For: www.wireville.com
"Heard On The Street" Column
Issue: November 2007
By: Frank Bisbee
BISBEE’S BUZZ
Most business operations keep
diligent records of their money, assets, and liabilities. This inventory holds
true for almost all areas of operation, except TRAINING. Many of the businesses
involved in communications infrastructure are woefully negligent in tracking
the training of their staff. The problem is exacerbated by the rapid
development curve of technological advancements in information transport systems. Unless an accurate and up-to-date inventory
of the technology training is maintained, the company losses the vital
competitive edge and becomes, at best, just another “me too!” purveyor.
Some companies try to keep up
by hiring trained staff instead of developing the staff. This usually leads to
lower employee loyalty and dedication, because many of the technical staff
feels like there are no long-term opportunities with the employer. “Use them up
and throw them away when they fall behind the current market technology
requirements.” This is a sad commentary on management strategy. What makes this
scenario even worse is that many operations that are clueless on their training
inventory and have almost no plans to stay competitive and current.
Just look around at the vast
affordable resources for training. The excuse of “we can’t afford the training
now” is absolutely false. You cannot afford to fall behind on the training
front.
Training
resources
Trade
Publications
- Electrical Contractor Magazine
- Communications News
- CNS – Cabling Networking Systems Magazine
- Cabling Business Magazine
- Cabling Installation & Maintenance Magazine
- Lightwave Magazine
- TED (The Electrical Distributor) Magazine
- Power Outlet Magazine
- Heard on The Street monthly column on www.wireville.com
- Plus a host of newsletters
Industry
websites
Association
training and certifications
Vendor
training and certifications
Trade
Shows
Conferences
Live
training sessions
webinars
ON-LINE
Training
BICSI -- Industry association
providing knowledge transfer and educational resources for information
transport systems/cabling installation and design professionals. BICSI offers a
wide variety of educational tools and outlets including reference publications,
conferences, regional meetings, breakfast clubs, training courses as well as
exams. Currently, all industry professionals are invited to the 2008 BICSI
Winter Conference, January 14-17, in
We found a real affordable
gem from Cabling America. You can get the latest How to Books (self-paced training) in Cabling Installation,
CCTV, Fiber Optics and Security. http://www.cablingamerica.com/
It might surprise you to know that VDV
Works are probably the world's largest source of training materials and support
for cabling through our
Information is available at http://vdvacademy.com/
Ready To Learn Online Training
Opportunities
Training is the best and only
way for electrical contractors and
electricians to stay ahead in a world filled with changing markets,
technologies and methodologies. However, training can be expensive, and it
certainly is time-consuming to travel to another city to attend a
seminar on new products or new techniques. The advent of personal computers,
company networks and the Internet has taken some of the economic sting out of
training. This technology provides online distance learning opportunities for
electrical contractors and their employees. They can learn at their own pace,
without leaving the office or job site.
For more than a century,
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL),
Self-paced online courses
include Hazard-Based Safety Engineering (HBSE), which is targeted for design,
product safety and regulatory compliance engineers. It is designed to help
balance safety requirements and guidelines against other parameters, such as
usability, cost and customer satisfaction. Courses also include the National Electrical Code (NEC): a
Practical Application, which provides a detailed examination of the history of
the NEC and the Code proposal process, with an emphasis on how to use the NEC to locate and interpret Code requirements. UL University also
has a course on neon lighting, which is designed to provide a detailed
examination of the history of neon lighting and how it evolved, and it focuses
on the design, application and installation of neon systems in accordance with
the NEC.
StandardsLearn.org (www.StandardsLearn.org) is the portal
to online standards and conformity assessment education and offers free,
self-paced e-learning courses as a public service of the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI),
Understanding and correctly
applying the NEC is vital to
electrical contractors’ continued success. So the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA),
The four
certificate programs offer courses in automatic sprinkler systems, electrical
installation in hazardous locations, fire alarm fundamentals, and fire and life
safety in healthcare occupancies. Individual courses include sprinkler system
repair, automatic sprinkler inspection, testing and maintenance, sprinkler
design, identifying materials and equipment for hazardous locations, protection
methods concepts, zone classification, Class II wiring methods, introduction to
specialized fire detectors and supervisory initiating devices, fire alarm
functions and power supplies, basic circuit design, heat and smoke detectors,
and notification appliances. Other courses include handling flammable liquids
and an overview of the principle workplace fire extinguishers.
BICSI Inc., a Telecommunications
Association,
To further
help its members, the Management Education Institute (MEI) of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA),
The National Joint
Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC), Upper Marlboro,
In
partnership with Blue Volt,
Manufacturer-offered training
Training on
major electrical manufacturers’ products; information about installation
methods, safety and standards; and manufacturer certification courses are only
a mouse click away for anyone who is interested. Manufacturers recognize the
need electrical contractors have for this valuable training and, in today’s
ether-world, are able to provide it easily and cost-effectively, allowing the
contractor to gain the knowledge required to add value to its offerings.
■ Fluke Corp.,
■ Square D/Schneider Electric,
■ Panduit Corp.,
■ Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., Little Neck, N.Y. (www.leviton.com), offers ez-Learn,
which provides lessons in structured wiring products, life-saving electrical
safety devices, and the latest advances in lighting control and energy
management.
■ ElecTech, from Pass and Seymour/Legrand (P&S),
(www.passandseymour.com),
allows electricians and others to learn all about the company’s products and
earn credits towards P&S merchandise.
■ Advance Transformer Co.,
■ Siemens
Energy and Automation Inc.,
(www2.sea.siemens.com), has
self-study courses that range from free, online courses to its new pay-per-view
Safety Series and include foundation industrial electronics knowledge and basic
automation system skills.
■ Learning on the Go from Eaton Corp./Cutler-Hammer,
■ Cooper Bussmann Inc., Ellisville, Mo. (www.cooperbussmann.com), offers
e-training modules that cover listing and labeling, arc-flash hazards,
overcurrent calculations and protective devices, voltage ratings, and
electrical hazards, as well as industrial control panels, safety basics, and
technical training manuals.
This is just a short list of all
the training opportunities offered by manufacturers. In addition, more will
likely offer online training in the future.
Taking advantage of online
training is easy, cost-effective and enables electrical contractors to stay on
the cutting edge of rapidly advancing and evolving technologies. EC
BREMER, a freelance writer based in Solomons, Md., contributes frequently to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. She can be reached at 410.394.6966 or darbremer@comcast.net.
