Item 1. Business.
Overview
AAON, Inc., a Nevada corporation, (“AAON Nevada”) was incorporated on August 18, 1987. Our operating subsidiaries include AAON, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation ("AAON Oklahoma"), AAON Coil Products, Inc., a Texas corporation ("AAON Coil Products"), and BasX, Inc., an Oregon corporation ("BASX"). Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report to “AAON”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or “ours” refer to AAON Nevada and our subsidiaries.
We are engaged in the engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and sale of premium air conditioning and heating equipment consisting of standard, semi-custom, and custom rooftop units, data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, packaged outdoor mechanical rooms, air handling units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, condensing units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, coils, and controls.
Business Segments
The Company conducts its business through three business segments: AAON Oklahoma, AAON Coil Products, and BASX.
AAON Oklahoma: AAON Oklahoma designs, manufactures, sells, and services standard, semi-custom, and custom heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC") systems, designs and produces controls solutions for all of our HVAC units, and sells retail parts to customers through our two retail part stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma as well as online. Through our Norman Asbjornson Innovation Center ("NAIC") research and development laboratory facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company is able to test units under various environmental conditions. AAON Oklahoma includes the operations of our Tulsa, Oklahoma and Parkville, Missouri facilities, our NAIC research and development laboratory facility and two retail parts locations.
AAON Coil Products: AAON Coil Products designs and manufactures a selection of our standard, semi-custom, and custom HVAC systems. AAON Coil Products also designs and manufactures various heating and cooling coils to be used in HVAC systems, mostly for the benefit of AAON Oklahoma and AAON Coil Products. AAON Coil Products consists of operations at our Longview, Texas facilities.
BASX: BASX provides product development design and manufacturing of custom engineered air handling systems including high efficiency data center cooling solutions, cleanroom HVAC systems, commercial/industrial HVAC systems, and modular solutions. Additionally, BASX designs and manufactures cleanroom environmental control systems to support hospital surgical suites, pharmaceutical process facilities, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, laboratory and isolation and modular cleanrooms for facility flexibility. BASX consists of operations at our Redmond, Oregon facility.
For more information on our business segments' financial position and results of operations, refer to Note 22, "Segments," of the notes to consolidated financial statements.
Business and Marketing Strategy
Our products serve the commercial, industrial, data center cooling solutions, and cleanroom new construction and replacement markets within the HVAC equipment industry. Our business strategy involves mass customization that uses flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce standard, semi-custom, and custom equipment and combines the low unit costs of mass production processes with the flexibility of individual customization. Through a collaborative effort with our independent representative sales offices, we design and manufacture the precise semi-custom product offering that best serves the customer's needs.
Our marketing strategy focuses on customers and markets that demand HVAC equipment with higher performance, greater energy efficiency, and best indoor air quality. We manufacture equipment with more capabilities than the standard offerings found in the HVAC equipment industry. We further focus on developing a company culture focused upon customer satisfaction, reducing product delivery channel time and cost, and continuing with the goal of product and manufacturing technology leadership and innovation. Our product mix, with a heavy investment in research and development, has an emphasis on energy efficiency, environment, and indoor air quality.
We are committed to designing and manufacturing innovative HVAC products of the highest quality, efficiency, and performance. As such, we are committed to meeting certification standards of the relevant standard setting bodies, including the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (“AHRI”); the American National Standards Institute ("ANSI"); American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers ("ASHRAE"); the Air Movement and Control Association ("AMCA") and the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO").
To date, our sales have been primarily derived from the domestic market. Foreign sales accounted for approximately $27.6 million, $14.8 million, and $11.7 million of our net sales in 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. As a percentage of net sales, foreign sales accounted for approximately 3.1%, 3.0%, and 2.0% of our net sales in each of those years, respectively.
Products - AAON Oklahoma and AAON Coil Products
Our rooftop and condensing unit markets primarily consist of units installed on commercial or industrial structures of generally less than ten stories in height. Our air handling units, self-contained units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, and coils are suitable for all sizes of commercial and industrial buildings.
The size of these markets is determined primarily by the number of commercial and industrial building completions and replacement demand from existing buildings. The replacement market consists of products installed to replace existing units/components that are worn or damaged and products to upgrade certain components, such as low leakage dampers, high efficiency heat exchangers and modern controls components.
The commercial and industrial new construction markets are subject to cyclical fluctuations in that they generally lag behind the housing market. The housing market, in turn, is influenced by cyclical factors such as interest rates, inflation, consumer spending habits, employment rates, the state of the economy and other macroeconomic factors. When new construction is down, we emphasize the replacement market.
Based on our 2022 combined sales of $771.1 million at AAON Oklahoma and AAON Coil Products, we estimate that we have approximately a 12% share of the greater than five ton rooftop market and a 2% share of the less than five ton market. The ratio of sales for new construction versus replacement is related to various factors. Generally, the cyclicality of the new construction market impacts this ratio the most over an economic cycle.
