Enhancing comfort levels for more than 50 years for everything from floors and ceilings to wall insulation, industry-leading NCFI Polyurethanes has dedicated itself to making the world safer, more convenient, and more comfortable thanks to its formulation and production of rigid and flexible polyurethanes.
Proudly part of the Barnhardt Family of Businesses, NCFI boasts a unique history that starts in 1964. Polyurethanes were still a relatively new rubber substitute polymer, and Dr. H.W. “Ace” Bradley—a research chemist and WWII veteran of the Manhattan Project—and the Barnhardt Family of Charlotte recognized the potential of this new technology.
Bradley eventually developed the “One Shot” flexible foam method, a continuous production process that combines polymer creation with foaming and is currently the industry standard. NCFI has since established itself as a prominent pioneer in the development of rigid and flexible polyurethanes for use in construction, geotechnical, and custom applications.
Celebrating 60
Now observing its 60th anniversary, the company notes some of the reasons behind its success and illustrious status in the industry.
“We have superior teammates and colleagues who care about each other,” says Vice President, John Zomer. “They also care about the success of NCFI and the success of our customers. That’s really what I see.”
This dedication to customers and to “doing the right thing by our customers and our employees” comes from its parent company, Barnhardt Manufacturing, and down through NCFI, says Will Jarrell, Executive Vice President of Custom Formulated Products.
“We’ve always been dedicated. It’s a culture we’ve developed over the years, and it has everything to do with the people we have,” he says. “We’ve worked hard to develop that culture and keep hiring people who have that kind of attitude, where you do what you need to make sure the customer is happy and satisfied, and at the same time look beyond to ask them, ‘if you can have anything, what would that be?’ and then go from there.”
Concerning the company’s dedication to its customers and its ability to solve problems in the polyurethane and systems business, NCFI offers a customized solution, working with its customers to optimize the specific polyurethanes the company makes for them.
“Chemicals are tailored to the customer’s technical and processing capabilities,” says Zomer. “As part of that, we offer very good quality and personal service. We communicate directly with our customers. We periodically visit our customers’ locations to ensure we’re building relationships not only with the decision-makers in the front office, but the people who are actually using and processing the chemicals in the plant.”
The NCFI way
In addition to a culture of doing what’s needed for the customer, NCFI is methodical in ensuring careful selection of its employees, adds Jarrell. “They’re people who care about other people—not just customers, but other people,” he says. “Then you build on top of that with technical prowess. We’ve worked hard to attract and hold on to these people who are dedicated to customers.”
Many people who come to work for NCFI haven’t experienced that level of care and commitment before, and they’re excited to see it, he says.
“We’re not afraid to go the extra mile for the customer. Many times those folks are leaving a situation where they feel like relationships they’ve built over the years aren’t the focus anymore. When they come over to us, we get in there, get our hands dirty, and make sure everything is right for the customer.”
In short, customer service is a vital, ongoing priority for the company.
“I think it’s the priority for the company,” says Jarrell. “Our technical team is second to none in the industry.” On top of that, those people are also dedicated to the customer relationships they’ve built over the years. “It’s extremely important to them, because not only are they customers of ours, but they’re also friends of ours.”
It’s not only Customer Service, Zomer adds, but Technical Service that truly makes an important difference.
“We take orders for polyurethane systems, and Operations mix them all together. The systems must be put together consistently, each time, the way the customer needs them. So it’s Operations, Customer Service and Technical Service, and it’s follow-up and follow-through to make sure we do a good job of consistency and maintaining the business.”
While other companies try to provide a similar service, Zomer has found NCFI excels at it in a practical way that has resulted in “very happy” customers.
Move into metal
When it comes to the company’s product lines, NCFI has recently moved into the insulated metal panel market even though traditionally it has always been very strong in rigid polyurethane spray foam and other rigid systems.
“It’s something we’ve always known how to do and always wanted to, but just never had a focus on that market. Of course, there’s a lot of volume there. We’re in a mode where we’re trying to grow our business and increase our presence in the rigid foam insulation space, and it just plays along with our stature in the spray foam business,” Jarrell says.
As one of the top suppliers in the spray foam industry, the company naturally wants to move into being one of the top suppliers in the rigid foam insulation business, too.
“We’ve always had systems to play in that market,” says Zomer. “But what we realized is that we want to couple these systems technology with our service and grow our share in that market space.”
Superior service
As proficient as NCFI has been on the technical side of production, it’s the customer service side that has brought it much of its success over its 60 years.
“There’s a need right now in industry for customer service,” says Jarrell. “With lots of the big companies, there are all kinds of internal things they have to deal with, and that they’re going through, while we’re a fairly flat organization. Decisions are made quickly. There’s not a lot of bureaucracy to go through as far as decision-making goes. We put people in place that know what they’re doing and let them do it.”
Even as a smaller company competing in the industry, NCFI possesses the technical skills required to succeed while not losing focus on its clientele.
“The customer-focus portion of it is everything to us. These customers are our friends, people that we’ve developed relationships with over the years, and we don’t want to disappoint friends,” Jarrell says. This also extends to being “very careful” about who to bring on as staff, making sure they fit that model and are dedicated to the customer.
Hiring the right people is key, he adds, and serves to bolster the company culture that NCFI works so hard to maintain. “We hire people who treat customers like you would want to be treated yourself. I think that’s it, and then also being able to make decisions quickly rather than deferring them to 15 other people. We do that quickly and then move on.”
The company also enjoys active engagement not only internally but with its customers. “The better a company is with internal engagement and communication and positivity, the better that company performs,” says Zomer. “And I really think NCFI is one of those companies with a great employee base, high engagement, and good communication, which can only help us on the outside when we go to sell our products and services out in the marketplace.”
Fostering positive engagement and communication has resulted in employees who have been with the company for decades, including Jarrell himself. “I’ve been with NCFI for 31 years,” he says. “Essentially my entire life, and it seems like everybody wants to come to work for us here because they’re not encumbered by all the things they would be encumbered by with somebody a little bit bigger.”
If you get somebody good, Jarrell adds, you need to reward them and you need to appreciate them—another step in maintaining positive company culture. “And that’s what we’re trying to do and why we’re having a 60th celebration at our facility, bringing in some of the best customers down there just to say thank you and celebrate 60 years.”
While six good decades are indeed an admirable achievement, Jarrell stresses that NCFI doesn’t like to dwell on its success too much, but would rather keep its focus on the present, with an eye to the future and everything that still needs to be done.
“We have respect for it and celebrate it, but we try not to get hung up too much on it, although we are very proud of where we’ve come from,” is Jarrell’s take on NCFI’s success.
Numerous employees and customers have helped shape NCFI over the years, molding it into what it is today and will continue to be for the next 60 to come.
“We have lots of accomplishments, but we tend to have one goal,” Jarrell says. “Let’s move on to the next thing. Nobody’s sitting around tooting their own horn, which is another part of our culture. It’s about just getting the job done.”