Reprinted with permission from Electrical Contractor Magazine (October
2007)
Remember; SAFETY
IS TOO IMPORTANT TO IGNORE.
Happy
Thanksgiving.
But that’s just
my opinion,
Frank Bisbee
"Heard On The Street" Monthly Column
www.wireville.com
4949 Sunbeam Rd, Suite 16
Jacksonville, FL 32257
(904) 645-9077
frank@wireville.com
3Com To Be Sold for $2.2 Billion To Bain Capital, Taken Private
3Com Corp., a
maker of networking hardware and software, will be sold to affiliates of
private equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC for $2.2 billion and taken
private, 3Com said Friday.
The cash deal
also gives Huawei Technologies,
By going private,
3Com hopes to free itself from markets' short-term financial expectations,
Edgar Masri, president and chief executive of Marlborough, Mass.-based 3Com,
told analysts in a conference call.
"As a private
company, we will be able to focus on our long-term strategic objectives,"
Masri said.
Shareholders will
receive $5.30 in cash for each share of 3Com stock, or a premium of about 44
percent over the stock's $3.68 closing price on Thursday.
3Com is a maker
of network equipment for data and telecommunications systems, with more than
6,000 employees in over 40 countries, and annual revenue of $1.3 billion. The
company's fortunes rose sharply during the late 1990s amid the technology boom.
3Com's stock price briefly rose above $100 in 2000, but later plunged as boom
turned to bust.
3Com had recently
been the subject of buyout speculation, and entertained competing offers. Masri
did not identify other bidders, but said the company decided the offer from
Boston-based Bain was the best, in part because of Bain's reputation as a
leading private equity firm with deep financial resources and ties in
He said the
premium that Bain is paying "validates the tremendous opportunity for
growth 3Com has ahead of it," particularly overseas.
3Com said its
board had unanimously approved the deal, and recommended shareholders approve
it. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of next year,
subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
3Com would be
required to pay a break-up fee of $66 million if it backs out of the deal,
while Bain would pay at least $66 million and up to $110 million if it backs
out, depending on the circumstances.
Masri declined to
specify how large of a minority stake that Huawei would have in 3Com after the
deal is completed, but said that information would be made public in coming
weeks.
Huawei also will
become a commercial and strategic business partner of 3Com, Masri said.
The companies
previously teamed up in a networking products joint venture called H3C, but
3Com bought out Huawei's 49 percent stake for $882 million in November 2006.
Trading of 3Com
shares was halted early Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported on its
Web site that 3Com planned to announce a sale to Bain and Huawei later in the
day. Shares rallied $1.20, or 32.6 percent, to $4.88 -- within range of the
reported purchase price -- before trading was shut down.
University Of Nebraska Deploys EKINOPS 360 Platform For High-Capacity Optical Network
The University of Nebraska (UNL)
has installed DWDM equipment from Ekinops, a leading provider of optical
transport and DWDM solutions, that massively increases connectivity to its
campus in
The new optical network took
part in a demonstration on Tuesday at the opening session of the Internet2
Member Meeting in
To enhance its participation in
the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) CMS project, the
university has deployed the Ekinops 360 platform, using multiple DWDM channels,
each running at 10 Gigabits per second. It increased the university’s available
bandwidth more than 48 times compared with its previous connectivity speed.
The Ekinops 360 is a
carrier-class optical transport platform designed for metro, regional, and
long-haul networks. The platform can aggregate and transport any Ethernet,
Fibre Channel, SONET, or SDH client protocol.
The
To fully participate in the
project, the university needed a network capable of carrying massive amounts of
data to its supercomputers. Approximately 200 Terabytes (200 trillion bytes) of
data are transported weekly.
Dale Finkelson, the university’s
network engineer, was tasked with finding a solution with greater transport
capacity to the university. “We evaluated different options but building our own
optical network and utilizing DWDM promised the greatest increase to our
capacity and was extremely affordable at the same time,” Finkelson explained.
The network span is 230 miles
and links the university campus in
Although the primary requirement
was to transport 10G data from the university’s routers, the university is also
using Ekinops aggregation technology for aggregating and transporting multiple
Gigabit Ethernet inputs over a 10G wavelength.
The university’s IT staff has
also found that despite the platform’s enormous capacity, the Ekinops 360 was
easy to install and operate. “Once the power and fibers were ready,
installation took half a day. People started using it 20 minutes after we
plugged it in, and it has run solid ever since,” said Finkelson.
Since deploying the new optical
network, the
“Academic and research
collaboration requires moving tremendous amounts of data and puts heavy demands
on the transport network,” said Jonathan Amir, Ekinops’ vice president of
sales. “A growing number of universities are relying on Ekinops for a simple,
high-capacity and cost-effective DWDM transport solution and we are very proud
of our work with the
APWMayville™ To Show Turnkey Rack Solutions At VON
APWMayville™, a division of
Mayville Products Corporation and a leader in rack and enclosure solutions for
the telecommunications, broadcast, audio/visual, security, and data communications
industries, will display a complete range of turnkey rack solutions for Telcos
at the upcoming VON Show starting October 29th at the
APWMayville’s turnkey rack
systems for the telecommunications industry leverage the company’s strengths in
broadcast and IT datacom, providing complete grounding systems and the ability
to effectively manage large volumes of cables for Telcos as they build out IPTV
headends for delivering broadcast TV services to the home.
APWMayville, exhibiting at
VON for the first time (Booth #564), will bring its E-Rack™ and Pioneer™
Seismic Rack to the show along with a variety of power, cabling, lighting and
cooling accessories. All products are
fully customizable with either rack to enhance functionality for Telco
integrators and engineers, and eliminate the need to purchase essential
components from multiple vendors. Both
the E-Rack and Pioneer Seismic rack are NEBS-compliant and UL listed to meet
all required telecommunications industry standards. The Pioneer Seismic rack is also seismically
rated.
“As more Telcos prepare to
launch IPTV to add television to their bundle of existing services, they will
require at least one central headend to house equipment that will receive,
encode, and transmit video on the way to the subscriber’s TV set,” said Dan
Eder, President of Mayville Products Corporation. “This equipment requires a sturdy, reliable
and flexible rack solution that can accommodate the cabling and power
requirements that comes with video headend equipment. APWMayville’s experience in the broadcast
industry is a benefit for Telcos that are building out IPTV headends, whether
it’s a single headend for a local or regional bell company, or a network of
central and localized headends for national Telcos.”