We purchase certain components, fabricate sheet metal and tubing and then assemble and test the finished products. Our primary finished products consist of a single unit system containing heating and cooling in a self-contained cabinet, referred to in the industry as “unitary products”. Our other finished products are coils, air handling units, condensing units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, rooftop units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, and controls.
We offer three groups of rooftop units: the RQ Series, consisting of five cooling sizes ranging from two to six tons; the RN Series, offered in 28 cooling sizes ranging from six to 140 tons; and the RZ Series, which is offered in 15 cooling sizes ranging from 45 to 261 tons.
The RQ series and RN Series, 2 to 50 tons, feature the option of our Zero Degree Cold Climate Air-Source Heat Pumps. Our Zero Degree Cold Climate Air-Source Heat Pumps are a critical solution to meet the increasing demand for building decarbonization in cold climates. With variable speed operation, these heat pumps provide energy efficient heating and cooling throughout the seasons and the heat pump heating performance has been tested in the NAIC down to an ambient temperature of 0oF.
We also offer the SA, SB and M2 Series as indoor packaged, water-cooled or geothermal/water-source heat pump self-contained units with cooling capacities of three to 70 tons.
Our condensing unit, the CF Series, is available from 2 to 70 tons.
Our air handling units consist of the indoor H3 and V3 Series and the modular M2 Series, as well as air handling unit configurations of the RQ, RN, RZ, and SA Series units.
Our energy recovery option applicable to our RQ, RN, RZ, and SB units, as well as our H3, V3, and M2 Series air handling units, responds to the U.S. Clean Air Act mandate to increase fresh air in commercial structures. Our products are designed to compete on the higher quality end of standardized products.
Our RN, RQ, M2, and SB Series, are AHRI certified in accordance with ANSI/AHRI/ASHRAE/ISO 13256.
Our unitary products (RQ and RN Series) are certified with AHRI and the US Department of Energy to ANSI/AHRI 210/240 up to 5 tons capacity and ANSI/AHRI 340/360 up to 63 tons capacity.
Performance characteristics of our products range in cooling capacity from 2 to 261 tons and in heating capacity from 7,200 to 4,500,000 British Thermal Units ("BTUs"). Many of our products far exceed these minimum standards and are among the highest efficiency products currently available in the market.
A typical commercial building installation requires one ton of air conditioning for every 300-400 square feet or, for a 100,000 square foot building, 250 tons of air conditioning, which can involve multiple units.
Our packaged rooftop units with two stage or variable speed compressors are optimized with high efficiency evaporator and condenser coils and variable speed fans, leading to an AHRI Certified performance up to 20.3 SEER and 22.5 IEER. AAON H3/V3 Series energy recovery wheel air handling units provide energy efficient 100% outside air ventilation by recovering energy that would otherwise be exhausted from a building.
We design and produce controls solutions for all of our HVAC units including rooftop units, air handlers and water-source heat pumps. We provide factory-developed and tested controls options for variable air volume systems associated with those units and other HVAC related equipment.
We offer several controls options: the Orion Controller, Pioneer Gold, Pioneer Silver, terminal block for field installed controls, and factory installed customer provided controls. Most of our controls are Underwriters Laboratories category ZPVI2 compliant and BACnet Testing Laboratories certified which ensures our products meet internationally recognized standards for safety, traceability, conformance, and production quality. Our economizer function is California Title 24 certified to minimize energy consumption. Our proven sequences of operation optimize the performance of our HVAC units.
Out of the box, our controls are user-friendly and configurable to provide a variety of HVAC unit application options, but we are also able to customize our controls to meet customers’ unique requirements. We have controls solutions that enhance our products unique features and capabilities.
Products - BASX
The products BASX manufactures are highly engineered and customized products, fully complementing our existing business. BASX data center cooling solutions are focused on providing highly configurable, purpose-built equipment with a focus on efficiency, speed of deployment, and quality. High-performance air-cooled chiller solutions are provided with indirect airside economization and optional adiabatic assisted cooling, and are designed to integrate with high performance computing systems requiring direct to chip cooling. White space process cooling solutions include fan coil walls, computer room air handling ("CRAH") units, overhead fan coils, in-row coolers, and chilled water air handlers. Packaged solutions include coupled economizing chillers with integrated air handling units, direct evaporative coolers, and packaged direct expansion ("DX") solutions with airside economizers.
BASX cleanroom products are built to provide environmental control serving critical processes and high-fidelity control for precise industry requirements. Process cooling solutions include recirculation air handling units and make up air handling units including integration of piping systems and controls. Environmental control solutions include modular cleanroom environments, fan filter units, filtered ceiling grids with integral flush mount lighting, pressurized plenums with integral ceiling grids, and hospital surgical suites.
BASX custom air handling products are primarily used in commercial, industrial, healthcare, and institutional facilities employing chilled water cooling, packaged direct expansion, heating hot water, indirect gas direct heat, humidification, dehumidification, filtration, and integrated controls. BASX manufactures plenum fans for
integration into air handling units as well as for replacement applications. BASX also offers integrated sound performance solutions.
