It was a German by the name of Helmut Muller who will always be credited with development of the first environmentally friendly drain plug, patenting the first version of the “pop-up” style, spring-loaded drain plug in 1977. It was then in the mid-1980s that a Dutchman by the name of Poul van Santen would go on to invent an improved version of the aforementioned product.
Only a few years after this Lorne and Donna Hasinoff, present day owners of No-Spill™ Systems, were first introduced to the drain plug product. So impressed were they by the product that they subsequently committed their efforts and energy to opening up the North American market for drain plugs, selling them under the name Ettco.
Changing its name to Femco Environmental in 1996, the company would go on to champion the development of the Compact and Speed Click™ version of the Dutch drain plug. It was in the year 2000 that the company No-Spill™ Systems was incorporated in the United States. In the years since, No-Spill™ Systems has worked extensively with its customers and utilising its own vast product knowledge is today making its own No-Spill™ branded drain plugs and has improved on every tangible aspect of the product.
“This No-Spill™ drain plug is now produced using US and Canadian sourced labour and materials and is raising the bar for drain plug quality once again,” enthuses Carrie Hasinoff, Director of Marketing. “This No-Spill™ product is customised for the North American market based on suggestions and years of input from our valued end user customers and dealer network, now over 4,000 strong.”
As Hasinoff goes on to state, the need for environmentally sustainable fluid transferring technology is growing stronger by the day. “No-Spill™ Systems is moving forward with this trend by promoting our No-Spill™ System in many markets in multiple continents. Our latest emerging markets are in South America, and Central America. We continue to adjust and tweak our product to provide specialised solutions for our customers wherever they may be. We’ve completely re-invented the same drain plug with better materials, improved thread pitch accuracy, and a truly American product.”
No-Spill™ Systems is committed to providing fluid draining solutions that provide high quality and eco-friendly results, with excellent value for its esteemed customers. “Our success is measured by our belief in No-Spill™ Systems’ ability to meet or exceed expectations of value, quality, and service,” explains Sales Manager, Richard Warren. “We truly believe that our product is the best around and that our customers are getting a better, cleaner and safer way to do fluid changing.”
No-Spill™ Systems emphasises that its product is not simply a “fitting”, rather it is a living commodity that changes year to year with every change and movement in the market. In the past two years alone the company has gone about the process of modifying all of its NPT plugs in order to reflect what it calls, “a true North American thread pitch”.
With a combined experience of more than 88 years in the industry, No-Spill™ Systems is the longest running drain plug company in the world, and from day one its customers have been recognised as being the core reason behind the success of the business.
“Our customers are the first to suggest improvements and we are always backing them up and looking for ways to implement their needs into our product,” Hasinoff explains. “For example, there was an increased demand for the body of our Speed Click™ Clicker to be manufactured entirely in brass. We responded and in addition to improving the brass body of the product, have improved the way in which it connects to its mating piece. We have also responded to a resounding customer request for quicker flow of fluids through the product. We collected data from our customers, worked tirelessly with engineers and in the end now have the only Speed Click™ Clicker with a three-quarter inch diameter flow in the industry.”
The company has also benefited hugely from the development of a business model that stands strong in the face of economic difficulty. “In the economic fall of 2008, we took a risky counter intuitive business approach and doubled our sales team, to reflect the addition effort that would be required to support growing sales volumes in a depressed market,” Hasinoff reveals. “We also created a Drain Plug Specialist position, whose primary responsibility is researching and matching up new drain plugs with their No-Spill™ match. This was another example of the amount of time, resources, and talent we have invested over the years into bringing the No-Spill™ drain plug into fruition and it’s been well worth it. Our customers appreciate the lower price and they appreciate that we are keeping jobs in our home countries where they matter most to us.”
“Every time we talk to our customers the message is always the same and that is that they love our products,” Warren says. “Some of these have been with us over 20 years and they just love our products because they save so much time, money and effort. Our products ensure a quick and easy way of carrying out fluid changes, meaning that a vital piece of our customer’s equipment that is brought in for a fluid change or preventative maintenance is in our premises for the least amount of time and sent back out into the field as quickly as possible.”
For the rest of 2014, the company’s plans are to continue pushing for greater sales in the South American mining and oil and gas industries where it continues to see huge demand for onsite maintenance and its products. Further ahead, into 2015, it foresees future growth in all of its core markets as the global economy shifts upwards. In line with this projected growth, No-Spill™ Systems has devised a strategy to further infiltrate the US market in particular with special attention to addressing the needs its competitors simply cannot complete with.
“We recognise that our customers can spend their maintenance budget in many ways and we are thankful every time they choose us,” Hasinoff concludes. “In order to continue to meet their evolving needs we will strive to continuously innovate our product. Recently we came out with a 3/4 inch drain tool and it is product innovations like that that we are looking every single day to do, to innovate and meet new challenges.”
Written by Will Daynes, research by Stuart Platt
NoSpill-Americas-Oil&Gas-Jun14-Bro-s.pdf
