the end of the month. UniVests are no different, except we deal with higher inside temperatures. Take a second and think, if you save hundreds by properly insulating your home, imagine how much could be saved when insulating your machine. We’ll give you a hint…its much greater!

2. No Budget for Insulation

We all have budgets. Yeah, and we know they can be small and hard to deal with. Trust us, Windows 98 is getting really old at the office. Making new purchases on things that you are already operating without can seem like a luxury purchase. Little known fact is that with proper insulation, a company can see ROI (Return on Investment) in under 12 months. In the right conditions, a single set of UniVests or ISOCOVERS can last 5+ years after installed. That’s 5+ years of return. In 12 months or less, most companies make back the purchase price of a UniVest from energy savings alone.

3. My machines are working fine now without insulation

We’re sure they do, but wouldn’t you like for them to work better? Insulation minimizes the downtime of the machines they are on and relieves stresses from a hard working machine. This even increases the lifespan of the equipment. Wouldn’t we all like to work a little easier? Your machines would too.

4. Who Needs Protection Anyway

The biggest thing that people don’t realize is that insulation also improves workplace safety. As seen in a few of our videos on Youtube, a heated barrel with a UniVest on it can be touched and worked around without any special protective gear. More Safety = Less downtime and less liability. Insulation can also decrease surrounding ambient air temperature. Decreasing work fatigue due to high temperature and more comfortable work areas.

Here’s typically the point where some people are kicking themselves for not already having insulation installed. If you didn’t make it this far, we completely understand. Our insulation systems are much more than the sum of their parts and offer a lot more usability than most people realize. If you’ve finally come to the conclusion that insulation could benefit you, take a look around our online shopping cart at www.shop.unitherm.com. For some help finding the product, measuring, or just want some more insulation entertainment like this blog, visit our youtube page: www.Youtube.com/UniThermInsulations

September 24, 2014 by UniAdmin

New Shop Experience

We’ve just released our latest version of our new shop and we are excited for our customers to start using it. Shop.Unitherm.com is a little different and is much easier to use than our old shop. What we wanted most from our new store is ease of use for the customer and usability, and we think we’ve achieved that. On the store front, you can see our running specials and featured products, along with all of our product categories, and helpful links.

Ease of Use

The main goal of our new shop was to make the shopping experience easy and accessible to the customer. On our old shop, we found many customers would get lost or not know how to find what they are looking for. Now we have multiple avenues to search for what you need. Every page can be found with a couple of simple clicks. Whether you have a question or need to check out, you can get there from every page.

New Shop Features

Crucial to our design was adding a few new features to aid the customer. Some are more subtle than others, but here are a few of my favorite.

What we consider to be best new feature of the site is how easily you can find the right product for you. Each product is set into specific categories based on your needs, applications, or industry. Within each category you can set custom search perimeters to find the right size product you need. By selecting:

Diameter or Circumference
Width

You can have the exact fitting UniVest ordered in seconds. This makes our selection process even easier.

You can now also compare multiple products to be certain which is perfect for you. Selecting up to 5 items, and clicking the “compare” button will bring up a screen that will list all of the products benefits and features side-by-side for your viewing. From here you can add to cart or click an individual item for a closer look.

My Account adds the ability to return to your personal preferences and shopping history. From the My Account tab you can track your orders, change your preferences, and manage all of your information. This gives our customer the benefit of a personalized shopping experience.

My personal favorite feature is the new Wish List. The Wish List is your own personal shopping cart that you can come back to at anytime. Unsure about a product, not ready to check out, or are just making a dream Christmas List, the Wish List makes it simple to keep track of your items. Inside the Wish List page you can view products, compare, and add to cart normally. This list is saved to your customer account so it will be there next time you choose to visit.

Checking Out

Lastly (and probably most important), we felt that our check out process was a little overcomplicated and some customers had issues submitting their order. We condensed the order process down to 3 easy steps and can be completed in the matter of seconds. The checkout process becomes even easier and faster when My Account is used with the new checkout process.

Let’s Go Shopping

Enough talking about the new shop, take it for a spin, and see all our new changes for yourself. Let us know what you think and what your favorite new feature is on our Facebook & Twitter pages. Stay tuned for more exciting content soon.

