Development Drives Innovation and Revenue

SNAPSHOT:
For the past seven years commercial refrigeration provider Hillphoenix’s Learning Center has provided training to more than 10,000 industry professionals, ranging from service contractors and engineers to store development and procurement personnel. To facilitate easy adoption of new technologies and offer the necessary knowledge to help customers get the most out of equipment in their stores, the company is now accelerating training, providing shorter modules on-demand.

As one of the largest providers of commercial refrigeration in North America, Hillphoenix leaders find it important to be on the front lines of new product innovation. But innovation is often met with market uncertainty, particularly in industries such as commercial refrigeration where there is a predominant wait-and-see attitude toward new technologies. The Hillphoenix Learning Center was created in 2006 to serve as an innovation catalyst for the entire commercial refrigeration ecosystem: retailers, contractors, dealers, purchasing departments, construction managers, merchandisers and other manufacturers.

Today, the Learning Center has grown from a small series of instructor-led classes for internal training to become an industry-wide resource that mixes live, instructor-led seminars, online/distance learning, webinars, intentional learning and mini-videos called TechTips.

While investments in technology and sustainability are generally accepted as the right thing to do, in today’s hyper competitive supermarket industry, retailers need to see an immediate return on investment. Quality education and development is an effective way to ensure retail customers understand the tangible benefits. Hillphoenix provides that education to retailers, customers and prospects, contractors, dealers, purchasing professionals, construction managers and merchandisers.

From Building to Teaching
“For years, customers — supermarkets and retailers — complained about a lack of qualified technicians in the industry,” said Henry Pellerin, director at Hillphoenix. “We recognized that in order to be successful as a manufacturer of commercial refrigeration equipment, we should take on some of the responsibility to train and educate those who buy, sell and maintain our equipment.”