APWMayville racks come in
full range of heights, widths and depths to accommodate any integration
requirements. All E-Racks and Pioneer
Seismic racks come with vertical and horizontal lacing bars for cable management;
shelving options in the form of heavy duty, cantilevered and rollout shelves;
top and rack-mountable fans for moving cool air through the racks; customized
filler panels for a consistent appearance in empty rack spaces; and overhead
lighting for easier adjustment of front-panel equipment settings.
The company also offers its
PowerOptions™ range of thin power strips, which will be on display at VON. The PowerOptions family is a full range of
isolated-ground and standard-ground power strips and power distribution units
that increase versatility in the design and integration of rack systems. PowerOptions receptacles can be rotated
90-degrees to accommodate transformers, which would otherwise block adjacent
outlets on the power strip. The rotated receptacles allow all outlets on the
strip to be utilized regardless of transformer presence, all while keeping the
length of the power strip to a minimum.
The PowerOptions range offers
horizontal power strips for rackmounting, and vertical power strips that are
installed using the company’s PowerMount system. PowerMount systems carry out the basic
function of holding power strips in place, while providing the flexibility of
affixing power strips in virtually any location inside the rack. They offer a 180 degree swivel feature to rotate
the power strip during maintenance or integration procedures, reducing bends in
cabling and providing easier access to power cords. The entire strip can face the front, middle
or back of the cabinet.
APWMayville also offers
grounding solutions for its racks. This
includes banana jack receivers at the top of the racks, built-in ground lugs to
ground the rack frame, and grounding wire to connect with outside earth.
www.APWMayville.com
Network Video Technologies Joins NetClear ESS Affiliate Program
Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company,
and Ortronics/Legrand are pleased to announce that Network Video Technologies
(NVT) Inc. has been added as an approved affiliate vendor for the NetClear ESS
(Electronic Safety and Security) program.
Through IP convergence,
previously disparate disciplines, including data, video and power, are now
being connected together over one standardized structured cabling network to
allow the sharing of resources, which provides a higher level of network
efficiency, while increasing the network’s return on investment. Together Ortronics/Legrand and Berk-Tek, a
Nexans Company, have expanded their NetClear structured cabling solutions for
enterprises to include security and surveillance applications through the new
NetClear ESS program. “As part of
NetClear ESS, Berk-Tek and Ortronics are teaming up with associated vendors in
the CCTV realm, such as camera manufacturers and active component manufacturers
to offer proven integrated solution sets for both I.T. managers and security
integrators,” notes Chris Adams, Marketing Manager for Ortronics/Legrand. “Our goal is to offer our customers a group
of like-minded technology affiliates that can bring solution sets and system
experience to those ready to embrace IP technology for security applications.”
NVT is in the business of transmitting
CCTV video and supplying camera power over unshielded twisted pair wire via
structured cabling networks. “As an affiliate vendor, NVT provides products,
solutions and support to Berk-Tek and Ortronics/Legrand to educate the market
on the transition as analog CCTV moves from a coax-based infrastructure to
UTP-based,” states George Wojtan, Datacom Market Manager, NVT. “Together our
products will allow installers and end-users to benefit from the performance,
cost savings, simplicity, and future proofing of structured cabling,” he
adds.
Through NetClear ESS,
Ortronics/Legrand and Berk-Tek provide industry leading copper and fiber optic
structured cabling systems to assure scalability and performance for all types
of networks and technologies. “NetClear ESS solutions demonstrate a progressive
path to security over IP, from analog to hybrid to total IP, including running
data, video and power (PoE) over the same UTP cable,” notes Carol Everett
Oliver, RCDD, Marketing Analyst for Berk-Tek.
“Companies like NVT, are instrumental in providing that bridge for CCTV
and as convergence encompasses future building automation functions,” she adds.
As part of the NetClear ESS
initiative, educational programs, such as full-day seminars, on-site training
classes and webinars will be created for both security integrators and cable
installers.
About the NetClear Alliance
NetClear is a Technology Alliance between Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company, and
Ortronics/Legrand to provide advanced, end-to-end co-engineered solutions for
enhanced Category 5e, Category 6, Augmented Category 6 – 10 Gigabit and optical
fiber channels - all backed by a 25-year warranty. For more information, visit www.netclear-channel.com
About Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company
For more than 45 years, Berk-Tek has been a leading
manufacturer of more than 100 different network copper and fiber optic cable
products designed to transport high-speed voice, data and video transmissions.
For more information, visit www.berktek.com.
About Ortronics/Legrand
Ortronics/Legrand is a global leader in high performance
structured cabling solutions, services, and support. Ortronics offers a
complete range of Category 5e, 6 and 10 Gig copper, fiber optic, wireless and
residential/MDU connectivity solutions. In addition, Ortronics offers Cablofil®
wire mesh cable tray and Wiremold® pathways. For more information, visit www.ortronics.com.
BICSI MEMBERS ELECT NEW OFFICERS
BICSI members have chosen five officers to
serve two-year terms on the Board of Directors in voting that ended October 15.
Brian Hansen, RCDD/NTS Specialist has been
elected BICSI President-Elect. Hansen pledges to work side-by-side with
incoming BICSI President Ed Donelan, RCDD/NTS Specialist, to make BICSI the
leader in global standardization and ensure greater membership benefits. He
maintains residence in Rosemount, Minnesota and is a specification engineer for
the Voice & Data Division of Leviton.
Elected to the position of Treasurer is James
(Ray) Craig, RCDD/NTS Specialist. Craig is owner of Craig Consulting Services
in Coppell, Texas.
Also selected in this year’s election are the
following Region Directors:
§
U.S. Northeast
Region Director: Brian Ensign, RCDD/NTS/OSP Specialist
§
U.S.
North-Central Region Director: Jerry Bowman, RCDD/NTS Specialist (incumbent)
§
European Region Director:
Brendan (Greg) Sherry, RCDD/NTS/WD Specialist (incumbent)
The new officers will officially be
inaugurated in January 2008 during the BICSI Winter Conference at the Gaylord
Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.
###
BICSI is a professional
association supporting the information transport systems (ITS) industry with
information, education and knowledge assessment for individuals and companies.
BICSI serves more than 23,000 ITS professionals, including designers,
installers and technicians. These individuals provide the fundamental
infrastructure for telecommunications, audio/video, life safety and automation
systems. Through courses, conferences, publications and professional
registration programs, BICSI staff and volunteers assist ITS professionals in
delivering critical products and services, and offer opportunities for
continual improvement and enhanced professional stature.