Air Quality Products
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") pandemic fueled a great deal of concern over best practices in the design and operation of building HVAC systems. In order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, influenza, and other similar type respiratory diseases, we have performed significant research on what affects the transmission of these diseases and how AAON HVAC systems can be best designed. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers ("ASHRAE"), a professional association with a goal of advancing HVAC systems designs and construction, established an Epidemic Task Force in 2020 and determined several recommendations to mitigate the spread of the virus, including humidity control, air filtration, increased outdoor air ventilation, and air disinfection.
Humidity control - We continue to lead the market in developing energy efficient humidity control with the use of variable capacity compressors and modulating hot gas reheat. Designing HVAC systems with superior humidity control allows building management to maintain ASHRAE’s recommended ambient relative humidity levels of 40%-60%, the ideal level to inactivate viruses in the air and on surfaces.
Air Filtration - We standardized a design that uses a backward curved fan wheel, which can accommodate higher airflow and static pressure required for the ASHRAE recommended MERV 13 filtration, the minimum filter level for virus mitigation, with very little reconfiguration. Prior to 2020, a vast majority of commercial buildings used filtration levels of MERV 4 to MERV 8, which has always been acceptable for filtering out typical particulates in the air stream.
Outdoor Air Ventilation - Our innovative use of energy recovery wheels and energy recovery plates combined with its superior humidity control design can help building management follow outdoor ventilation air recommendations while limiting an increase of energy usage and maintaining recommended humidity levels.
Air Disinfection - Our basic design characteristics allow for an easy installation of ultraviolet lighting equipment. In addition to this equipment offered as options in new units sold, our basic design characteristics allow for easy installation in units already used in the field.
Overall, we are well positioned to accommodate the heightened demand for features that can help mitigate virus transmission and improve indoor air quality. The features that ASHRAE recommends require premium designs and configurations that are standard in our units. As a result, we are able to incorporate air quality features into our units at a minimal price premium and with no delivery delay.
Representatives
As of December 31, 2022, we employ a sales staff of 69 individuals and utilize approximately 64 independent manufacturer representatives’ organizations (“Representatives”) having 127 offices to market our products primarily in the United States and Canada. Sales are made directly to the contractor or end user, with shipments being made from our Tulsa, Oklahoma, Longview, Texas, Parkville, Missouri, or Redmond, Oregon facilities to the job site.
Historically, our products and sales strategy focused on niche markets. However, market trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic and indoor air quality, decarbonization and energy efficiency, and higher energy prices, have positioned us to focus on a wider spectrum of the nonresidential HVAC equipment industry. The targeted markets for our equipment are customers seeking products of higher performance and better quality than those offered, and/or options not offered, by standardized manufacturers.
To support and service our customers and the ultimate consumer, we provide parts availability through our Representatives' sales offices, as well as our two Tulsa, Oklahoma operated retail parts stores, to serve the local markets. We also have factory service organizations at each of our facilities. Additionally, a number of the Representatives we utilize have their own service organizations, which, in connection with us, provide the necessary warranty work and/or normal service to customers.
We have a program focused on increasing service capabilities across our North America Representative network, by assisting Representatives with business plans, providing training, and creating a cohesive network of service organizations to better meet the operational and maintenance needs of our customer base.
Warranties
Our product warranty policy is the earlier of one year from the date of first use or 18 months from date of shipment for parts only, including controls; 18 months for data center cooling solutions and cleanroom systems; five years for compressors (if applicable); 15 years on aluminized steel gas-fired heat exchangers (if applicable); 25 years on stainless steel heat exchangers (if applicable); and ten years on gas-fired heat exchangers in our historical RL products (if applicable). Our warranty policy for the RQ series covers parts for two years from date of unit shipment. Our warranty policy for the WH and WV Series geothermal/water-source heat pumps covers parts for five years from the date of installation.
The Company also sells extended warranties on parts for various lengths of time ranging from six months to ten years. Revenue for these separately priced warranties is deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the separately priced warranty period.
Major Customers
One customer, Texas AirSystems LLC, accounted for 10% or more of our sales during 2022, 2021, and 2020. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our sales during 2022, 2021, and 2020. One customer, Texas AirSystems LLC, accounted for more than 10% of our accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2022. No customers accounted for more than 10% of our accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2021.
Backlog
Our backlog as of February 1, 2023 was approximately $547.3 million, compared to approximately $347.6 million as of February 1, 2022. The current backlog consists of orders considered by management to be firm and our goal is to fill orders within approximately 25 weeks after an order is deemed to become firm; however, the orders are subject to cancellation by the customers in which case, cancellation charges apply up to the full price of the equipment.
Competition
Our AAON Oklahoma and AAON Coil Products product offerings primarily compete with Lennox (Lennox International, Inc.), Trane (Trane Technologies plc), York International (Johnson Controls International PLC), Carrier (Carrier Global Corporation), and Daikin (Daikin Industries). Our BASX product offerings primarily compete with Vertiv (Vertiv Holdings Co.), STULZ (STULZ Air Technology Systems, Inc.), Munters, Silent Aire (Johnson Controls International PLC), Nortek (Nortek Air Management), and Engineered Air.
