Rick Hedge learned a lot during the decades he’s worked with his father, Dick Hedge, who started the company that the younger Hedge now owns, The Plumber’s Plumber in Fort Myers, Florida.
One of the most valuable lessons was to keep reinvesting company profits into machines and technology that not only improve productivity, profitability and customer satisfaction, but that can open up new markets for growth, too.
A good example of the company’s technology-centric mindset is the recent investment in a ROVVER X crawler pipeline inspection camera from Envirosight.
PAYING FOR ITSELF
The camera cost $70,000 — a considerable investment. But Hedge believes it will more than pay for itself by serving as a steppingstone into a new market for the company: trenchless repair of larger-diameter pipes than the company typically fixes.
“Our specialty is rehabbing small-diameter, 2- and 4-inch cast iron residential lines,” Hedge says. “But this camera will help us establish a new division that will handle 6- to 8-inch-diameter pipes.
“My plan is to make $1,500 a month with it and pay the camera off in five years. But if we can find someone to run the camera full time, it’ll pay for itself in a year; we’ll get there fast. The potential is unlimited.”
OTHER INVESTMENTS
The company’s roster of equipment reflects the Hedges’ philosophy of continually reinvesting in revenue-enhancing equipment. For drain cleaning, the company relies on PipeHunter Lil Boss and Big Boss trailer-mounted water jetters (24 gpm at 4,000 psi and 35 gpm at 3,000 psi, respectively); a RIDGID drain machine; an Electric Eel cable machine; a RotoMidi milling machine from Boldan Pipe Technologies; Mini and Maxi Millers from Picote Solutions; and a milling machine built by Renssi Finland Oy.
The company also relies on a variety of inspection cameras, including push cameras from Forbest Products Co., Rothenberger Werkzeuge GmbH, and RIDGID and CamTronics (a brand owned by EPL Solutions). It also owns a Superior smoke detection machine from Superior Signal Co.
The company also owns a MidiCoater pipe coating system from Spraypoxy Oy in Sweden. In addition, it has invested in pipe lining equipment made by Renssi and Sacpro and uses T-liners from Repiper AB in Sweden and felt Brawoliner liners from Brawo Systems GmbH.
“We mix and match the best technologies from all over the world,” Hedge explains. “I got beat up real bad when we first start lining pipes, but I kept getting back up, and found the best products in the world and put them all together to create our own systems.
“I’m a reflection of what I learned at places like Picote, Sacpro, Boldan and Renssi. They taught me what I preach every day. They’re all awesome, top-notch, amazing companies.”
Hedge also points to a Brute 4009 propane gas-powered portable water jetter (9 gpm at 4,000 psi), from Jetters Northwest, as another good investment. The machine expanded the company’s drain cleaning capabilities and market because it can be operated inside buildings, an attractive option for customers that would rather not have a dirty jetter hose meandering through their businesses.
“I paid about $12,000 for that machine around two years ago, then landed a contract to flush the deli drains at three stores in a grocery chain at $5,000 a store,” Hedge says. “So it paid for itself right away. They think it’s awesome that we can bring in the Brute, put it right over a drain and go after it without a greasy, 300-foot-long hose snaking through the produce aisle and past the registers.”
