As featured on Manufacturing Today, Issue 231, Page 52-57   It’s the beginning of a brand-new chapter for NRP Jones. Having supplied the North American industrial and oil sectors for almost 80 years, the company has recently been reinvigorated by an all-new team of leaders. Combining tenure and tradition with modern innovations, Chief Executive Officer, Joe Kochan, has continued to build on NRP Jones’ long legacy of excellence in service and products: “The business began as a machining facility in La Porte, Indiana, in 1945. The fittings product line of the business soon began to develop, and the company decided to expand and sell products under its own name. 
“As the company continued to grow, the owners invested in a hydraulic hose facility in Nephi, Utah. Over time, this became an integral part of the company’s domestic specialty product focus and drove NRP Jones into becoming one of the industry’s leading providers of hydraulic hoses, fittings and assemblies. In 2011, the Jones family decided to exit the company and sold the business to Main Street Capital, who has been our financial sponsor and partner ever since.  “I was brought in as CEO last year. I manage the executive leadership team, and with the support of Main Street Capital, we are successfully taking the company to the next level. Fresh leadership has brought in new ideas and perspectives on how to operate and grow the business. We’ve all been able to look at the big picture with a fresh pair of eyes and make meaningful changes that benefit both our internal team and our customers.          “When I came in, I was adopting a business with a very long and lasting legacy. It’s well known within the industry, and has a strong reputation. However, over the years, it was viewed as a bit stale. We needed something to reinvigorate our image. That meant jump-starting everything, from the brand and the product offering to the way the company operates. My goal going in was to drive significant growth and take advantage of investment and expansion opportunities.  

Company evolution 

“Our first step was to immediately begin working on our operations and supply chain, as I wanted to ensure that these elements of the business were strong and robust. We’ve continued to invest in refining and consolidating these processes since day one.  “The next step was to gain an understanding of our sales and marketing structure, team and processes. We have overhauled the organizational structure and brought on new team members with strong industry backgrounds. This also included new strategies and more innovative approaches all round. We’ve also been working on a rebrand, including the new logo and website, which will be unveiled in the very near future. Our rebrand goal was to pay tribute to our legacy and reaffirm our commitments while taking a bold step into the future. When designing the new site, we prioritized usability – making it more intuitive to explore our offerings – and providing customers with the answers they need much more quickly. We’ve spent a lot of time and energy developing it, and we’re very excited for it to go live in a matter of days,” Joe details [at time of writing].  The company’s products and services have also been updated by the new leadership team, as Joe discusses: “We started out as a hydraulics fittings company, eventually moving into domestic hose manufacturing. Since we have a lot of our manufacturing capabilities in-house, we’re able to provide custom products and solutions to customers with specific applications in mind. This is something I want to foreground as a unique selling point for the business. We call them ‘specialty items’, and they’re anything the customer needs them to be. If a customer approaches us and explains the solution they need, we can partner with them in developing a product that helps overcome their application challenge.

Streamlined offering

“We have also refined our core product offering, for instance, we provide industry-leading hydraulic fittings, and a wide array of transferable components. We also have a wide variety of hose types; this is an area we’re still investing in and developing further. Overall, we’ve taken a big picture view of our portfolio, and assessed which of our legacy products are no longer required. Variety is good, but we don’t want our offering to be diluted by out-of-date products. Since taking over as head of the company, the NRP Jones team has worked hard to streamline our products, providing customers with enough variety to get exactly what they need, without overwhelming them with choice. We continue to prioritize improving our core offering and developing new products with the latest technology.  

Building connections 

“Our research and development team works closely with the executive leadership team to make decisions about the product portfolio. We’re a large manufacturer, but we can’t make everything. We’ve been focused on building strong partnerships with other manufacturers to open up even more possibilities for the business. Our combined capabilities are going to be much greater, and I look forward to unlocking that potential.”  Having spent the last year setting the company up for long-term success, Joe and his team step confidently into 2025 and beyond. As he concludes: “This year has been all about stabilization and definition. When first entering into a business, it’s important to spend time learning about it, and moving it forward. We’ve accomplished a lot this year, and we’re now in a position to start working towards our long-term goals. We’ve got a set target for organic growth in particular. It’s a long way from where we are now, but if we continue down the path we’re currently on, I’m confident we’ll be able to take more market share in the hydraulic space and achieve our goals in the next three to five years. I also see more acquisitions with our near future focus on acquiring additional warehousing, allowing us to better serve our customers with our refined and expanded offering.  “Our primary goal, moving forward, is to remain a robust partner to all our channels and distributors. We want to be easy to do business with, and part of that is building strong industry connections. We’ll also continue developing our product range, ensuring that what we’re offering is in line with the demands of the market.”