All of our publicly traded competitors are substantially larger and have greater resources than we do. Our products compete on the basis of total value, quality, function, serviceability, efficiency, availability of product, reliability, product line recognition, and acceptability of sales outlets. Historically, our premium equipment was sold at a higher average price compared to most of the competition. In the replacement market and other owner-controlled purchases, we have been successful at taking market share due to the total value proposition and lower cost of ownership our products provide to building owners over the life span of the equipment. In the new construction market where the contractor is the purchasing decision maker, we were often at a competitive disadvantage because of the emphasis placed on initial cost. However, due to operational efficiency improvements we made over the last several years, the cost of our semi-custom equipment is more comparable to the standard equipment market. As a result, the value proposition of our higher quality equipment is now more attractive, making us more competitive in both the new construction and replacement markets.
Resources
Sources and Availability of Raw Materials
The most important materials we purchase are steel, copper, and aluminum. We also purchase from other manufacturers certain components, including coils, compressors, electric motors, and electrical controls used in our products. We attempt to obtain the lowest possible cost in our purchases of raw materials and components, consistent with meeting specified quality standards. We are not dependent upon any one source for raw materials or the major components of our manufactured products. By having multiple suppliers, we believe that we will have adequate sources of supplies to meet our manufacturing requirements for the foreseeable future.
We attempt to limit the impact of price fluctuations on these materials by entering into cancellable and non-cancellable contracts with our major suppliers for periods of six to 18 months. We expect to receive delivery of raw materials from our contracts for use in our manufacturing operations.
Working Capital Practices
Working capital practices in the industry center on inventories and accounts receivable. Our management regularly reviews our working capital with a view of maintaining the lowest level consistent with requirements of anticipated levels of operation and expected supply chain restraints. Our working capital requirements are generally met by cash flow from operations and a bank revolving credit facility, which currently permits borrowings up to $200.0 million and had a $71.0 million outstanding balance at December 31, 2022. Borrowings available under the revolving credit facility at December 31, 2022, were $128.2 million. We believe that we will have sufficient funds available to meet our working capital needs for the foreseeable future.
Research and Development
Our products are engineered for performance, flexibility, and serviceability. This has become a critical factor in competing in the HVAC equipment industry. We must continually develop new and improved products in order to compete effectively and to meet evolving regulatory standards in all of our major product lines.
We self-sponsor our Research and Development (“R&D”) activities, rather than needing to be customer-sponsored. R&D activities have involved the RQ, RN, and RZ (rooftop units), H3, SA, V3, and M2 (air handling units), CB (condensing unit), and the SA and SB (self-contained units), as well as component evaluation and refinement, development of control systems and new product development. R&D expenses incurred were approximately $46.8 million, $16.6 million, and $17.4 million in 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. The significant increase for the year ended December 31, 2022 was related to the inclusion of a full year of operations of BASX (Note 4) as well as our commitment to product performance and innovation.
Our NAIC research and development laboratory facility includes many unique capabilities, which, to our knowledge, exist nowhere else in the world. A few features of the NAIC include supply, return, and outside sound testing at actual load conditions, testing of up to a 300 ton air conditioning system, up to a 540 ton chiller system, and 80 million BTU/hr of gas heating test capacity. Environmental application testing capabilities include -20 to 140°F testing conditions, up to 8 inches per hour rain testing, up to 2 inches per hour snow testing, and up to 50 mph wind testing. We believe we have the largest sound-testing chamber in the world for testing heating and air conditioning equipment and are not aware of any similar labs that can conduct this testing while putting the equipment under full environmental load. The unique capabilities of the NAIC will enable us to lead the industry in the development of quiet, energy efficient commercial and industrial heating and air conditioning equipment.
The NAIC currently houses twelve testing chambers. These testing chambers allow us to meet and maintain AHRI and U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") certification and solidify the Company’s industry position as a technological leader in the manufacturing of HVAC equipment. Current voluntary industry certification programs and government regulations only go up to 63 tons of air conditioning as that is the largest environmental chamber currently available for testing outside of our facility. The NAIC contains both a 100 ton and a 540 ton chamber, allowing us to uniquely prove to customers our capacity and efficiency on these larger units.
The NAIC was designed to test products well beyond the standard AHRI rating points and allows us to offer testing services on our equipment throughout our range of product application. This capability is vital for critical facilities where the units must perform properly and allows our customers to verify the performance of our units in advance, rather than after installation. These same capabilities will enable AAON to develop a new extended range of operational products and prove their capabilities.
Our Parkville, Missouri location is home to our new Electronics Prototyping Lab ("Lab") featuring a fully functional SMD (Surface Mount Device) production line. The production line incorporates automated pick-and-place equipment able to quickly and accurately place devices as small as 0.1mm by 0.2mm, the same technology scale used in cell phones. The production line also includes a profiled reflow oven to assure reliability in the finished prototypes. The Lab has allowed us to increase our speed to market and incorporate cutting-edge technology into our control designs. In addition, it allows our Controls Engineering team to utilize their hardware and software skills to outpace our Competitors in responding to market changes and upsets.