Headquartered in Tampa,
Florida, BICSI membership spans nearly 100 countries. www.bicsi.org
Building Green News
Prefabricating Green: Building Environmentally
Friendly Houses Off Site
For a home in Walpole, New
Hampshire, Habitat for Humanity chose to build a prefabricated home with
precision-cut timbers and panels constructed at the Bensonwood factory by
volunteers; the panels were later assembled on site, also with volunteer labor.
The resulting house produced less waste material than a site-built house,
thanks to cutting equipment programmed to maximize the use of each piece of
wood. It was also built faster than a site-built house, including the time
spent assembling panels at the factory, and it featured a well-insulated building
envelope with strong attention to construction details. The house included
Bensonwood's unique measures designed to "disentangle" the
electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems from the structure, making them
easier to install and modify.
One of the benefits of
prefabrication is that waste materials from one house can be stored for later
use, limiting the amount of material that ends up in the landfill. According to
Andrew Gianino, owner of modular house distributor The Home Store, in Whately,
Massachusetts, building in a factory has another advantage: houses are built
from the inside out, making insulating and air-sealing easier.
Prefabricated housing has
long been touted as a cost-saving building process, particularly in areas with high
labor costs. This cost savings makes prefabricated housing a good choice for
affordable housing, but green options such as increased insulation or
environmentally friendly finish materials can currently raise costs, since the
assembly line must be changed for a single house.
Prefabricated housing has
come a long way from the metal-skinned trailer of the past, in design,
construction, and energy efficiency. Some companies are using the efficiencies
of prefabrication to bring green design and materials to more affordable homes,
but the industry as a whole has a long way to go to address environmental
building concerns.
To see the full feature
article:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=161001a.xml
The full article requires a
log-in to view, and is NOT available for re-publication. If you would like to
read the full article, and do not have a log-in, please contact Jerelyn Wilson
at Jerelyn@BuildingGreen.com.
You are welcome to post the
summaries and links from this email on your website(s), provided that you make
it clear that the stories are coming from Environmental Building News and that
the full article is available at www.BuildingGreen.com. Please include this
byline: From Environmental Building News, www.BuildingGreen.com.
BuildingGreen, Inc. owns the
copyrights to all material contained in this email and to the full written
articles. All rights are reserved except those explicitly granted herein.
Contact Jim Newman at BuildingGreen, Inc., Jim@BuildingGreen.com with questions
or for additional information.
Other Current Stories from
Environmental Building News:
When It's Greener To Build
Tristan Korthals Altes
Our architecture, no matter
how efficient, will always exact some environmental costs. But concern about
resource consumption should be a lens through which we examine buildings, not
the definition of green itself. We should also consider our fundamental ethics
of building: Why do we build? In what ways is the act of building green? When
there is a need for a building, and the design and construction team remains
loyal to the expression of that need, we see ecological and humane buildings
rise from the earth.
To read the full article:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=161002a.xml
Binders in Manufactured Wood
Products:
Beyond Formaldehyde
Backpage Primer from
Environmental Building News
Two glues, or binders as they
are called in the industry, dominate the manufactured wood products industry:
urea formaldehyde (UF) and phenol formaldehyde (PF). For interior-grade
products, including particleboard, MDF, and hardwood plywood, UF binders have
long been more popular because of their low cost and light color compared with
PF binders. For exterior-grade applications such as plywood and OSB, PF binders
are favored because of their better moisture resistance. While UF binders are
significantly less expensive than PF binders, they give off a lot more
formaldehyde -- a volatile compound that is classified as a known human
carcinogen.
To read the full article:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=161016a.xml
Websites Explain Energy Tax Incentives
Rachel Navaro
The existence of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) is well known; the fact that it was extended through
2008 might also sound familiar; the financial and environmental opportunities
that the Act, and other policies, create for builders, homeowners, and
commercial building owners, however, are less understood. This article provides
an annotated list of websites that offer a variety of information.
To read the full article:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=161015a.xml
BuildingGreen provides
information outlets such as Environmental Building News (EBN) that cover the
most pressing issues in environmental design and construction with a clear
approach to all sides of an issue, keeping our readers informed on building for
sustainability. This email brings you, as a news editor or website owner
interested in sustainable design, an excerpt from our top story for the month,
as well as links to other stories currently posted in the free area of www.BuildingGreen.com
All materials Copyright
BuildingGreen, Inc. 2007
Benefits Of Hosting The CABA Exhibit
- Your Company Brand will appear on the CABA Exhibit
- Complimentary Registration as a CABA Exhibitor to attend the show
- Display your Brochures and Flyers at the CABA Exhibit
- Opportunity to Network with thousands of Industry Professionals
- Receive
the contact information of all visitors to the CABA Exhibit
- Opportunity
to provide a Draw Prize from your company (Optional)
- Complimentary
Entry into the HOST'S DRAW for a FREE CABA
Research Report (Valued up to $4,200.00)
Due to CABA's large membership we are scheduling
members interested in hosting on a first call basis.
EHX Fall 2007 HALL HOURS
Wednesday, November 7, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday, November 8, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday, November 9, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
If you are interested in being a Host with the CABA
exhibit
at this year’s EHX Fall 2007 show please contact:
Ken Gallinger
Marketing Director
Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA)
gallinger@caba.org
Participate In A CABA Survey About iHOMES & Buildings Magazine
CABA is inviting all members of our
industry to participate in our short online survey on iHomes
& Buildings magazine. Taking the survey will allow CABA
to improve the quality of its publication to the benefit of both the industry
and CABA memebers. All those who participate in this survey will be automatically
entered into a draw to win a $500 discount on CABA research. The discount will
be applicable to either CABA's Connected Home Roadmap or Intelligent Buildings
Roadmap.
REDESIGNED CABA MAGAZINE TO OFFER
AFFORDABLE NEW ADVERTISING PACKAGES
CABA is pleased to announce that a
redesigned version of iHomes
& Buildings magazine will debut in late October. The
last edition can be accessed here.
CABA's magazine is designed to reach the
multi-billion dollar home system and building automation industry. It is a
leading source of industry news, opinion and research for industry
professionals and the general public.
Now it will be easier to read and specifically
targeted to promote your company's products and services. The new advertising
packages will be multi-platform, getting word out about your product on our Web
site, in printed format, and at highly targeted events.
