September 2026 CDAC
Thu · Sep 3, 2026 DetailsThe September 2026 CDAC meeting — Thursday, September 3. Below are the slides and what was actually discussed, organised by topic. Ask the assistant at the bottom if you want something specific pulled out.
At a glance
- Direct-drive plenum fans land on Pro. Selection Navigator on Oct 26, first production the first week of January. Not an option — it replaces belt drive entirely, and the model goes Gen 1 → Gen 2. No price increase.
- Small tonnage splits become stockable — 16 new SKUs (8 splits, 8 air handlers), appearing in the next MTS file.
- Small Sunline dual-fuel heat pumps are live in Selection Navigator as of that week. Choice dual fuel is still off — Jason Carter will run those selections by hand in the meantime.
- DOAS got a 0.77 cost multiplier on the larger-footprint JROA / JRMA / JROH / JRMH.
- The "light 15-ton" is not decided. Feedback was gathered; it would have to displace another project. See the discussion below.
- Stockable inventory is in poor shape — 11% of on-hand target in August, down from 95% in January, because demand keeps outrunning the build.
Organisational changes
- Cody McLaird takes over commercial split responsibilities. Jason Carter is helping with the transition but it is Cody’s line now.
- Matt Schlegel is now Director of Light Commercial Products. He keeps product management for everything under 15 tons and adds engineering functions for 25 tons and below — day to day, nothing changes for distributors.
- Jason Carter is now Director of the Modification Center, taking over from Steve Pickle, who is retiring. He remains product manager for Choice.
- Brittny Brissette is the new Director of S&OP and Order Fulfillment, the role Jill Roberson held. Three months in the seat, ten years with the business.
Lead times and on-time delivery
Published lead times as of the meeting: Pro 13 weeks · Core 13 · Small Sunline 14 · Choice 15 · Select 15 · Splits 10 · Premier 1 18 · Premier 2 24 · Premier 3 34.
- Pro, Core and Small Sunline went up because of physical inventory planned for the end of the year — orders landing at the current lead time fall right in that window, so the count has to be built in. Brittny expects them to drop back once PI is done.
- Premier 2 and 3 went up on large volume orders (mostly Premier 3), supply chain delays on longer-lead components, and raw material and fabrication constraints that built more backlog than they want. The factory is working several improvement opportunities.
- Two on-time metrics are tracked, and they measure different things. RDD (customer requested date, including average transit time for the state) is what a customer feels — but a customer can ask for any date, so it takes no account of lead time. OPD (original promise date, what appears on the order acknowledgment) is the greater of the requested date or the published lead time, and is how the factory measures its own commitment.
- On-time delivery declined from around April–May. August started trending back up.
Stockables
49% of sales are stockables across the three lines — Pro 43% (1,999 units), Core 38% (1,439), Small Sunline 67% (2,807); 6,245 in total.
By CDAC customer: Republic 92%, Base Solutions 86%, Virginia Air 84%, Mid-City 78%, CFM 64%, US Air Conditioning 63%, Norman S. Wright 39%, Master Group 23% — 47% overall. That percentage is the share of that distributor’s orders on those product lines which are for stockable SKUs.
New: small tonnage splits join the stockable program. 16 SKUs — 8 splits (520, 6–20T) and 8 air handlers (521, 6–20T), listed on the slide. They represent 50% of order volume on the splits and 72% on the air handlers. Roughly 170 units will be stocked across the 16. Approved about two weeks before the meeting; they appear in the next lead-time publication and the updated MTS file.
John Brose asked whether the 8–10 weeks the MTS sheet shows for most stockables is still good — yes, that was updated within the last couple of weeks. Matt added the reason it holds: even when a stockable is not on the shelf, it is scheduled more frequently and honoured at a shorter lead time than a non-stockable unit.
- Stockable health has fallen all year — 95% of the on-hand target in January to 11% in August.