Patents, Trademarks, Licenses, and Concessions
We do not consider any patents, trademarks, licenses, or concessions to be material to our business operations, other than those described below.
We hold several patents that relate to the design and use of our products. We consider these patents important, but no single patent is material to the overall conduct of our business. We proactively obtain patents to further our strategic intellectual property objectives. We own certain trademarks we consider important in the marketing of our products and services, and we protect our marks through national registrations and common law rights. Our patents have legal terms of 20 years with expiration dates ranging from 2023 to 2039.
The Company’s trademarks, certain of which are material to its business, are registered or otherwise legally protected in the U.S.
Seasonality
Historically, sales of our products were moderately seasonal with the peak period being May-October of each year due to timing of construction projects being directly related to warmer weather. However, in recent years, given the increase in demand of our products and increase in our backlog, sales has become more constant throughout the year.
Environmental & Regulatory Matters
Laws concerning the environment that affect or could affect our operations include, among others, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, regulations promulgated under these Acts and any other federal, state or local laws or regulations governing environmental matters. We believe that we are in compliance with these laws and that future compliance will not materially affect our earnings or competitive position.
Since our founding in 1987, we have maintained a commitment to design, develop, manufacture, and deliver heating and cooling products to perform beyond all expectations and to demonstrate our quality and value to our customers. Our equipment is designed with energy efficiency in mind, without sacrificing premium features and options. In addition to our high standard of product performance, is a commitment to sustainability for our employees, our stockholders, and our customers. We strive to conduct our business in a socially responsible and ethical manner with a focus on environmental stewardship, team member safety and community engagement. We comply with industry regulations and requirements while pursuing responsible economic growth and profitability.
In 2022, we published our fourth annual environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") report sharing our approach in the material areas of stakeholder engagement, innovation and efficiency, environmental responsibility, climate change, occupational health and safety, talent attraction and retention, diversity and inclusion, community engagement and investment, corporate governance and ethics and compliance. The report also highlights achievements and long-term targets related to greenhouse gas emissions, hazardous waste recycling, and non-fossil fuel consuming products. We participate in a sustainability benchmarking initiative (The Sustainability Alliance Scor3card) through which we monitor and report in the material areas of energy, material management, water,
community stewardship, transportation, communication, and health. We achieved Platinum level in this program in 2022 and 2021. Our ESG committee provides oversight for ESG activities, ESG report development and an internal grassroots sustainability committee provides education opportunities, communications and recommendations to the Company on a regular basis.
We are committed to environmental responsibility and continue to make progress toward reducing greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions, increasing hazardous waste recycling from our facilities and increasing the percentage of non-fossil fuel powered units we produce. Our approach toward emissions reduction and climate change includes product solutions for our customers and improvements to our own facilities. Approximately one-quarter of our energy portfolio is currently derived from renewable sources, and the Company's Scope 1 and 2 emissions (emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization and emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling) are being tracked. We opted into an additional percentage of renewable energy at our Tulsa, Oklahoma facilities in 2022, continued to invest and partner on projects that reduce GHG emissions globally and selected to begin the transition to the lower global warming potential R-454B refrigerant starting in 2023. We continue to develop and manufacture non-fossil fuel consuming units to provide the most sustainable commercial HVAC equipment in the market and announced the zero degree cold air-source heat pump in 2022 as a critical solution that meets the increasing demand for building decarbonization in cold climates.
In the area of energy efficiency and conservation, our Tulsa, Oklahoma and Longview, Texas facilities have transitioned to over 95% LED lighting in our facilities leading to considerable cost savings and reduced energy consumption. Our Redmond, Oregon facilities are installing LED lights into any new fixtures in their current facility and working towards retrofitting old fixtures to LED. We participate in an energy demand response program through the public utility provider to reduce demand during peak hours. Energy efficiency has been a priority not only in product development, but also in overall capital investments which include the acquisition of new, energy efficient equipment for the production floor, new high-speed overhead facility doors, the installation of new HVAC equipment, building control systems, the application of heat and light reflective material to production facilities, along with other behavioral-based energy efficiency changes. We are tracking our energy usage intensity before and after these updates.
In the area of material management, we focus on recycling, reducing, reusing and sourcing more environmentally-friendly materials into our processes. At our Tulsa, Oklahoma and Longview, Texas facilities, we recycled over 14,928 tons and 13,793 tons of metal in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Also, through our partnership with a waste to energy facility, we successfully diverted over 668 tons and 460 tons of waste from landfills in 2022 and 2021, respectively. We have identified hazardous waste recycling partners for paint products at both our Tulsa, Oklahoma and Longview, Texas facilities. We also recycle paper, wood, and cardboard where available. We continue to innovate ways to reduce and reuse shipping packaging between facilities and identify new opportunities to reduce or reuse items in our production and administrative areas.