Download
our new media kit to ensure that your company is featured in the
CABA magazine at both EH Expo and CES 2008.
CABA Invites You To The Family Ecosystem Forum
You are invited
to a CABA Internet Home Alliance Research Council (IHA-RA) special event. The
Family Ecosystem Forum will be held Oct. 30 at the Whirlpool Corporation Center
for Partnership Development in Benton Harbor, MI. This informative event will examine groundbreaking
market research on consumers and their spending intentions concerning
technology in the home. The Forum will
explore major research projects (over $270,000 in value) undertaken by the
IHA-RC (http://www.caba.org/iha) in the last year, including:
Digital
Kitchen, a study that investigated consumer electronics and appliances in use
in North American kitchens and determined which new products and services
homeowners would like to see added to their kitchens in the future; and
Senior
Living, a study undertaken with the National Association of Home Builders,
which identified the solutions consumers over the age of 50 want most in a home
to keep them safe, comfortable and living independently.
The
event will be special, because not only will the market research be discussed
but also tangible strategies to increase retail sales! Speakers are lined up from CABA, Crestron
Electronics, Exceptional Innovation, Home Automation, Inc., Whirlpool
Corporation and Zanthus Research.
Further, the one-day meeting will provide an opportunity for you to
network with leading market researchers, retailers and manufacturers who are
targeting the multi-billion dollar home technology marketplace.
Registration
fees start at $195. and you will receive an instant discount on IHA-RC
research. All delegates will receive the
Executive Summaries of the "Digital Kitchen" and "Senior
Living" Reports, plus $500 discount coupons to purchase the full research
reports.
To
register, go to http://www.caba.org/iha/ecosystemforum.html. Contact Fred Bryson, CABA's Business
Development Manager, at 613.686.1814 x226, 888.798.CABA (2222) or bryson@caba.org
for more details.
The event
is limited to 50 participants - so register quickly to confirm your spot! If you can't attend, please pass this
information to a colleague that may benefit from this research.
Regards,
Ron Zimmer, President & CEO
Continental
Automated Buildings Association (CABA) Your Information Source for Home &
Building Automation http://www.caba.org
Time is Now to Shore Up Office Building Vacancies in Chicago
Published on 10/10/2007 at www.MidwestBusiness.com where you
always read real perspectives
What needs to be done in
order to bolster downtown Chicago and suburban office building leases?
There is more economic fallout
from the sub-prime mortgage market crash and other mortgage credit issues as
real estate markets see an increase in vacancies at various office buildings.
Crain’s Chicago Business recently ran an article that
pointed out some of these trends in the suburban
Downtown Chicago is also
feeling some vacancy
problems as several high-profile buildings are being put onto the sales
block in the East Loop area. Two towers within the Illinois Center are for sale
as several large building owners in that area are thinking it’s a good time to
sell.
Some tenants are migrating to
newer buildings. What are their reasons? Are the amenities different? Are the
older buildings technologically obsolete?
Discount Rates or Sell?
Vacancies are rising in older
buildings and rents have to be discounted according to conventional wisdom in
the industry. Too many real estate executives panic in a market like this. They
go to the lowest common denominator: price per square foot.
This “strategy” (and I use
the term loosely) has been used all over as everything else goes out the door.
The way to try to entice a potential tenant is to drop from the market rate of
$20 a square foot to $17.50 until Harry across the street drops his to $14.95.
You then have to throw in six months of free rent on top of his new “market
price”.
While that was the way to do
it 30 years ago, times and strategies have changed. If they haven’t changed in
a real estate organization, they better because just dropping the price isn’t
going to work any more. The tenant market is much more sophisticated
(especially for class “A” office space).
If someone is selling a
building, the buyer better do much better due diligence. Most real estate
investment trusts (REITs) don’t look at the technology supporting the
building. The traditional approach for reviewing a building’s attributes has to
be augmented. Otherwise, they will pay too much and this market will soon
become a multimillion-dollar game of hot potato.
Building systems have to be
reviewed. How “smart” the building is has to be asked and answered before any
realistic price can be offered. A list of due diligence questions on technology
is not what most REIT executives have in their back pockets.
Strategies, Buildings Have
to Be Updated
If they are looking for
blue-chip tenants, I can assure you the idea of selling space as a commodity is
not going to work any more in attracting and maintaining a solid tenant mix.
This is part of my white paper that will be published later in 2007 in the
Intelligent Engineering Consortium’s annual review of communications:
“Intelligent
Business Campuses: Keys to Future Economic Development” is a thought leadership paper that was finished after
working on several planning issues with the DuPage National Technology Park.
Key industry people were also interviewed from across the country along with
several people from the Asian market.
The need to understand how to
position real estate is a much more sophisticated approach than many
traditional real estate and property managers have had to tackle. Corporate
site selection committees are looking for different amenities than when a
building may have been leased up five or 10 years ago.
This fact should be taken
into consideration when making an offer to buy one of these buildings.
Define Class ‘A’ Buildings
The definition of a class “A”
building has always been a building offering top-notch amenities and being in
the right location. Many real estate executives have yet to figure out that the
old real estate adage they still adhere to (“location, location, location”) has
changed to “location, location, connectivity”.
While broadband connectivity was
not on anyone’s criteria list 10 years ago, it is in the top three today. If
you think you are in a class “A” building today, it better have broadband
connectivity. That means fiber-optic connectivity and gigabit speeds. That
doesn’t mean DSL or T-1 connectivity.
In doing research a while
back while looking for class “A” buildings in DuPage County, there were more
than 60 buildings that had vacancies. As soon as you put “broadband
connectivity” in as a necessary amenity, that number dropped to six.
If a site selection committee
was looking for corporate space, 90 percent of the properties that property
management companies think are class “A” would be overlooked and therefore do
not “rate” as a class “A” rating.
What did I just say? You read
it right. Class “A” buildings are quietly being rated again just from a
standpoint of connectivity. To some, that sounds too radical.
If property managers don’t
have it as an amenity, they will be looking a long time for a replacement
tenant. While they can discount and discount and perhaps they will snag
someone, it won’t be a blue-chip tenant. That’s the reality of the market. This
is the quiet revolution that has been happening.
Many in the real estate
market have not seen it because they still have a lot of tenants on lease. As
leases end and tenants turn over for whatever reason, you will see more class
“A” buildings become less desirable. They won’t be able to attract and maintain
the blue-chip tenants that are looking at connectivity as a required amenity.
It’s already happening.