New Shop Page: Shop.Unitherm.com

Facebook: facebook.com/UniTherm

Twitter: twitter.com/UniTherm

March 17, 2014 by UniAdmin

Check Out Our New Website!!!

UniTherm Insulation Systems, manufacturer of insulation blankets for high temperature applications, is excited to announce the launch of its redesigned website this week at: www.unitherm.com.

The design, e-commerce software platform and infrastructure of UniTherm.com have been completely reengineered. The goal is to provide a more personalized and simplified user experience on the website and e-commerce site. The revamped site also boasts ad units and integrations that are larger, more effective, and newly optimized for mobile users. Visitors of the site can now enjoy a seamless experience across all screens — desktop, mobile and tablet.

With the launch of the e-commerce website, the company’s President, Dan Sherrill, explains that, “In today’s market the launch of a new website may not be seen as groundbreaking, but within our niche, we recognized a need for and developed an e-commerce site that provides clear-cut, detailed information (such as delivery, product care, common FAQ’s, technical specifications etc.) on every product or part we sell.”

The new website includes a clean design, with brand new content that enables customers to easily search for new products and services. It is fully integrated with the company’s social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and its blog, and has an integral customer relationship management system to ensure that UniTherm’s sales and after-service professionals are fully informed of its customers’ needs.

Furthermore, the new web site showcases UniTherm’s pioneering efforts in offering a standardized product line –including product specifications for a broad range of available sizes and levels of performance– to make it easy for customers to order our products. This product line, along with the instant quoting, has eliminated the need for each project to receive a custom estimate and allows all orders to be instantly placed and processed.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with our new website. It’s well-designed, streamlined, and easy to use – just like our products,” according to Sherrill. “Our goal was to create a website that meets the needs of both our customers, who need easy access to our information, and the UniTherm staff, who need to be able to update the content easily to keep our customers informed. What we ended up with is a web site that looks great, is loaded with features, and has the ability to grow.”

February 11, 2014 by Kendal White

Different isn’t always better…but better is always different

Every business always has the same goal: to become world-class through everyday changes by meeting the needs of demanding customers who will become more demanding, all in a constantly evolving marketplace.

This can be a particularly challenging dilemma for those entrepreneurs who create businesses around high quality goods or specialized information. One way to work around this challenge is to present those goods or information as customized thereby enhancing the customer’s experience. Organizations realize they can often add value for their customers by tailoring or customizing their products to meet the special needs of individual buyers.

However, there is a limitation.

Pure customization requires starting from scratch every time you receive a new customer request. This can be time consuming and ultimately drives up the total cost of the finished product or service. Even though you want to be flexible to meet client needs, being overly customized has some serious down sides.

And this is where the incorporation of some type of standardization comes to the rescue.

At a time when we are constantly being told to value the new and the different, it may come as a shock to learn that the standard, the shared and the common can be a driving force of change. Indeed, many of the innovations that have transformed the world, including railroads, modern manufacturing and interchangeable parts, money, agriculture, containerized shipping, numbers, the Internet, even language, only succeed because of standardization.

Advantages of standardization

Manufactures:

Rationalize different varieties of products.
Decrease the volume of products in the store and also the manufacturer cost.
Improve the management and design.
Speed up the management of orders.
Facilitate the exportation and marketing of products.
Simplify purchasing management.

Consumer:

Establish quality and safety level to the service and products.
Inform to the characteristic of the products.
Make easier the comparison between the different offers

Public service:

Simplify the production of legal text.
Establish quality, environmental and safety policies.
Help to the economical development.
Facilitate the business.

One of the best-known examples of standardized mass production was the ‘Model T’ car produced in 1908 by Henry Ford. An unchanging design, standardized parts and (from 1914) a moving assembly line all helped reduce costs dramatically, from $850 in 1910 to $360 in 1916. Hence, the term Fordize: “to standardize a product and manufacture it by mass means at a price so low that the common man can afford to buy it.”

A modern day example of the power of standardization is the GSM™ mobile communication technology and its successors (3G, 4G…), truly global phenomena, in which ETSI has played a leading role. Although GSM was originally envisaged as a solution just for Europe, these technologies have been deployed worldwide. As a result, travelerstoday can communicate and use familiar services in every corner of the world – all thanks to standardization.

Without standardization these innovations may not have happened or may have not reached as many people as they have.

