Herbert Kohler Jr., chairman, CEO and president of the plumbing supply manufacturer that bears his name, was at the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at his company’s Blackwolf Run course in Wisconsin in 1999 when he had a business epiphany.
Walking around the lush golf course, Kohler spied a restroom trailer placed where VIP visitors could use it. The light bulb went on — as it so often does for the entrepreneurial leader of the 135-year-old family business that has branched into restaurants, resorts, golf courses, etc.
“We need to have restroom trailers in our fleet as well,’’ Steve Hoffman, the company’s product manager for restrooms, recalls of Kohler planting the seed to become a national service provider of upscale restrooms.
PROTOTYPES
From that germ of an idea, Kohler remained involved in developing a line of restroom trailers — a tasteful fleet of forest green units with gold Kohler graphics — approving every aspect of the units under development. Hoffman recalls Kohler inspecting three prototypes before approving his first production trailer in 2001.
Stressing that the units would be rented to customers for the highest-profile events in the country, Kohler insisted on using the company’s top-end china fixtures and interior designs from the best decorators the company employed. He had to be pleased when the Kohler Co. trailers prompted high praise from some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the country attending President George H.W. Bush’s birthday bash a few years back at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
Hoffman recalls a reluctant VIP user’s response after emerging from a Kohler trailer.
“The woman was in there for 15 minutes and she comes out with a big smile on her face. She says to her husband, ‘Sweetheart, you have to check out the men’s side,’ ” Hoffman recalls. “They weren’t just using a porta-potty. They were getting the Kohler Experience.’’
The Kohler Experience in restrooms is spreading. From modest beginnings, Kohler has steadily improved on its narrow line of high-end trailers, built out since about 2004 by Ameri-Can Engineering to Kohler specs. The company won’t say how many of the 24- and 32-foot trailers it’s built itself or commissioned from the Argos, Ind., restroom trailer manufacturer, but it stocks six main regional sales offices across the country.
KOHLER RENTAL
Rather than selling its trailers to service providers, Kohler has made restroom leasing a logical offshoot of its Kohler Rental area, which is part of the Kohler Power Division. The Power Division, one of the company’s four major business segments, provides power, air conditioning, tents and restrooms for the most opulent events in America. The other three major business areas for Kohler are the Plumbing, Hospitality and Interiors Group divisions.
High-end portable sanitation service jobs start with the Professional Golf Association of America tournaments held at Herbert Kohler’s Whistling Straits course on Lake Michigan, near the company’s headquarters in the village of Kohler. It stands to reason that if you can pass muster with the PGA and its discriminating fans, you can branch off into high-profile events like Triple Crown horseracing venues and presidential soirees.
Early on, Kohler’s aim was not to compete with restroom trailer manufacturers or established liquid waste pumpers. It contracts with Ameri-Can for construction of a number of units each year, which are then parceled out to regional sales offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Orlando, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The trailers are either leased directly from Kohler sales reps in those offices or 80 nationwide Kohler Rental distributors, or the units are rented by portable sanitation providers who need a VIP unit for one night or up to three months, according to Hoffman.
Kohler does no pumping, so it hires local liquid waste haulers for that service.
“We’re pretty happy with the service we’ve been getting,’’ Hoffman says of the company’s developing relationship with a network of pumpers that cleans its units on location. “There’s a learning curve. It takes them a little bit of time to learn what Kohler is. Kohler only settles for the best, and once our (hired pumpers) understand that, they’re more than willing to rise to that level.’’
ONLY TWO SIZES
The first incarnation of Kohler restroom trailers, built at the company headquarters, were 24-foot models that have three stalls and two lavatories on the women’s side and one stall, two urinals and two lavatories on the men’s side.
After a few years and a number of events, the company diversified its fleet to include a 32-foot trailer with double the capacity — six stalls for women, three stalls and three urinals for men — and a 32-foot ADA model. The ADA model is essentially the 24-foot trailer with a hydraulically lowered handicapped facility at the back end.
Adding to the flexibility is that Kohler can plumb supplemental waste tanks directly into the trailers’ holding tanks to extend use between cleanings.
“We can pretty closely predict the waste volume we’ll create during an event. If the onboard tank isn’t enough, we’ll connect a supplemental tank,’’ Hoffman explains. “We will not pump out a tank during an event. That’s an absolute last resort.’’
Herbert Kohler chose a monotone forest green exterior for the restroom line so that the units will blend in with their surroundings, particularly for golf tournaments. Simple Kohler graphics sporting the catchphrase, “The Bold Look of Kohler,’’ are meant to blend in as well, but Hoffman said the company also has a way to cover up the graphics when customers prefer the units unmarked.
JUST-LIKE-HOME PRODUCTS
Kohler doesn’t aim to compete with portable restroom companies that provide more general services. For most work site or special events settings, Hoffman says, portable restrooms and basic restroom trailers are fine. The same goes for better commercial restroom trailers. Many units meet the needs of most customers who demand restroom trailers.
Hoffman does see a general trend toward just-like-home portable sanitation and away from the basic portable restroom unit with a drop tank. But he still believes there’s room in the industry for the full range of products available today.
“The portable restroom is still king and I don’t think that will ever go away,’’ Hoffman says. “But there will be a lot more awareness, from a health issue, that the trailers have normal plumbing and concealed (waste) tanks, and there’s not an open pit that you can see. I see (demands) changing over the years, but in construction, we won’t see that change soon.’’