Unless developers and property management firms understand what needs to be
offered to attract and maintain quality business tenants, they are losing
tenants to new developments that may have been farsighted enough to add
broadband connectivity. This also affects the regional viability to sustain
economic development.
While traditional approaches
are good in traditional markets, this issue is changing tradition. If you don’t
think so, look at where corporate facilities are being located and relocated.
The buildings and surrounding community offer broadband connectivity. This is
true not only in the United States but in Asia as well.
Places like Far Glory Park in
Taiwan and Cyberport in Hong Kong are examples of campuses offering high-speed
connectivity as a common amenity for business tenants. As for organizations
buying existing buildings, they better understand what they are buying. They
don’t want to be playing hot potato in this market.
Carlinism: Intelligent buildings have been clustered together to
create intelligent business campuses.
Jim Carlini will be speaking at Rural TeleCon
’07 in
He will also lead a half-day seminar on the same topic
at the Building Industry
Consulting Services International’s winter
conference from Jan. 14 to 17, 2008 in
Check out Carlini’s blog at CarlinisComments.com.
James Carlini is an
adjunct professor at Northwestern University. He is also
president of Carlini & Associates. Carlini can be
reached at james.carlini@sbcglobal.net or
773-370-1888.
Click here for
Carlini’s full biography.
Copyright 2007 Jim Carlini
WiMAX World At McCormick Place In Chicago: Nothing Today is Free
Published on 10/3/2007 by www.Midwest
Carlini’s Comments, MidwestBusiness.com’s oldest column, runs
every Wednesday. Its mission is to offer the common man’s view on
business and technology issues while questioning the leadership and visions of “pseudo”
experts.
WiMAX will be a big
alternative to big cities especially after the “free” Wi-Fi business model has
fizzled, writes James Carlini following WiMAX World in Chicago.
Attending WiMAX World at
Chicago’s McCormick Place last week should have been an eye opener to anyone
who attended. There needs to be some big investments in network infrastructure.
This can’t be delegated to a third-party service provider offering a “free service,”
according to some of the executives who spoke in the panel discussions.
Nothing is free. Still,
several cities thought taking a hands-off approach from an investment
standpoint by bringing in a third party to build a wireless network would give
them the benefits of ubiquitous wireless connectivity without putting any money
into it. It doesn’t work that way. As I pointed out in columns back in June and
August:
Anyone thinking third-party
Wi-Fi is the ultimate answer is fooling themselves. There is no getting around
the issue that a network infrastructure is a big capital investment that can
provide great results if implemented correctly.
In many cases, cities didn’t
turn to seasoned professionals. They would have told them to get something more
substantial or that the network topologies being cited were inadequate.
Instead, they bought off on the hype of a new wonder technology along with its
evangelists.
Just as you wouldn’t expect
fire fighters to use garden hoses to put out fires, you can’t expect network
infrastructures to deliver huge amounts of bandwidth if you’re using a wireless
network that was never designed to be a fire hose of bandwidth.
If we explain it that way, perhaps
people will “get it right” instead of “getting burned” by inadequate network
designs.
The people advising these
cities to get a “free service” to add into the infrastructure without any
investment while keeping the rights to control and oversee the services are
just wrong. Their RFPs are also worthless because those who respond will match
it with a worthless network.
It was clearly pointed out at
one of the sessions that both providers and cities are “reassessing” their
“free network” concept, which actually killed some “first deals”. Some service
providers have gotten more selective in looking at municipal opportunities.
The bottom line is RFPs
coming out from various cities that want something for nothing are being passed
over. You need a real commitment from a municipality. It was also interesting
to see that some industry executives were more apologetic for the fizzling out
of municipal Wi-Fi projects.
Cutting Edge? Guess Again
One keynote speaker gave a
good overview of why we are slipping in the United States. While he didn’t say
it or directly imply it, that’s what I got out of it.
Won Pyo Hong, who is the
executive vice president of Samsung’s telecom systems, pointed out some
interesting developments in Korea, which seems to be more advanced in its
networks as well as devices that people can already use.
He focused on the fact that
the Korean market is very demanding for wireless connectivity and they already
have external mobile WiMAX devices. Korean early adopters can be categorized
with this information:
· 74 percent are individuals
· 80 percent are males
· 66 percent are in their 30s and 40s
· 26 percent are entrepreneurs
Here are some other interesting facts he pointed out:
· First click on the Internet is at 3 years old
· 51.6 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds access the
Internet 4.3 hours a day
What did I get out of his
informative speech? We need to catch up and in a hurry.
We are well beyond the
Information Age and even past the Internet Age. I would say we are at the
Mobile Broadband Age where people have high-speed access from a mobile device
that includes rich video capability. Aiming for anything less than that is like
saying we want to move from records to eight-track tapes in the age of
downloads.
There has been a big shift
from searching the Web for text-based information to adding video content and
social networks that mix all of this content together. Access for this type of
content has to be capable from handheld devices and not just desktop or laptop
computers.
Going the extra mile in
development of network architecture and applying technology to enterprises has
always been a strategic directive from my standpoint.
My philosophy has always been
you have to spend money to make money. Unfortunately, most executives would
rather cut corners or not even undertake a major technology upgrade for their
organization. That is very shortsighted in light of what is being generated
worldwide.
Being on a cutting-edge project
and creating something no one else has is a great endeavor. Those endeavors are
probably the best investment a public or private organization can undertake.
Sprint’s Xohm WiMAX service
looks to be very promising and was discussed by its CTO (Barry West) at one of
the discussions. They have partnered with Motorola and Nokia to offer a total
solution for users who want both mobility and broadband. This is an endeavor
they are currently working on and have committed to offer in many markets by
next year.
Worthwhile Exhibits
Many of the exhibitors at the
trade show had some interesting products and services that will have traction
in the industry. You can tell the wireless services are behind in the U.S.
because products like the handheld, folding Samsung Butterfly (SPH-P9000) are
available in Korea today but are not yet available in the U.S.
It has a decent-sized video
monitor as well as a keyboard. It is WiMAX enabled and has Bluetooth, a camera
and a miniature Windows XP computer. It is the second device on this video. Simply put,
the Butterfly will obsolete the Treo, Blackberry and other devices with a
miniature keyboard.
Carlinism: Just as one course in first aid doesn’t make you a
brain surgeon, one course in networks or a certificate doesn’t make you a
network infrastructure consultant.