Human Capital Resources
Our employees are not represented by unions or other collective bargaining agreements. Management considers its relations with our employees to be good. The following table represents the number of our direct employees and contract personnel we employed on each respective date:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| As of | | As of | | As of | | |
| February 22, 2023 | | February 22, 2022 | | February 23, 2021 | | |
| AAON Oklahoma | 2,474 | | 1,979 | | 1,778 | | |
| AAON Coil Products | 681 | | | 574 | | 490 | | |
BASX1 | 511 | | | 328 | | | — | | | |
| Total employees | 3,666 | | | 2,881 | | | 2,268 | | | |
1 BASX was acquired by the Company on December 10, 2021. | | |
Our key human capital measures include employee safety, turnover, absenteeism, and production. We frequently benchmark our compensation practices and benefits programs against those of comparable industries and in the geographic areas where our facilities are located. We believe that our compensation and employee benefits are competitive and allow us to attract and retain skilled and unskilled labor throughout our organization. Some of our notable health, welfare, and retirement benefits include:
•Employee medical plan (with 175% employer health saving plan match)
•401(k) Plan (with 175% employer match)
•Profit sharing bonus plan
•Tuition assistance program
•Paid time off
•Paid parental leave
•Military pay
Available Information
Our Internet website address is http://www.aaon.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, will be available free of charge through our Internet website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information on our website is not a part of, or incorporated by reference into, this annual report on Form 10-K.
Copies of any materials we file with the SEC can also be obtained free of charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, or by calling the SEC at 1-800-732-0330.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following risks and uncertainties may affect our performance and results of operations. The discussion below contains “forward-looking statements” as outlined in the Forward-Looking Statements section above. Our ability to mitigate risks may cause our future results to materially differ from what we currently anticipate. Additionally, the ability of our competitors to react to material risks will affect our future results.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and stock price can be adversely affected by pandemics, epidemics, or other public health emergencies, such as COVID-19.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic, and the President of the United States declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency. The outbreak resulted in governments around the world implementing increasingly stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, “shelter in place” and “stay at home” orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments, school closures, vaccination or testing mandates and other measures. In addition, governments and central banks in several parts of the world enacted fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the impacts of COVID-19.
We are considered a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Although we have continued to operate our facilities to date consistent with federal guidelines and state and local orders, the outbreak of COVID-19 and any preventive or protective actions taken by governmental authorities may have a material adverse effect on our operations, supply chain, customers, and transportation networks, including business shutdowns or disruptions. During 2022 and 2021 we experienced price increases in our components and raw materials, especially copper and steel, which appear to be a result of COVID-19, as well supply chain challenges related to certain manufacturing parts.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience materially adverse impacts to our business due to any resulting economic recession or depression. Additionally, concerns over the economic impact of COVID-19 have caused extreme volatility in financial and other capital markets which may adversely impact our stock price and our ability to access capital markets. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Annual Report, such as those relating to our products and financial performance.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our business can be hurt by economic conditions.
Our business is affected by a number of economic factors, including the level of economic activity in the markets in which we operate. Sales in the commercial and industrial new construction markets correlate to the number of new homes and buildings that are built, which in turn is influenced by cyclical factors such as interest rates, inflation, consumer spending habits, employment rates, and other macroeconomic factors over which we have no control. In the HVAC business, a decline in economic activity as a result of these cyclical or other factors typically results in a decline in new construction and replacement purchases which could impact our sales volume and profitability.
Our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively impacted by the loss of a major customer.
From time to time in the past we derived a significant portion of our sales from a limited number of customers, and such concentration may continue in the future. In 2022, 2021, and 2020, one customer, Texas AirSystems LLC accounted for more than 10% of our sales. The loss of, or significant reduction in sales to, a major customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flow. Further, the addition of new major customers in the future could increase our customer concentration risks as described above.
Our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively impacted by the loss of a major third-party representative.
We are dependent on our third-party representatives to market and sell our products. If such relationships were terminated for any reason, it could materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues and profits. Certain of our competitors with greater financial resources than us could target our third-party representatives for exclusive sales channels. We may not be able to secure additional third-party representatives who will effectively market our products in certain geographical areas. In addition, adding new representatives requires additional administrative efforts and costs. If we are unable to establish new representative relationships or continue current relationships, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We may incur material costs as a result of warranty and product liability claims that would negatively affect our profitability.
The development, manufacture, sale and use of our products involve a risk of warranty and product liability claims. Our product liability insurance policies have limits that, if exceeded, may result in material costs that would have an adverse effect on our future profitability. An excess of or significant claim(s) could lead to the cancellation of our polices and the loss of and inability to find additional insurance carriers. In addition, warranty claims are not covered by our product liability insurance and there may be types of product liability claims that are also not covered by our product liability insurance.
