'50 years of experience backs all the products we manufacture': Jason Toledano, CEO of WATTCO

The manufacturing of electric heaters is a very old industry, and the presence of its suppliers in North America has been dwindling in the past several decades. Many such American companies have shut down or relocated to places such as Asia. In such a situation, quality becomes an issue, and as a result, fewer heating companies are around to help cater to customer needs.

Time-sensitive construction projects still require dependable suppliers for capital equipment like preheater systems. But the requests go to Asia with delivery dates that are months away. These delays drive up budgetary costs. Founded in 1969, WATTCO manufactures all its heaters in North America to meet a client's delivery dates while providing high-quality products.

WATTCO is also a clear winner in this day and age as it manufactures industrial electric heaters using the cleanest energy source – electricity. The shift from natural gas has already begun in countries like the U.S., England, and most of Europe, and WATTCO's products complement environmentalists' efforts by offering cleaner heating solutions to a diverse number of applications.

The company is led from the front by Jason Toledano, CEO of WATTCO. We interviewed him recently to know more about the company's appeal and what makes it stand out as a manufacturer of heaters in today's world. Read on for the excerpts from the interview.

Q. How does WATTCO help its customers reach their goals?

WATTCO is more of a heating solutions provider rather than a manufacturer of electric heating elements. Customers call us looking for guidance as to how to solve their problem. We listen to the challenges our customers face, and with a handful of questions we ask, we offer advice to the most cost-efficient solution to heating applications. Gone are the days where off-the-shelf products are pushed onto customers. At WATTCO, we listen to our customers and offer out-of-the-box ideas from decades of heating experience. WATTCO invests millions of dollars into research and development of unique heating alternatives that reach the customers' ultimate goals.

Q. Could you tell us about your full range of products in brief?

Immersion Heaters are the core product of our offerings. They include inline heaters, flanged heaters, over the side heaters, tubular heaters, infrared heaters, duct heaters as well as digital industrial control panels to help regulate the power. Many clients require highly resistive heaters in challenging environments. These can include nuclear facilities, military installations, pharmaceutical and food-grade industrial heaters, construction and chemical factories, petrochemical applications from all over the world. All industrial heaters come in a variety of alloys such as steel, stainless steel, incoloy, Inconel, copper, titanium, Hastalloy and other temperature resistive sheaths. WATTCO provides digital temperature control panels to help reach temperature requirements along with fail-safe safety mechanisms. Our products are certified CSA and UL and, area available in moisture resistive and explosion proof enclosures when required.

Q. How do you ensure that quality is delivered with every product of yours?

Our products are CSA and UL approved which helps ensure the highest quality standards. Our products go through rigorous testing from our quality and assurance department to ensure safe usage. Support services are available for both training and installations when required. 50 years of experience backs all the products we manufacture.

Q. What differentiates you from others in the space?

Speed of delivery separates us from the rest of the market. Our supply chain and inventory levels are solid enough to guarantee the fastest delivery in our industry. Our over 50+ years in business allows us to harness our experiences to provide the best quality products. Finally, our cost controls and great relationships with our suppliers allow us to provide the most competitive quotes to our long-standing customers.

Tell us about your approach towards customer service.

Personalized service is always offered. For example, we will always have a live person answer the phone – never an automatic answering machine. Customer relationships are our top priority and we find answers to customers' challenges. We might not always have the answer right away, but we will always strive to find the right solution for our customers.

Q. Could you tell us about the work culture at WATTCO?

We have the best staff on the planet. We thrive on challenges and consider everyone part of our extended family. We have achieved so much over the past 50+ years because of the great work and care our employees offer. Here at WATTCO, we not only manufacture great products, but we also enrich our employees with a career satisfaction that is often missing in this day and age.

Q. How was your experience working through the pandemic? Could you tell us about it?

Many customers and suppliers were forced to close for an indeterminant amount of time as their workers were hit with COVID-19. Uncertainty was lingering everywhere, and supply chains were certainly affected. Management had to make important decisions whether to reinvest into capital machinery and inventory as we weathered this storm. We are still affected by this situation; however, we are finding it getting much better than in March 2020. As an essential services company, WATTCO goes the extra mile to help businesses with their heating needs.

Q. What does the road ahead look like for WATTCO? Do you have anything new coming up?

We are looking into increasing our capacity levels several different ways: by opening up another factory in the United States, reinvesting into more capital machinery and the possibility of opening up markets in Europe and Asia.

Get in touch:

https://www.wattco.com/product_category/immersion-heaters/

https://www.wattco.com/product_category/circulation-heaters/

https://www.wattco.com/product_category/flanged-heaters/

“WATTCO invests millions of dollars into research and development of unique heating alternatives that reach the customers’ ultimate goals.”

"Our over 50+ years in business allows us to harness our experiences to provide the best quality products."