The Fire Protection Podcast: Episode #43 – NFPA Expo & The State of Fire Protection – Part 2 - Inspect Point

The Fire Protection Podcast: Episode #43 – NFPA Expo & The State of Fire Protection – Part 2

Episode Summary

As promised, here is my second part of the NFPA Conference and Expo recap.

I’ll make this short and sweet.

Part 2 continues my discussion with John Mackey, of the Mackey Group LLC, about the NFPA conference and the state of the fire protection industry.

Here are some of the highlights.

  • Fire Alarm industry and the push for proprietary service
  • AHJ Compliance around the US and where it’s heading
  • Fire Protection industry growth with a looming recession
  • What’s next for John?

Please feel free to reach out with other Podcast topics or issues you are experiencing in the fire protection industry.  I thank you all for listening, and I will be rolling out some new episodes this summer.

Regards,

Drew Slocum
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer – Inspect Point

Timestamps

  • 0:16 - Fire Alarm Gateways
  • 4:14 - Code Updates
  • 6:58 - Louisiana: From Tags to QR Codes
  • 12:55 - Consolidation in the Industry
  • 17:03 - Success of Fire Protection in 2021
  • 18:50 - A Recession-Proof Industry
  • 20:30 - Final Thoughts on NFPA Boston
  • 23:41 - Upcoming Shows
  • 25:30 - Closing Thoughts

Full Transcript

Drew Slocum:

This is episode 43 of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. This is actually the second part of the conversation I had with John Mackey regarding NFPA and the state of the industry to see where we’re at within fire protection. Um, in the first part of the episode, we talked about some of the things that we were happening at NFPA, some of the lithium-ion batteries, and the fire technology that’s coming out. And, um, yeah, the second part’s pretty good getting into some of where the industry’s at and where we’re headed. So, uh, hope you enjoy and please like and subscribe. Thanks.

John Mackey:

Um, so interesting stuff. Um, what about, uh, I did not have a chance to get by Potter. Um, did you have a chance to see what they had going?

Drew Slocum :

On? Um, I, I’m, I’m pretty in tune with Potter. You know, I talk to those guys quite a bit. Um, I like what they’re doing. It’s a lot of, um, you know, their fire alarm side is, is kind of some of, uh, the big players at Honeywell back in the day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and, and coming over. I, I didn’t get a chance to go to their booth. I, or I, I saw Sean and, uh, Sean Hek, uh, Heskett pretty, pretty quick. And I saw, uh, Craig Summers on the, on the fire alarm side. Um, and I went to their after-hours get-together, which was fun, Sure.

John Mackey :

<laugh>

Drew Slocum :

Not the after hours after show. I, you know,

John Mackey:

Yes,

Drew Slocum:

Yes. I’m not an after-hours guy anymore, but, um, um, no, I, I like what they’re doing with, um, you know, the fire alarm has traditionally in the last, and it still is going this way, they’re trying to make the industry proprietary, which that’s not what other, that’s not what the rest, that’s not what building owners want. That’s not what AHJs want. That’s not what maybe some of the contractors want. But I, I feel like the more open you make, I don’t know. I don’t know why you’re gonna lock it down. I, I know why they’re locking it down and making it proprietary, but Potter seems to be going a little bit in the other direction where it’s, it’s a little bit more open, and they’re a little bit more configurable, and working with others, versus if you’re not buying this much from me, you’re not gonna be a distributor. That means you don’t get to work on some of this stuff. Uh, that’s, that’s my opinion. I don’t know what they showed at the, at the, at the, at the show, but, um, I know they’re making a huge push in fire alarm. And the one, the, uh, service providers I talk to, I’m seeing more and more and more Potter distributors, not even second tier as a distributorship, but first tier mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is great to hear,

John Mackey:

You know, and I agree with you. I think that, you know, the strength of our market is having various OEMs that provide technology that we can all benefit from. And what I mean by that is, you know, you look at these large manufacturers that have proprietary equipment that only they can work on mm-hmm. <affirmative>, well, that limits the market, essentiall

... Read More