We depend on our senior leadership team and the loss of our Chief Executive Officer or one or more key employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our officers and senior leadership team. In particular, our Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), Gary D. Fields, is critical to our vision, strategic direction, culture, and overall business success. Furthermore, Mr. Fields' extensive industry knowledge and sales-channel experience would be difficult to replace. We also rely on our senior leadership team in the areas of research and development, marketing, production, sales, and general and administrative functions. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior leadership team resulting from the hiring or departure of senior leadership team members, which could disrupt our business. While we have a robust succession plan in place for each one of our officers and senior leadership team members, the loss of one or more could have a serious adverse effect on our business.
We do not maintain key-man insurance for Gary D. Fields or any other member of our senior leadership team. Other than the employment agreements negotiated with certain employees of BASX, we do not have employment agreements with our officers or senior leadership team members that require them to continue to work for us for any specified period and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The employment agreements with the employees of BASX guarantee certain compensation, such as salary and benefits, and employment terms. We do not believe the terms or conditions of these agreements are outside the standard expectation of another employee at a similar level.
Operations may be affected by natural disasters, especially since most of our operations are performed at a single location.
Natural disasters such as tornadoes, ice storms and fires, as well as accidents, acts of terror, infection, and other factors beyond our control could adversely affect our operations. Our facilities are in areas where tornadoes are likely to occur, and the majority of our operations are at our Tulsa, Oklahoma facilities. With the acquisition of BASX in 2021, we now have operations in an area that is, historically, effected by wild fires. The effects of natural disasters and other events could damage our facilities and equipment and force a temporary halt to manufacturing and other operations, and such events could consequently cause severe damage to our business. We maintain insurance against these sorts of events; however, this is not guaranteed to cover all the losses and damages incurred. Furthermore, we may experience increases in our insurance premium costs in relation to these matters that may have a material adverse effect upon our business, liquidity, financial condition, or results of operations.
If we are unable to hire, develop or retain employees, it could have an adverse effect on our business.
We compete to hire new employees and then seek to train them to develop their skills. We may not be able to successfully recruit, develop, and retain the personnel we need. Unplanned turnover or failure to hire and retain a diverse, skilled workforce, could increase our operating costs and adversely affect our results of operations.
Variability in self-insurance liability estimates could impact our results of operations.
We self-insure for certain employee health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance coverage up to a predetermined level, beyond which we maintain stop-loss insurance from a third-party insurer. Our aggregate exposure varies from year to year based upon the number of participants in our insurance plans. We estimate our self-insurance liabilities using an analysis provided by our claims administrator and our historical claims experience. Our accruals for insurance reserves reflect these estimates and other management judgments, which are subject to a high degree of variability. If the number or severity of claims for which we self-insure increases, it could cause a material and adverse change to our reserves for self-insurance liabilities, as well as to our earnings.
Risks Related to Our Brand and Product Offerings
We may not be able to compete favorably in the highly competitive HVAC business.
Competition in our various markets could cause us to reduce our prices or lose market share, which could have an adverse effect on our future financial results. Substantially all of the markets in which we participate are highly competitive. The most significant competitive factors we face are product reliability, product performance, service, manufacturing lead-times, and price, with the relative importance of these factors varying among our product line. Other factors that affect competition in the HVAC market include the development and application of new technologies and an increasing emphasis on the development of more efficient HVAC products. Moreover, new product introductions are an important factor in the market categories in which our products compete. Several of our competitors have greater financial and other resources than we have, allowing them to invest in more extensive research and development. We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competition and current and future competitive pressures faced by us may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We may not be able to successfully develop and market new products.
Our future success will depend upon our continued investment in research and new product development and our ability to continue to achieve new technological advances in the HVAC industry. Our inability to continue to successfully develop and market new products or our inability to implement technological advances on a pace consistent with that of our competitors could lead to a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Furthermore, our continued investment in new product development may render certain legacy products and components obsolete resulting in increased inventory obsolescence expense that may have a material adverse effect upon our financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to Material Sourcing and Supply
We may be adversely affected by problems in the availability, or increases in the prices, of raw materials and components.
Problems in the availability, or increases in the prices, of raw materials or components could depress our sales or increase the costs of our products. We are dependent upon components purchased from third parties, as well as raw materials such as steel, copper and aluminum. Occasionally, we enter into cancellable and non-cancellable contracts on terms from six to 18 months for raw materials and components. However, if a key supplier is unable or unwilling to meet our supply requirements, we could experience supply interruptions or cost increases, either of which could have an adverse effect on our gross profit.
We risk having losses resulting from the use of non-cancellable contracts.
Historically, we have attempted to limit the impact of price fluctuations on commodities by entering into non-cancellable contracts with our major suppliers for periods of six to 18 months. We expect to receive delivery of raw materials from our contracts for use in our manufacturing operations. These contracts are not accounted for using hedge accounting since they meet the normal purchases and sales exemption.
Risks Related to Electronic Data Processing and Digital Information
Our business is subject to the risks of interruptions by cybersecurity attacks.
