As a growing company, Rheia LLC experiences triumphs and challenges daily as we collaborate with builders, HVAC contractors, designers, product manufacturers, and suppliers. Our wins are celebrations, and our struggles allow us to ask questions, research, and improve, making every experience worthwhile. We can’t predict what’s around the corner, but we can take action to secure a better future for our products and our customers.
Recently Rheia received a 10% cost increase from our suppliers on all new orders. With today’s unusual and uncertain economic climate, this gave us pause. We had to consider the best solution – for all involved. “We are very sensitive to the current economy, but we also know historically that we’ll get through this,” explained Rheia CEO Alan Laing. “Whatever we can do to support lowering or at least not increasing costs to our builders and HVAC contractors will pay off in the long run.”
As such, Rheia has chosen to support those who use our product by not passing along the increased cost to customers. We will also continue to actively support customers by effectively controlling HVAC costs within our product lines. Since its inception, Rheia has only increased customer costs three times and did not feel it made sense to do so at this time, given the current economic climate.
The Rheia team is also working on several initiatives to support customers with HVAC costs in the current unusual and uncertain economic environment, including:
- Value Engineering design plans to reduce ducts and components from the Bill of Materials and by utilizing hybrid designs where appropriate, saving supply and labor costs for distribution partners and installation trades.
- Review of suppliers to support lean manufacturing practices and continuous improvement initiatives to ensure a competitive edge, as the overall HVAC cost to builders is always a top-of-mind concern.
- Adding suppliers and distribution partners to support logistics improvements and reduce shipping costs. Rheia continues to seek full truckload (FTL) cost relief from our suppliers.
- Understanding the current Inflation Reduction Act and associated measures to support ducts in conditioned space to satisfy ongoing Energy Star and 45L tax programs.
We value your feedback and continued collaboration. We are excited to see our industry continue to evolve. We envision Rheia being an important part of the HVAC story and are grateful to collaborate with you as together we achieve “Comfort by Design” in the most efficient way possible.