Jim Carlini will be speaking at Rural TeleCon
’07 in
He will also lead a half-day seminar on the same topic
at the Building Industry
Consulting Services International’s winter
conference from Jan. 14 to 17, 2008 in
Check out Carlini’s blog at CarlinisComments.com.
James Carlini is an
adjunct professor at Northwestern University. He is also
president of Carlini & Associates. Carlini can be
reached at james.carlini@sbcglobal.net or
773-370-1888.
Click here for
Carlini’s full biography.
Copyright 2007 Jim Carlini
NBC Universal To Serve As CES’ First Official Broadcast Partner And Showcase Multi-Platform Content
New content developments from major players
in the entertainment industry will connect with the latest distribution
platforms at the 2008 International CES®, making CES the global hub
for all that’s new in digital entertainment. The 2008 International CES, the
world’s largest tradeshow for consumer technology, returns to Las Vegas,
January 7-10, 2008.
As CES’ first-ever “Official Broadcast
Partner,” select NBC Universal broadcast and cable entities will be
broadcasting live from the CES exhibition floor, covering the many exciting
product debuts and special events. In addition, NBC Universal, one of the
world’s leading media and entertainment companies, will debut an interactive
and multi-faceted show floor exhibition at CES, highlighting the wide range of
digital programming produced by its television, cable and motion picture
properties.
“The collaborative relationship between consumer
technology and the content industry remains stronger than ever, as consumers
crave their content and entertainment across multiple platforms, whether it’s
in the living room, in the car or on the go,” said Gary Shapiro, president and
CEO for the Consumer Electronics Association®, owner and producer of
the International CES. “With major content exhibitors, a keynote address from
Comcast’s Brian Roberts, Digital Hollywood and dozens of other educational
conference sessions and several exciting content attractions, the 2008
International CES is the year’s must-attend event for Hollywood and the content
community.”
"For over eighty years, NBC Universal's
powerful storytelling has drawn consumers to the latest and greatest
technologies and devices, from radio to television and cable to broadband and
mobile," said Beth Comstock, President, NBC Universal Integrated Media.
"We are proud to serve as the first-ever broadcast partner for the
International CES, the world's premier consumer technology tradeshow, allowing
us to showcase how powerful the partnership between quality content and
consumer electronics can be."
Also at the 2008 CES, the Technology &
Engineering Emmy Awards will take place for the second year, honoring
achievements in two areas: Science & Technology for Television, which
includes broadcast, cable and satellite distribution and Advanced Media
Technology, which includes interactive television, gaming technology, the
Internet, cell phones, private networks and personal media players.
“It has never been more clear that exploding
demand for high quality content, of all kinds, on all platforms, is a key
factor driving the unprecedented growth in consumer electronics today, "
said Mark Lukasiewicz, Vice President of Digital Media for NBC News and one of
NBCU's project leaders at CES. "Our presence on the CES show floor this
year gives us a unique opportunity to show the CE industry the rich content
that NBCU has to offer worldwide, and to cover this pivotal industry event for
consumer and business audiences on all our platforms.”
This year’s International CES will house more
than 175 conference sessions, including various sessions focused on the content
and entertainment industry. CES attendees will hear from top industry
professionals on emerging trends focused on the latest developments in the
content market.
Conference sessions with a focus on content and entertainment include:
- Hollywood and the Digital Consumer: How
Technology, Content and Services Establish the Next Level of Consumer
Entertainment Experience – Part of
the Digital Hollywood Partner Program, attendees will learn about the
entertainment industry’s next "golden age" of production, and
gain insight into how the industry is anticipating and responding to
consumer needs in an on-demand, fully integrated world of television, film
and gaming.
- All Video All the Time: Broadband, IPTV, DVD and
Mobile – In this Digital
Hollywood session, attendees will hear predictions from industry experts
on the future of IP delivery and its impact on the film industry.
- Movies, TV and Video for Mobile: Original
Entertainment & Information Programming Jump-Starts the Revolution – As consumers worldwide begin tuning into a
mobile video universe, attendees will learn about the challenges facing
the transformation of the communications world.
For more news on the 2008 International CES
before, during and after the show, including information on CES exhibitors,
conference sessions and TechZones, visit www.CESweb.org.
Note to
Journalists:
General press and analyst
registration, as well as detailed press conference information, is available at
www.CESweb.org.
Journalists are encouraged to arrive in Las Vegas by Saturday, January 5, to
take advantage of all the CES press events, including CES Unveiled from 4-7
p.m. on January 5.
New MetroScope™ Carrier Ethernet Analyzer Reduces Deployment Costs For Service Providers Rolling Out Differentiated Services
Portable
analysis and troubleshooting tool with unique LinkReflector far-end device
helps carriers reduce CapEx costs up to 40% over competing solutions
Fluke
Networks, provider of innovative Network SuperVision Solutions™ for the
testing, monitoring and analysis of enterprise and telecommunications networks,
today announced the availability of MetroScope™ carrier Ethernet
analyzer. This new portable analysis and troubleshooting tool offers
savings of up to 40% for service providers deploying carrier Ethernet
services. MetroScope’s cost savings are provided through a unique,
low-cost, gigabit Link Reflector that allows end-to-end RFC 2544, jitter, and
bit-error-rate (BERT) testing without a second MetroScope at the far end of the
link.
New
far-end device offers testing alternatives
MetroScope includes a
first-to-market, low cost, gigabit LinkReflector remote tester that lets
carriers perform complete SLA testing with full control from one end of the
link. This offers carriers several testing alternatives. Carriers can
deploy multiple far-end devices on complex networks for a fraction of the cost
of existing solutions. They can leave reflectors at customer sites or
points-of-presence (POPs), ready for testing when needed. Alternatively,
carriers can use the MetroScope as a centralized tester, deploying technicians
with LinkReflectors. In addition to working with the MetroScope to qualify
links, the LinkReflector offers powerful troubleshooting functionality for
Ethernet links. All of these testing alternatives offer improved test
results while reducing costs.
“Fluke
Networks helps carriers achieve two critical business needs: migrating from
legacy to next generation services, and implementing process improvement
solutions that improve productivity and lower operating costs ”, said Ed
Sztuka, Vice President for Fluke Networks’ Communication Service Provider
business. “MetroScope helps with both.”
MetroScope
lets carriers define custom tests to demonstrate compliance with service level
agreements (SLAs) associated with new, differentiated service offerings.