Standardization is not a bad thing, but like anything else when it is not used properly or with the right intent it can cause people to fear it. Don’t be afraid of standards. Use them to help you toward your creative goal. You don’t need to reinvent your process each time you have a new customer. Figure out the best systems for working with a client and use them over and over again. If you create strong standards, you actually have a better platform to generate customizable projects. If you save time and energy on the basic things, you can get your creative on where it will make the most impact.

June 4, 2013 by Kendal White

Plastics & The Human Body (Infographic)

Plastic Cast: heat-moldable plastic is shaped around a patient’s limb using rivets.
Plastic Foam: polyurethane foam could stabilize trauma patients. Foam expands inside the body to prevent blood loss, and conform to the shape of injured tissue.
3-D Body Part Printing: 3-D printed implants are being created from living cells and polyester plastic; example is an ear.
3-D Printed Plastic Splint: a 3-D printed tracheal splint was implanted into a baby made from polycaprolactone, a medical plastic.
Artificial Cornea: these silicone corneas treat eye injuries or chronic inflammations. They can restore vision and are similar to a natural cornea.
Hearing Aids: a new implant directly stimulates the auditory nerve: microphone, microcomputer, stimulator, and an electrode carrier.
Spinal Implants: a cervical interbody fusion system made of machined polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rods has been approved by the U.S. FDA.
Absorbable Heart Stent: blood flow to the heart can be restored with a plastic heart stent, which can later dissolve into the body.
Vaccination patches: a skin patch containing plastic “micro needles” could possibly deliver vaccinations painlessly, replacing injections.
Plastic Heart: plastic tubes mimic heart valves to let blood in and out of plastic ventricles in an artificial heart.
Artificial Blood Vessels: these are made by coating a biodegradable, plastic mesh tube with human or animal muscle cells.
Plastic Knee Replacements: a new ceramic and plastic knee implant is to last 20 to 30 years longer than traditional knee replacements.
Hip Replacements: metal-on-metal hip replacements are declining due to new technologies and materials: ceramic polyethylene (a medial-grade plastic).
Self-healing Prosthetics: this plastic skin recognizes injury and is self healing. It has the sensitivity and flexibility of human skin and can restore its electrical and mechanical properties.
Prosthesis: plastic orthopedic devices align, correct, and support deformities, and can improve the function of movable body parts.
Plastics in Medical Implants: ethylene vinyl acetate, Proniva self-reinforced polyphenylene (SRP), Veriva polyphenylsulfone (PPSU), Zeniva (PEEK)
Bacteria-Resistant Plastics: these nonstick plastics can help ward off disease and contamination.
Polycarbonate Medical Devices: transparent medical tools are being manufactured from polycarbonate.

May 6, 2013 by Kendal White

Marketing in 2013 – Get Social

Social media has taken center stage in 2013. Hundreds of millions of daily users log onto social media to check out the latest trends, idolize celebrities, chat with friends, and well, not do their work. Long gone are the days of bland billboards and consumer disconnect.

Companies today interact with fans on a daily basis, and earn life-long loyalty through their interaction. Social media engagement and Internet marketing is key to additional growth and revenue.

The more “traditional” marketing trends include Facebook and Twitter. Twitter has more than 500 million uses, and Facebook has a staggering 1 billion. Let’s take a moment to focus on Twitter: basically shortened Facebook updates, continuously.

Twitter’s continuous, stunted updates can be personalized into videos. Vsnap records customized 60-second videos for individuals on Twitter; Vine app records 6-second video clips. A branded Twitter account can become more human with interactions, as well as including the initials of the person tweeting at the end of each company tweet. Each time I stumble across a boring tweet, I skip over it. Companies that tweet humor grab attention, and gain brand awareness. No one likes reading robotic tweets.

Take the time to interact with your followers: reply to compliments, questions, and those dreaded complaints.

Instagram and Pinterest are visual social media outlets featuring pictures and infographics. Instagram now permits followers to tag companies in photos; followers view and intermingle with images and other fans that provide images. Creative hashtags (for those of you, this is #) and encouraging followers to submit personal photographs add to the personable persona of the company. Get users engaged.

There are trends in 2013 for marketing: shades of green, monthly emails of Instagrammer’s photos, and a new style to email campaigns.

