In an effort to increase the number of technicians that are certified and more importantly recertified, North American Technician Excellence (NATE) has made changes to its certification program. With one in every three NATE tests being given by a HARDI member, distributors are hoping this increases participation in NATE. 

A year after Daikin Industries acquired Goodman Manufacturing, the company is shaking up the U.S. HVAC marketplace. Daikin announced they are launching a residential brand in the United States and that the VRF systems will be manufactured in the United States for the first time. The company also introduced an exclusive dealer program.

I am here to report that the HVAC business community has put the phrase “cautiously optimistic” behind them.

 I travel a lot in this job and have the opportunity to meet with people all along the HVAC chain. Ever since the great crash of 2008, when I asked people how they see business going in the next 12 months, they inevitably told me that they were cautiously optimistic. Well, that is not entirely true as during that first year everyone was either depressed, mad, or defeated. 

What benchmarking efforts are HARDI stressing distributors participate in? What do distributors get out of their efforts?