- The reason is demand, not build. Consumption has run 1,352–3,250 units a month, frequently ahead of what goes into inventory: units are being shipped from production rather than off the shelf, which is why Core and Small Sunline are shipping above their allowed demonstrated lead time.
- As the inventory position recovers, demonstrated lead time should improve with it. There are typically 1,000–2,000 units in the production plan well ahead of time.
- The new Order Fulfillment team puts dedicated people on critical production and sales orders, working with the factory, customer service, sales and logistics — and owns the exceptions process.
Light commercial roadmap
Pro and under 15 ton — Matt Schlegel
Small Sunline dual-fuel heat pumps were added to Selection Navigator that Monday — quote, bid and submit as normal. That gives a 3–5 ton dual-fuel solution, so 3 to 12.5 tons is now covered between Small Sunline and Pro, with Choice up to 25 tons still to come.
Direct-drive plenum fans on Pro — the main event:
- Selection Navigator: October 26. (Matt said the 25th, then corrected himself — the 25th is a Sunday.) First production: first week of January.
- The slip from late September/early October was deliberate. The line needs a couple of days down to change over, and doing it during the Christmas shutdown costs no production days.
- Not an option — it is the standard. A clean break from belt drive at selection, and a generation change: Gen 1 → Gen 2.
- This is not the light, low-powered direct drive used on Small Sunline and Core single-phase. It meets or exceeds belt-drive performance, with some efficiency gains.
- Yes, it is a genuine plenum fan. Matt: "we’re going to direct drive ECMs with a plenum fan — it’s a complete change of the motor and the fan technology." Worth holding onto because Core is going the other way: its direct-drive project keeps the existing fan technology rather than moving to a plenum fan.
- Still a slide-out blower — confirmed in the meeting chat.
- All blower VFDs are eliminated from Pro. ebm-papst is the partner. Speed variation happens on the motor itself — smart equipment still controls everything, the signal just goes straight to the motor instead of through a VFD.
- Ordering gets much simpler. That digit goes from about 16 options to two: an IntelliSpeed (constant volume / IntelliSpeed) assembly, or VAV — which adds hot gas bypass and the pressure transducer. No more standard vs. high static; one assembly covers the full static range.
- No price increase intended.
- Electrical changes are minor. Unlike Choice — which keeps a standard and a high-efficiency option because qualifying for high-static RPMs raised its electrical requirement — Pro can run the new assembly at high-static RPMs without a drastic increase. Expect differences, not a 10% jump.
- Existing belt-drive orders will be built as ordered, not converted. Brad raised the scenario of a unit ordered for early November coming back with ten more amps; the plant is prepared to build both for a couple of weeks to finish out belt-drive orders.
- Covers all 3–12.5 ton Pro: KJ, KT, KB, WP — including 3–5 ton.
- 575V: nothing is being phased out, and the 12.5-ton heat pump comes back for 575V, with motors sourced specifically from Germany for that market.
Two projects in early stages: direct drive on Core (ECM motor, but keeping the existing fan technology rather than moving to a plenum fan), and the variable speed compressor project on Pro, which begins sample testing this month. That one has pivoted — instead of building on the ultra-high-efficiency KTT, it now uses the standard-efficiency KJ as the base. The target is deliberately not the most efficient variable speed unit on the market but the lowest cost one: hit the advanced rebate tiers and CEE at perhaps 17–18 IEER rather than chasing 20+.
Choice — Jason Carter
- Dual-fuel heat pumps are still switched off in Selection Navigator while they work through existing orders and confirm they can keep up with demand. Jason expected them back on possibly within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, send him projects and he will do the selections and pricing himself.
- Direct-drive ACs are still expected this year, currently planned as a standard-efficiency launch followed by high efficiency — though they may combine them. Production goal is the beginning of next year.
- Kicked off: a high-efficiency (four-stage) heat pump to reach rebates the standard efficiency heat pump cannot, targeting a launch around the end of next year; and a standard-efficiency horizontal heat pump for the California market. The high-efficiency heat pump will come in a horizontal configuration too.