The color of the year is emerald green, and psychologically, this earthy color denotes renewal and harmony in a chaotic, unsettling world. Use green in images, or contemplate swapping your current template out for a green one.

Instagram and Tumblr capitalize on photographs, and companies are now compiling their favorite user images into a monthly email. Photograph products and team members to give followers a visual landscape of the company’s life.

Marketing blunders often include using only one media format to spread your message. Try using two different formats minimum to reach a broad audience. Social media users absorb information differently, and this can add multiple facets to your company. Each social forum has its own vibe, and remain cautious of the types of information you blast. Certain descriptions and headlines might snag attention on particular networks. Select media outlets where you are marketing to your target audience. Ultimately, customers desire to do business with companies and brands they identify.

UniTherm Insulation Systems currently engages its audience across multiple media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogging.

Twitter: @UniTherm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unitherm-Insulation-Systems

Instagram: unitherm

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/unitherm/

April 25, 2013 by Kendal White

Earth Day 2013 & 5 Native Wonders

Earth Day is an environmental movement celebrated each year on April 22. Earth day was founded in 1970, when hippies and the Beatles ruled the land. At the time, the environment was not a chief concern, and pollution was an accepted piece of economic growth. Environmental efforts began to take popularity after a New York Times bestseller capitalized on our endangered environmental state. Earth Day met the concerns in a society growing in environmental and public health anxieties.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency was birthed after the first Earth Day, as well as the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Throughout the years, Earth Day has tackled challenging environmental issues. Despite these challenges, Earth Day 2013 was bursting with countries eager to do their part.

Here is our list of noteworthy, unfamiliar Earth Day countries:

Copenhagen, Denmark: Carbon emissions are a serious problem, and this city spelled ‘CO2’ via satellite navigation devices.
Tokyo, Japan: 100,000 people gathered in Yoyogi Park for a two-day music and art festival to commemorate Earth Day.
Pakistan: An initiative to plant 50,000 trees is being led to combat deforestation.
Philippines: The Solar Revolution Pavilion is a solar-powered building constructed with plastic bottles. 1,600 plastic vegetable crates were used to build this 200 square, 6-meter high structure.
Indonesia: A parade to honor Earth Day was held; environmental issues include dwindling marine life and deforestation.
Taipei, Taiwan: Canon Marketing (Taiwan) Co. sponsored “Plant for the Planet: The Bill Tree Campaign” where participants plant trees. The company promotes “kyosei” – working and living together for the good of the community.
Seoul, South Korea: Gangnam Style was revamped for an Earth Day flash mob. Seoul also hosted an Earth Day exhibition and a walkathon.

Most of us take for granted the beautiful creation of Earth and we would like to give you five stunning places protected by Earth-lovers in the United States.

San Francisco Bay, CA: The San Francisco Bay Association or Save the Bay, paved the way for the Conservation and Development Commission. Windsurfers, birders, and boaters enjoy this clean bay today.
Storm King Mountain, NY: The Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference was formed in the 1960s to combat a hydroelectric power facility. The court ruling established conservation groups could challenge developments threatening the environment.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, TX: Lady Bird Johnson co-founded the Wildflower Center in 1982, which today runs a seed bank and aids in green community concepts. Native Texas plants provide a beautiful backdrop to its landscape.
Pelican Island, Florida: President Theodore Roosevelt declared Pelican Island a Federal Bird Reservation in 1903. Pelican Island is a nesting site for egrets, herons, spoonbills, and an array of tropical birds.
Dinosaur National Monument, Utah and Colorado: Thousands of dinosaur fossils were discovered here in 1915. In the 1950s the Bureau of Reclamation attempted to build a dam here, which would flood the Yampa and Green River canyons. Congress blocked the dam in 1956, and today white-water rafters flock to this mecca.

UniTherm International is a manufacturer of green-friendly insulation blankets for all applications, specializing in the plastics and oil and gas industries. UniTherm strives for energy efficiency with all of our new and existing innovations.

October 21, 2011 by Kendal White

Video Production Tools & Workflow

A couple weeks ago we released a blog post about the benefits of online video for manufacturers. Video is a simple way to demonstrate products, generate brand awareness and boost inbound marketing efforts.

According to Pixability.com having video on your homepage makes your site 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results. We covered all of that last time and if you haven’t read it you can get it here. [Read more…]