Market Innovators

Clearline Technologies, a relatively new western Canadian rubber recycler, is finding a tremendous demand for its rooftop walkway support systems. And the company’s C-Port products have quickly become so popular with heating, ventilation and air conditioning professionals that Clearline’s management had to revise its projected sales for 2004 several times during the course of the year.

"We were at the trade show in Orlando early in the year with our American distributor Cooper B-Line, and the response to our C-Port was amazing," says Neil Krovats, Clearline’s president. "C-Port was named Product of the Year in our category by ECM (Electrical Contractor and Manager) Magazine and we are in the running for overall Product of the Year."

Krovats has been in the plumbing and HVAC business his entire career. He joined his father Murray in business in Murray Krovats Ltd. right out of high school. Murray Krovats Ltd. is a manufacturer’s agent, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that specializes in plumbing and HVAC equipment. Krovats and his brother Jim bought out their father 10 years ago.

Murray Krovats Ltd. is a distributor for a rooftop structural steel support product called Unistrut that is used to support piping and ductwork.

Krovats says that Murray Krovats Ltd. produces modular walkways that can be easily bolted together on location. "The advantage is that you get a lot less waste product," he says. "By fabricating the units in our shop, we can better control the length and we can reuse the pieces of scrap metal."

The issue with rooftop walkway systems, Krovats points out, is that people spend a million dollars to put this HVAC equipment on roofs on wooden supports that deteriorate every few years. "We wanted to find a low-cost alternative to wooden supports," he says. "Being in the industry, we know that contractors don’t want to have to pay a lot of money for alternatives to wood. We began looking for different products we could use instead of wood."

NEW MATERIAL. The company tried fiberglass and plastic, but found them wanting. Then it discovered rubber. "It fit our price point." Krovats says. Clearline Technologies’ COO Greg Libbrecht adds that using recycled rubber was a "perfect fit" in terms of cost, conservation and durability. "Our product is the only green product in the world for pipe support," says Libbrecht whose career has also been mainly in plumbing and HVAC supply. "Our product will last longer than the rooftops. And we can never run out of used tires. They have an infinite lifespan."

Clearline first developed C-Sport as a pipe support, says Krovats.

Later, the company created a model for walkways as a soft, non-penetrating walkway system.

Many competitors, he says, use forms of plastic that are harmful to the environment or Styrofoam, which decays. "We were marketing a com-petitor’s product," says Joe Carpino, sales and service manager for Eastern Canada for Lennox Canada, Clearline’s principal Canadian distributor. "An agent introduced us to Clearline’s C-Port technology. It was a no-brainer. We quickly discontinued carrying the other product and switched to Clearline. It was a seamless transition."

Another factor in the growing popularity of Clearline’s C-Port supports is the trend in construction today to use pressure-treated lumber. The process used in treating the lumber causes the wood to deteriorate rapidly if it makes contact with metal. "You have to put something under the metal to protect the underlying wood," Krovats says.

Krovats launched Clearline Technologies two years ago out of a 5,000-square-foot plant in Winnipeg. Clearline’s C-Port product comes in a number of different designs. The 4-by-6-inch CX-Value model is designed as an economical support for gas piping systems, electrical conduits and HVAC equipment. The C-Strut Support models are for gas and refrigeration piping systems, cable trays and multiple lines in addition to electrical conduits and HVAC equipment.

GROWTH TRENDS. Initially the company was having the molding for its C-Port units done in Montreal and was doing the welding, assembling and packaging in Winnipeg. But growth has been so rapid that Clearline was forced to move into a larger location early this year. Clearline is also setting up a second production line in its Winnipeg plant to handle the demand. (Krovats says that his staff built all of the production machinery the company uses.)