Select and Premier — Alec Barker
- Select DDP is in full swing, testing results positive, slightly ahead of schedule — there may be an opportunity to pull the project in.
- Premier high-efficiency heat pump: proof of concept is being built now. It is about a month behind, partly from an exhaust and return fan supplier change and partly because new technology is being developed with suppliers. Anyone visiting Norman this fall can ask Alec to see it.
- Fan array: preliminary concept work has already started — another candidate to be pulled forward. Brad noted CFM has been losing jobs for want of a fan array option on Sun Premier.
Commercial splits — Cody McLaird
- 575V heat pump: same unit as the current heat pump with a different compressor, condenser fan motor and control transformer; dimensions unchanged. EC targeted complete November 2026, so production December or January.
- Coil-less air handler: a hydronic coil can be installed by the Modification Center. Hitachi VRF compatibility is targeted for Q2.
R-410A dry-charge condensing units (John Brose). Trane offers an R-410A dry charge and Carrier is telling contractors they ship a "kit" — put the sensor in the supply duct. John is seeing requests from 20 up to 50 tons, typically where the air handler is buried and unreachable, and says large split coil-and-condensing replacements have fallen off a cliff as a result. Jason’s answer: no plans right now — what competitors are using is a loophole, and nobody knows when it closes, so committing resources ahead of known requirements like IVEC and IBHE is a real risk. He will tie off with Chris Forth and follow up, and he and Cody will publish rules of engagement for splits.
The "light 15-ton" — open decision
Carrier’s 48FE16 is a slightly undercapacitated 15-ton in a smaller cabinet. The proposal is not a direct replacement for it but a product to compete in the lower-cost 15-ton range. Matt brought back the feedback the group had sent:
- Build it in Pro, not Core — broadly agreed. Pro has higher capacity in the 12.5-ton today and more room to gain capacity in that cabinet.
- Minimum capacity: answers ranged from 170 to 180 MBH, some insisting on a full 15 tons. Pro’s 12.5-ton is 150 MBH today, so even 170 is roughly a 15% capacity increase.
- Efficiency: unanimous — meeting or exceeding DOE minimums is enough.
- Gas heat is the sticking point. Pro 12.5-ton offers 180 and 240 MBH; Carrier’s light 15-ton goes to 350 MBH. Answers split by region: some said 240 is fine, some said they could probably sell around it, and some said without 350 MBH they cannot sell the product.
- Price: feedback ranged $12,000–$13,700. Matt was blunt — $12,000 will not happen (two and a half tons of cooling into a KJ150 for a $350 increase), and $13,700 is not enough of a decrease to be worth doing. Realistically $12,500–$13,000.
- Volume: five responses, 16 to about 90 units a year each — 260 units from this group. Matt projects 600–750 a year across the board, and was a little surprised the number was not higher given the enthusiasm.
The catch: engineering is at capacity. Pursuing this means removing or delaying something else. Direct drive on Core cannot move — it is too important to the portfolio and is needed for the 2029 efficiency changes. The candidates Matt put up were the variable speed compressor project on Pro, modulating gas heat on Pro (due to kick off late this year; a larger heat size for a 15-ton would push it to 2028), or doing the variable speed compressor work for AC only and then jumping the 12.5-ton to 15 tons instead of continuing to a variable speed heat pump.
Where the room landed — no consensus:
- John Brose: do not move variable speed compressors. He is locked out of jobs by AAON, Daikin and Trane for want of variable speed.
- Patrick Watkinson (Master Group): variable speed on Pro AC is what every province is asking for and he needs it faster than anything else. Modulating gas heat — no need at all, push it off. The light 15-ton is of less interest to him, though he likes the idea of leading rather than chasing.
- JR Sunderman: prefers the 15-ton over modulating gas heat or the high-efficiency heat pump. Heat pumps died in his region once incentives went away.
- James Stein (USA Air): dissenting — for California and Arizona heat pumps matter; if something is deferred for this project, make it modulating gas heat.
