At Raypak, we have a firm mission to be recognized in the industry as the leader in technological innovations and product reliability. We aim to provide value to our customers that competitors cannot match, constantly seeking out opportunities for growth and improvement in the industry. At our core, we want to create a work environment that encourages all employees to improve the operation and the project whenever they can and to offer employees the opportunity to utilize their strengths and talents to the fullest. Ultimately, we want to create an organization that can outperform its competitors in every industry facet.

As part of the Rheem family of brands, each year our parent company announces the Innovator of the Year Award, and this year our teammate Jorge Gamboa won the prestigious honor.

Over the years, Jorge has had the opportunity to work with a wonderful,  common-minded team which has allowed them to deliver some noteworthy innovations, patents, and product developments such as implementing smart features, touchscreens, connecting Raypak products and delivering them with an exceptional commercial iot platform.

According to Jorge, there are three aspects that drive innovation within a team or company culture: a) Problem b) Culture and c) Competition. He describes in his interview that there has to be a drive to resolve new challenges and provide novel solutions. Having new challenges keeps the team alert and shakes their comfort zone. Greatness is not possible without a team that shares vision, as that is where true culture takes place according to Jorge. “And ultimately this is a business, and we have to have a winning state of mind.”

Watch Jorge’s complete interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSG_qGSw9RQ

Learn what other Raypak leaders and employees think about innovation and how it forms our teams and company culture.

“In my experience the best innovative ideas come from fully understanding and feeling the customer pain-points in any market. The ability to “imagine” solutions beyond the traditional ways is the starting point, and often once that imagination is shared with a diverse group of people in the right environment and culture, and is paired with relentless perseverance, innovative solutions start emerging. Innovation is not limited to any function or industry, and everyone can contribute to it.” – Amin Monfared, Director Marketing & Engineering

“At Rheem, Innovation is not just a buzzword; it’s something that our teams embody every day, and Raypak is no exception.  In fact, “Innovate to Lead” is one of three pillars of Rheem’s ongoing 10-year strategy and is at the forefront of our business strategy.  From inventions to make our products perform better and more efficiently for our customers to creative designs and eco-friendly packaging, the Rheem team is innovating every day.” – Stacy Fredrich, Director of Intellectual Property

“I am truly blessed to be a part of a fantastic Training Team as well as Team Raypak.   I will also say, pertaining to any award that contains “Disruptive” in the title, it made me smile with pride that I can now receive an award for things I used to get in trouble for as a youth.” – Go-To-Market Disruption Award, Paul Rohrs, Lead Commercial Trainer  

“Innovation is rich in the culture here at Raypak. We work hard as a team to lead in our industries and it is amazing to see the value it brings to our products, customers, and the end-users.” – Justin Reyes, Associate Marketing Manager

“It is exciting to innovate new features with a team across Rheem to deliver a top-quality product. Nitek started with AVIA, but can be implemented across our family of products and become a focus of future design.” – Technology Disruption Award, Ryan Valencia, Mechanical Design Engineer

Learn more about our team at http://www.raypak.com/about/.