We depend upon information technology infrastructure, including network, hardware and software systems to conduct our business. Despite our implementation of network and other cybersecurity measures, our information technology system and networks could be disrupted due to technological problems, a cyber-attack, acts of terrorism, severe weather, a solar event, an electromagnetic event, a natural disaster, the age and condition of information technology assets, human error, or other reasons. To date, we have not experienced a material impact to our business or operations resulting from cyber-security or other similar information attacks, but due to the ever-evolving attack methods, as well as the increased amount and level of sophistication of these attacks, our security measures may not be adequate to protect against highly targeted sophisticated cyber-attacks, or other improper disclosures of confidential and/or sensitive information. Additionally, we may have access to confidential or other sensitive information of our customers, which, despite our efforts to protect, may be vulnerable to security breaches, theft, or other improper disclosure. Any cyber-related attack or other improper disclosure of confidential information could have a material adverse effect on our business, as well as other negative consequences, including significant damage to our reputation, litigation, regulatory actions, and increased cost.
We are reliant on information technology.
We are reliant on information technology in all aspects of our business, operated and maintained by the Company as well as under control of third parties. If we do not invest sufficient capital in a timely manner to acquire, develop, or implement new information technologies or maintain or upgrade current information technologies, we could suffer outages as well as be at a competitive disadvantage within our industry which could have a material adverse effect upon our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Governmental Regulation and Policies
Exposure to environmental liabilities could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our future profitability could be adversely affected by current or future environmental laws. We are subject to extensive and changing Federal, state and local laws and regulations designed to protect the environment in the United States and in other parts of the world. These laws and regulations could impose liability for remediation costs and result in civil or criminal penalties in case of non-compliance. Compliance with environmental laws increases our costs of doing business. Because these laws are subject to frequent change, we are unable to predict the future costs resulting from environmental compliance.
We are subject to potentially extreme governmental regulations and policies.
We always face the possibility of new governmental regulations, policies and trade agreements which could have a substantial or even extreme negative effect on our operations and profitability. Several intrusive component part governmental regulations are in process. If these proposals become final rules, the effect would be the regulation of compressors and fans in products for which the Department of Energy does not have current authority. This could affect equipment we currently manufacture and could have an impact on our product design, operations, and profitability.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains provisions to improve transparency and accountability concerning the supply of certain minerals, known as “conflict minerals”, originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries. As a result, in August 2012, the SEC adopted annual disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use conflict minerals in their products. Accordingly, we began our reasonable country of origin inquiries in fiscal year 2013, with initial disclosure requirements beginning in May 2014. There are costs associated with complying with these disclosure requirements, including for due diligence to determine the sources of conflict minerals used in our products and other potential changes to products, processes or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. The implementation of these rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply, and pricing of materials used in our products. As there may be only a limited number of suppliers offering “conflict free” conflict minerals, we cannot be sure that we will be able to obtain necessary conflict minerals from such suppliers in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Also, we may face reputational challenges if we determine that certain of our products contain minerals not determined to be conflict free or if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all conflict minerals used in our products through the procedures we may implement.
Our operations could be negatively impacted by new legislation as well as changes in regulations and trade agreements, including tariffs and taxes. Unfavorable conditions resulting from such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to adverse changes in tax laws.
Our tax expense or benefits could be adversely affected by changes in tax provisions, unfavorable findings in tax examinations, or differing interpretations by tax authorities. We are unable to estimate the impact that current and future tax proposals and tax laws could have on our results of operations. We are currently subject to state and local tax examinations for which we do not expect any major assessments.
We are subject to international regulations that could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Due to our use of Representatives in foreign markets, we are subject to many laws governing international relations, including those that prohibit improper payments to government officials and commercial customers, and restrict
where we can do business, what information or products we can supply to certain countries and what information we can provide to a non-U.S. government, including but not limited to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.K. Bribery Act and the U.S. Export Administration Act. Violations of these laws, which are complex, may result in criminal penalties or sanctions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in legislation or government regulations or policies could adversely effect on our results of operations.
Our sales, gross margins and profitability could be directly impacted by changes in legislation or government regulations or policies. Specifically, changes in environmental and energy efficiency standards and regulations related to global climate change are being implemented to curtail the use of hydrofluorocarbons which are used in refrigerants that are essential to many of our products. Our inability or delay in developing or marketing products that match customer demand while also meeting applicable efficiency and environmental standards may negatively impact our results.
We are transitioning to a new refrigerant with lower global warming potential for our HVAC systems and must be fully compliant under current governmental regulations by 2025. We expect to incur costs associated with this transition related to the purchase of the new refrigerant as well as additional sensors and detectors on our HVAC systems. In addition, we expect to incur cost to our facilities, specifically costs to store and use the new refrigerant in production; however, we do not expect these costs to be significant. Due to the increased flammability of the new refrigerant, the insurance industry may require higher premiums for companies once the conversion begins. Furthermore, due to the expected increased demand of the newer refrigerants as well as the older hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (as they are phased out), we expect to see increased manufacturing costs related to purchases of refrigerants and could see higher costs for future warranty claims.
Future legislation or regulations relating to environmental policies, product certification, product liability, taxes, amount and availability of tax incentives and other matters, may impact the results of each of our operating segments and our consolidated results.