- Danny Wilson: would take the light 15-ton even over variable speed compressors. The Choice 15-ton is a daily lost sale and simply not competitive, and the Pro cabinet is convertible — one unit covering vertical and horizontal discharge.
- Andy France: sees it as incremental sales; would vote for it and push out modulating gas.
Brad asked whether modulating gas heat could be done in the mod shop instead, since freight is what kills that option today. Matt’s answer: the blocker is not the line — the mod shop cannot do full furnace and combustion development, and that development is the actual work.
Next step: Matt will work the technical feasibility — what capacity can actually come out of the Pro cabinet, and what is possible on gas heat — then come back to the group to size the opportunity against what is genuinely achievable. He also floated that the better answer may be to cost-optimise the Choice 15-ton instead. It will not be raised at the Dallas tech conference; Matt does not discuss potential projects with that audience.
DOAS — Sonny Italiano
- Apply a 0.77 multiplier to the selection tool price to get net cost on JROA, JRMA, JROH and JRMH. Remember to add freight and startup cost to the project.
- Smaller footprint (JRAK, JR*K, JR*Q): send the selection tool pricing to John Tuleya and he will review and discount it. That product is being redesigned for cost reduction.
- AK pricing 3–20 ton: value engineering, weight reduction, a redesign of the S3 10–25 ton cabinet (currently too expensive to be competitive), and a pricing reduction in 2027.
- AHRI 920 certification for 100% outside air product — targeted December FY26.
- AHRI 340/360 for mixed air / high outside air — targeted FY27. This removes the 40% minimum OA, so projects below 40% outside air become biddable.
- Chilled water AHU DOAS units release in the tool in the next month or two. Available to Addison reps today; this brings it to TempMaster and York branded units.
- A dual-fuel heat pump option flyer for DOAS and high outside air units is downloadable in Navigator.
Useful when laying out against a CaptiveAire job — cabinet construction, salt spray hours, compressor vibration isolation, energy recovery wheel (factory vs. field installed), subcooling coil, plate heat exchanger, tool access and channel behaviour.
Feedback given: 10–25 ton is where the most help is needed, but pricing is still not competitive at the small end — around $8,000 a ton at 5 ton — or from 30 ton up. Sonny’s answer for now is the 0.77 on larger footprint and a case-by-case discount from John on the smaller ones.
Controls / SkyQ — Dan Tyson
- Comfort Academy (formerly the Ductless Assistance Academy) ran two two-day sessions, August 17–20, with roughly 30 attendees. The next session is mid-October; 2027 training will include classroom trainers.
- The first classroom trainer prototype will be at the tech conference at the end of September. It combines SEC boards, SkyQ components and an NS8000 sensor, pre-wired for power but not for communication, so attendees run the comms wiring themselves. A next iteration will lift the bottom panel for use and drop it for travel; trainers are hoped to be in hand by the end of 2026.
- Sales training is informal for now — reach out to Dan, who is doing online and some in-person sessions. Regular webinars and a formal cadence are planned for 2027.
- Marketing: a LinkedIn campaign runs SkyQ posts once or twice a month — Dan asks people to like and repost. A two-minute overview video shot at the Comfort Academy was targeted for the end of September. SkyQcontrols.com is a single landing page today; subpages and resources are planned, and leftover Verasys content still needs swapping to SkyQ.
- New hardware, possibly late 2026 but more likely Q1 2027, launching as existing inventory depletes: S500/S1000 (replacing T1000, temperature only, white or black); S2000 adding humidity, CO2 and occupancy in 2027; VC3000 replacing VC2000 with more I/O (pressure-dependent and pressure-independent versions, plus a dedicated bypass damper controller); and C3000, a lower-cost M2000 alternative for jobs that do not need all the I/O, such as a two-stage third-party rooftop.
- Panels with an HMI display — essentially an Android tablet running the app on the panel, no laptop or phone needed. In cybersecurity testing; targeted for release by the end of the calendar year. Heavily requested.