MetroScope also conforms with testing standards, including RFC 2544. By
offering carriers a low-cost means of proving SLA and standards compliance,
MetroScope addresses two of the biggest hurdles carriers face with carrier
Ethernet deployment.
Experience
in network testing applied to carrier Ethernet
MetroScope takes advantage of more than a decade of Fluke Networks IP expertise
to a battery of in-depth IP tests including, traffic monitoring, VLAN discovery
and monitoring, SNMP monitoring, and TraceSwitch Route™. High-accuracy
jitter measurements let carriers certify Ethernet links for VoIP and IPTV
delivery.
MetroScope
can easily be carried in one hand, but it is also designed with web-based
remote control. Used remotely, a technician at the customer site can
consult with remote experts within the organization and resolve complex
problems. This not only saves money by putting expert knowledge closer to the
source of the problem with less travel cost, but solves the customer’s problem
faster.
Product
availability
The new MetroScope Service Provider Assistant is available for immediate
delivery from Fluke Networks carrier sales channels worldwide. More
details can be found at www.flukenetworks.com/metroscope.
OptiView Integrated Network Analyzer
Fluke Networks, provider of
innovative Network SuperVision Solutions™ for the testing, monitoring and
analysis of enterprise and telecommunications networks, today announced major
new capabilities for its OptiView Series III Integrated Network Analyzer. This market leading, portable monitoring and
troubleshooting tool now offers network engineers a new application
troubleshooting expert option that dramatically reduces time to problem
identification.
Users can now see new views
of network traffic, including round trip network latency, plus the response
time of the far end server. Traffic data
is presented via a new graphical transactions chart, presenting results in an
intuitive, visual format. This makes
identifying the true nature of a problem much easier to see and
understand. The transactions chart
includes drill-down capability, providing the fastest, simplest means of
capturing packet level detail.
“Our customers tell us they
have to constantly prove that application problems are not network problems,”
said Dan Klimke, Fluke Networks Marketing Manager for Portable Network
Analysis. “They need to provide evidence
to other groups within IT showing where the real source of the problem resides.
The new Application Troubleshooting Expert gives them that proof.”
Network documentation without
manual labor Also new to the OptiView Series III Integrated Network Analyzer is
OptiView Reporter, which turns automated network discovery into complete
network documentation using Visio based mapping. This greatly simplifies and reduces the time
to complete documentation tasks, which used to take weeks of manual labor, to a
matter of minutes.
Increased VLAN visibility
The OptiView Series III
Integrated Network Analyzer can now see all VLANs on the network by analyzing
all VLAN tagged traffic. This helps in
identifying and resolving VLAN configuration questions, and balancing traffic
loads between VLANS. With the deployment of VoIP VLANs all the way to the
desktop, ensuring correct configurations is vital for voice quality. This increased VLAN visibility helps users
manage their network more efficiently, saving both money and time.
The OptiView Series III
Integrated Network Analyzer supports four primary IT initiatives:
• Deploying new technologies
and applications
• Managing and validating
infrastructure changes
• Solving network and
application performance issues
• Securing the network from internal threats
This is accomplished by using
extensive discovery capabilities and providing visibility into every piece of
hardware, application and connection on
the network.
Product availability
The new application
troubleshooting expert option for the OptiView Series III Integrated Network
Analyzer is available for immediately from Fluke Networks channel partners
worldwide. Upgrade details for existing
Integrated Network Analyzer owners can be found at
www.flukenetworks.com/optiview
Graybar Awarded New General Services Administration contract
Company will provide more than 28,000 products through MRO Schedule 51V
Graybar, a leading distributor
of communications and electrical products and related supply chain management
and logistics services, has been awarded a new, five-year General Services
Administration (GSA) contract.
The MRO Schedule 51V Hardware
Superstore Contract GS-21F-0003U opens the door for government buyers to
purchase from Graybar more than 28,000 products from 49 suppliers for their
electrical, lighting, power management, safety, plumbing and other MRO needs.
"Government customers face
the challenge of improving operational efficiencies and procuring more material
– all within compressed time frames and with limited resources,” commented
Graybar Senior Vice President – Sales and Distribution Dennis DeSousa. “This
contract win is the result of Graybar’s strategic investment in serving
government customers that includes specialized sales and service support, an
expanded product offering and advanced e-business tools.”
In combination with Graybar’s
communications and data products contract, GSA IT Schedule 70 Contract
GS-35F-0374M, this new agreement gives government organizations access to a
wide breadth and depth of products from Graybar’s 230 U.S. stocking locations.
The U.S. Department of Defense,
federal agencies such as FEMA, NASA, and the FBI, and authorized government
contractors are among the organizations that may purchase through the GSA
contracts.
# # #
About Graybar
Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in
North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical,
telecommunications and networking products, and specializes in related supply
chain management and logistics services.
Through its network of more than 250 North American distribution
facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers,
serving as the vital link to hundreds of thousands of customers. For more information, visit http://graybar.com
or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.
Graybar Opens In Collinsville, Ill.
$5-billion distribution
leader expands its presence in the bi-state area with 12th location
Graybar, a leading
distributor of electrical and communications products and related supply chain
management and logistics services, has opened a 10,000-sq.-ft. distribution
facility in Collinsville, Ill. An open
house featuring electrical, comm/data and security solutions will be held on
Wednesday, Oct. 3, to mark the official opening.
With the addition of this
facility, the company now has 12 locations throughout Missouri and Illinois,
including regional distribution centers in Joliet, Ill., and Springfield,
Mo.
Located at 2800 Eastport
Plaza Drive near the intersection of Interstate 255 and Horseshoe Lake Road,
the branch inventory is backed by a $4.5 million inventory in the St. Louis
distribution center and a $10 million inventory in the Springfield, Mo.,
regional distribution center. Graybar
Collinsville features a counter operation and one-hour will-call service Monday
through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with after-normal-business-hours
emergency service as needed. The phone
number is (618) 343-1745.
Leading Graybar Collinsville
is Branch Manager Tim Schaeffer. He and
his staff have more than 37 combined years with the company and 61 years of
industry experience. Staff members
include John Biermann, supervisor counter sales, Amy Brooks, senior counter
sales representative, and Don Wessel, material handler.
“With the opening of our new
location, Graybar can better serve the growing Collinsville community,” said Branch
Manager Tim Schaeffer. “We are ready to
help our customers power and network their facilities, offices and housing with
speed, intelligence and efficiency.”
Harger’s Signal Reference Grids
Harger Lightning & Grounding pr