Continuing education is paramount to being able to provide all of our clients and customers with top notch fire and life safety services. As our industry changes with code updates, new equipment, new materials, it’s imperative we not only keep up, but stay ahead of the curve.
In April, 4 of our team members traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina to SouthTek Industries to be educated on the uses and benefits of Nitrogen Generators for sprinkler systems. Our first day started with a tour of the manufacturing factory floor, where all the generators are manufactured to order and shipped to customers domestically and internationally.
From there our team entered our classroom time, learning about the benefits to the end user/owner for extending the life and functionality of the fire sprinkler systems. They help by removing one portion of the “corrosion” triangle and keep the piping free of internal corrosion, blockages, and assists with MIC related issues. The class then proceeded to the hands-on practical training with how to set them up as new, install them, and ensure they achieve the 98.5% nitrogen purity for the best results.
When day one of class was complete, a few of the members of team SouthTek took our guys out to a local brewery called Edward Teach, for bonus points, who was Edward Teach? SouthTek not only creates Nitrogen systems for fire and life safety systems but also for a plethora of other applications including their patented “beer blast” nitrogen system. If you have ever been to a Buffalo Wild Wing’s, you’ve also sampled the beer blast system, SouthTek has the beer blast system in over 4,000 BWW’s across the nation.
Day two of training had us break into our groups and trouble shoot a bug that was put into the sample cabinets by the SouthTek training team. Team AFP was the first team to successfully locate, diagnose, and correct the bug getting the system back into service. After taking the test, getting their certification certificates, and packing up, our team got back on the road for the long journey back to Elkridge.
While there were a lot of miles driven in a 56 hour time frame, team AFP is always willing to go the extra mile (literally in this sense) to ensure we are providing the VERY best to our customers, clients, and end users. Thank you to the team at SouthTek for their wonderful southern hospitality!