- Enhanced cloud-based trending replaces today’s data logging with something far easier to work with. Q1 2027 anticipated. It will likely carry a subscription cost, and will be optional.
- Software: updates to the smart equipment dashboard for clarity, and ASHRAE Guideline 36 trim-and-respond logic for duct static pressure and supply air temperature — increasingly important in California, where G36 is tied to Title 24. Hoped for later this year.
- App: a beta is available on request. Apple and Google store versions were hoped for by mid-September. The Windows desktop application exists now but is not yet published publicly — ask Dan.
Tariffs — one device only. ProLine is a Canadian company, and the only affected device is the NC2000 network controller (one per site). Bundling the NC2000 with a ZoneQ or an M2000 avoids the tariff, because those are true programmable controllers and take precedence. Nothing has changed yet, but if it persists they are considering discontinuing or raising the price of the standalone NC2000 and steering people to buy the panel instead — which is not affected, and arrives with terminal blocks pre-wired and a transformer included.
Marketing — Jen MacGregor
The quality campaign has been a year in the making. The message is "quality is our mindset", and the point is to change customer perception by showing the investment made in Norman and Wichita.
- Paid campaign runs July through December 2026, to be re-evaluated for 2027. Platforms: YouTube, Google, Meta/Facebook, LinkedIn and Spotify streaming ads.
- It paused briefly when York.com moved off the Johnson Controls platform onto its own — which does mean York now owns the site and can change it.
- First two weeks: over 1 million impressions, over 11,000 clicks, 4 leads. There is a lead management process behind it.
- Assets: a landing page with a form, a video on the landing page, six advertising videos, a sell sheet, social and streaming ads, GoTempPro banner ads, a nurture email campaign to contractors in development, a quality/York merchandise store coming, and factory signage in Wichita and Norman plus a billboard outside Norman and the 14 quality principles suspended in the corridors.
- Everything is on Marketing Library, and Jen meets distributor marketing departments bimonthly. Ask her if you cannot find an asset.
What she asked of the group: interact with the posts — like and share them, it genuinely helps — and bring customers into the factory for a visit.
Feedback given back:
- Andy France: factory employees are still wearing old JCI shirts, which sends a mixed message to visiting customers and made footage unusable during the shoot. Alec noted the plant manager handed out Bosch shirts at a June event and he has seen a shift in the back half of the year.
- Brad Telker: the posts look fine, but real interaction comes from off-the-cuff content, not stock photos. Real roof photos after a job get far more engagement. A quick unscripted phone video from the factory floor — "we’re out here looking at the Sun Pro, about to launch the new direct-drive ECM fans, let us know what you think" — posted as-is, would do more than polished production. Jen agreed, and said AHR booth videos with real salespeople outperform everything else they do. Ideas floated: a "product of the day" series, or "Tech Talk Tuesdays".
Wrap-up and what’s next
- A survey (QR code, built by Cody) collects feedback on the sessions and topics for next time.
- Next meeting: targeted for January 2027.
- Next in-person CDAC: spring 2027, hosted at a member facility rather than Norman, to share best practices. JR Sunderman volunteered El Paso.
- Topics requested for next time: the 454B retrofit / dry-charge rules of engagement for splits, a light 15-ton update, regular roadmap, and lead times coming down.
- On lead times, Danny Wilson’s example: adding a disconnect to a five-ton pushes it to 15–18 weeks — and it still misses. Brad added that units are arriving in 14–16 weeks and accessories are still turning up afterwards.
- Matt said he now spends more than twice as much time on lead time, quality and factory improvement as on new product introduction, and may pull the group together for a 30-minute lead-time session before January.
About this page. Written from the meeting slides and the auto-generated transcript. The transcript’s speaker labels were unreliable in places, so a few remarks are attributed by context rather than by label — if who said what matters for a decision, check with the person before relying on it. Dates and figures are as given in the meeting and may have moved since.