Products designed for the unique needs of contractors

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how Leister develops tools based on the needs of roofing professionals in the field.  

Recently, Karen Edwards hosted Dave Nordentoft for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®. Dave is the manager of the roofing product category at Leister and came to shed some light on how they develop tools in response to the challenges and needs of roofing contractors in the field.  

Leister has been equipping professionals with plastic welding and industrial hot air tools for over 70 years now. They are a leader in the industry and the longevity of their success can be traced back to their dedication to meeting the unique needs of contractors. Dave explained, “Over the years, it's been a high priority for Leister to try to develop an entire portfolio of tools that meet all the unique needs of contractors. And we learn what those needs are by listening to what our customers tell us. We spend a lot of time and energy talking to our partners in distribution, but also to those that ultimately use our tools, so we can know what we can do to make their jobs easier.”  

The result of this dedication are high-performance and industry-leading products like the TRIAC ST. Dave shared a bit about this product, saying, “The TRIAC ST has been the bread and butter of the industry for a long time. From a generic standpoint, it’s just a hand welder. But diving in deeper, it’s a tool we’ve been refining for decades based on what contractors need in the field.” And the first and foremost need that the TRIAC ST addresses? Power on the roof.  

Too frequently contractors struggle to find strong enough power sources for their tools on the roof. Oftentimes they have to resort to bringing a generator in, which not only can be hard to get on a roof but it can make navigating the job site more difficult. But, with the TRIAC ST, Leister has created a solution to this.  

The current version of the TRIAC ST only needs a 120-volt power supply (for context that’s similar to your average household current), which is far lower than the needs of traditional heat welders. Dave elaborated, “The power supply need for the TRIAC ST is low so that, when you’re in the field, it’s easier to find a power supply. Where you traditionally would run into issues with lower power circuits requiring a huge generator to be brought in, with this tool you can easily use a service outlet that’s a part of the HVAC system or something like already on the roof.” And even if you can’t find that, the generator you would need to bring up to the roof with you to power the TRIAC ST is far smaller than what traditional heat welding tools require.  

This is just one example of how Leister creates tools with their contractors’ experiences in mind. To learn more about other products they offer, Listen to the whole podcast with Dave!