Michael W. Lamach - Ingersoll-Rand Plc
Management
Yeah, Jeff, it's a great question, and thanks for the opportunity to step back and look at it, because I look back over the seven years that I've been in this role and I remember when Industrial was the sweetheart of the portfolio, right, from 2009 to 2011, even through 2013, and we were expanding margins so fast that it afforded us the opportunity to do all the great investment we made in the Trane res and commercial businesses, which is really why you're seeing the numbers that you're seeing today in that business. And so now it's flipped. You remember that was all happening with no real commercial – certainly no institutional support coming from construction markets. And now that's flipped and it's allowed us the opportunity to keep factories fairly loaded. It's given us the opportunity to keep technical professionals highly engaged in development of product, and all that really just sets up where at some point when the commercial market in HVAC slows down, when institutional eventually fades, our hope is that we've got a strong, refreshed, energy-efficient, reliable portfolio sitting particularly in Compression Technologies. And we're going to leverage that, just like we did from 2009 to 2011 when it grew 7 full points. We are very leveraged here toward some of those fixed costs. Where we play in the market is in the big machine. It's not the Cameron – and when I talk Cameron I'm talking about Cameron plus all the 250 to 400 horse centrifugal air compressors, of which we're the leader now in that area. And we don't really participate much in the vacuum and blower business, which had some growth in it. So we have a product portfolio and a position in the market in these larger machines. That's what's getting hurt right now, and we're not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater here on that, for sure. That's why in addition to – I had mentioned the product development, but the machining investments, I mentioned last call and this call, those are going to continue. And we will put $50 million into machining in this downturn, so that when we emerge out of this thing we're going to be more productive. The hope is that it's not just 7 points of margin. It's more than 7 points of margin coming back. So Jeff, I think I really have got my head around the value of what we have created around integrating the portfolio, and over the long run not really so interested in a flash in the pan around some multiple for short cycle. I'm really interested in building the value of the company over the long run. And again, step back to 2009, Jeff. If you invested back in 2009, you are a very happy investor and I thank you for all the Christmas cards we get to that effect. But it's because we've had the portfolio that we've had.