More than 250 industry professionals attended the grand opening of Watts Water Technologies’ latest Watts Works Learning Center, May 23, at the company’s St. Pauls, North Carolina facility.

At the new Learning Center, customers, channel partners, sales representatives and employees can gain hands-on and classroom training for a wide range of Watts products and solutions.

“You can’t sell what you don’t know,” said Greg Gyorda, director of customer and employee training.

The 3,000-square-foot training center features classroom space as well as a lab with working equipment showcasing the company’s product lines, such as Orion chemical piping systems, BLÜCHER stainless steel drainage, RainCycle rainwater harvesting systems, Powers IntelliStation digital mixing systems, Mueller Steam Specialty products, among others.

"This newest world-class Learning Center is part of our ongoing investment in education and training for our customers and our commitment to remaining a leader in training the industry," Gyorda said

It’s the third of the company’s training labs in the United States. The locations North Andover, Massachusetts, and Woodland, California, both opened in 2016. Overseas, similar training facilities can be found in Italy, South Korea and United Arab Emirates.

"Through the Watts Works learning program, we are helping customers enhance their knowledge of a broad range of plumbing, drainage, HVAC and water quality solutions,” Gyorda added. “In our hands-on demonstration labs and comprehensive classes led by experienced instructors, customers are able to enrich their professional skills."

Watts offers scheduled classes on the following topics:

• Cross-Connection Control (Backflow Prevention)
• HVAC (Hydronic and Electric)
• Pressure Regulation & Control (Regulators and Control Valves)
• Specification Drainage Products (Cast Iron, Chemical Waste, and Stainless Steel)
• Temperature Regulation & Control (Mechanical & Digital Mixing and Pressure Relief)
• Water Quality (Water Treatment & Conditioning)
• Rainwater Harvesting

In addition to in-person classes at the Learning Centers, Gyorda also discussed online training opportunities available on demand 24/7 and Lunch-n-Learn programs held conveniently right at a customer’s location. In addition, a focused online Engineers Design Resource Center offers spec tools, training and optimized BIM files to make the engineers job easier.

Located just outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina., the St. Pauls facility was originally the home to Mueller Steam Specialty, which Watts acquired in 2005.

The company has since added other lines to the 210,000-square-foot building. Besides adding the new training space to the site, Watts has also made numerous changes to the manufacturing and warehousing workflow systems.

The day also included a factory tour led by John Palotta, vice president of the St. Pauls plant.

”We take quality very seriously,” Palotta said, during the hour-long tour that covered the steps of fabrication, machining, turning and painting and assembly and testing. “Our customers will not come back, if we are not providing a quality product.”

For more information about training opportunities, visit https://bit.ly/2JxmF5I.