President's Blog

This weekend, you’ll likely want to leave work at the office as you head to your scheduled Super Bowl festivities. But as the football championship plays out so will a few electrical trends. Can you catch them? 

Packed among the dramatic plays, top-notch entertainment and quirky ads, the big game brings to light the latest opportunities in our industry, such as: 

• Alternative Energy: Power generated at a North Dakota wind farm will offset 15,000-megawatt hours of game-time electricity, courtesy of credits from Green Mountain Energy Company, which is also donating a solar array for the city’s neighborhood revitalization project.  This green power will be associated with use at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indiana Convention Center, media center and surrounding hotels.

• Energy Efficiency: Last year, GE estimated more than 11.3 million kWh of power were consumed when 158.5 million TVs tuned into the big game. Leading up to this year’s game, the NFL took a series of steps to address environmental impact, including investment in 800 home energy audits. The stadium itself also saves energy through a CPI daylighting system and fans that circulate the air efficiently.

• EV Charging Stations: As thousands of fans converge on Indianapolis, they’ll see a city gearing up for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, with charging stations at the airport and Super Bowl Village, the epicenter of all things football.

• Integrated Technology: CNN declares this year’s game “the most high-tech ever,” and judging by the stats, an enormous amount of cabling and equipment was needed to make it happen. The stadium boasts a massive data center, capable of storing 100 terabytes of data; 3,500 HD screens hanging throughout the stadium; and the world’s largest video board -- 600 tons, 72 feet tall, 160 feet wide and 25,000 square-feet of displays.

• LED Lighting: For those who only tune in for the commercials, be on the lookout for Audi’s use of LEDs. The luxury carmaker plans to use them in its prime advertising slot to promote its 2013 sedan. You may also catch a glimpse of LED technology as the camera pans out to Super Bowl Village’s spectacular lighting display. 

In 20 years, we can look back on this game and see the big trends that drove our industry. Will you be prepared?

This week distributor and manufacturing partners came together in Phoenix for the 2012 Western Region Conference.

For our members, it was a chance to network with colleagues, attend timely education sessions, and get updated on trends. For me, it was a chance to listen to the regional concerns of our members.

And this year, I heard a lot. Fortunately, I had a three-hour plane ride home to process everything that came up over the last four days. Some of my biggest takeaways were:

• Slight changes can leave a lasting impact. Executive leaders were charged up by keynote speaker Sean Tuohy, who used his inspirational story as seen and heard in The Blind Side  to demonstrate how small, positive changes, like smiling or using first names, can give employees the encouragement they need to aim high.
  
• You are keeping score. Many members are using the Supply Chain Scorecard to benchmark profitability, efficiency and relationships within the channel. If you're not one of them, I encourage you to see what the buzz is all about.
• Special pricing remains an issue. As the NAED continues to look at improving the SPA process, members discussed launching a more in-depth study as well as a calculator tool for determining the true cost of handling SPAs.
• We're tuned into technology. Our technology education session drew some of the largest crowds, as members came out to hear how panelists from the industry were implementing technology strategies. We'll be including this topic in future events, so put this session on your schedule.
• Diversity is critical to our future. Programs promoting women in industry and the multigenerational workplace have us, as an industry, looking inward to discover how we best evolve and grow. I heard members talking frequently about building on these topics with diversity initiatives. Keep an eye out for this emerging area.
  

The event also offered a chance for me to see how broad industry trends and issues play out at the regional level. One such trend that's really resonating throughout the west is renewable energy.

After a year of exploration on the topic, the Western Region Council unveiled a new web resource for NAED members looking to take advantage of new opportunities in wind and solar. Check it out and look for it to expand in the future.

Our education and networking sessions gave attendees an opening for frank discussion on the tactics and tools they need to succeed in the months and years ahead. I look forward to seeing this again in just a few weeks at our South Central Region Conference. Folks in that region are encouraged to sign up and attend!

Mark Twain once said, "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." Seems some things, like procrastination, never change.

But as we all know, procrastination doesn't make difficult undertakings disappear. That's especially true when we think about how our businesses adapt to change.

Industry veterans can attest to the changes that have shaped the electrical distribution channel over the years. The economy swings, customer needs shift, products advance, and we revise our operations.

But I think we all need to start contemplating the next 20 years because our fallback strategies and solutions just will not apply as they do today.

Consider, for example, the business implications for a world where billboards monitor and analyze people passing by, switching their message depending on the consumer's profile. Or where farming equipment alters they way it works based on the crop-condition data it receives via satellite and ground sensors.

This is not the future. These real-world examples from McKinsey Quarterly are happening now, and they offer a glimpse into the operations, capabilities and market needs of tomorrow.

Trends Magazine forecasts we'll see more than 50 billion electronic devices connected to the Internet by 2020. This means bridges, roads, cars, hospital beds, in-store signage -- virtually any thing will be able to acquire and exchange information that helps us in our daily lives.

Will electrical distribution be prepared? Will we have the knowledge and skills to help our customers navigate in a world like this? Will we able to spot emerging opportunities and plan for the risks?

I say, "Yes," provided we end the procrastination and start planning. I see NAED members already thinking ahead when they attend our meetings, participate in our committees, and apply new industry knowledge to their businesses. Many are investing in smart technologies, energy-efficient solutions and other new markets, and I think many more will follow.

But the concrete questions remain: Where will you take your business in the next 10 to 20 years? As an industry, where will we be? I'd like to hear your ideas and predictions. Feel free to leave your comments below.

This month brings the start of survey season for the NAED, as questionnaire forms for the 2012 Performance Analysis Report and Employee Compensation and Benefit Survey hit member mailboxes.

These reports are among the most valuable tools that NAED provides its members. For years, distributors have used these tools to benchmark and chart the growth and efficiency of their businesses and to help attract and retain good employees. In fact, we have heard from members -- some who have grown from small players to very large ones -- that these benchmarking tools were essential to their growth and performance improvement over the years.

But for these studies to fully depict the industry, we need your participation. Now and then I hear from members concerned that participation requires letting go of their competitive secrets. While I understand the apprehension, let me reassure you of the facts: 

• All responses remain confidential.
• NAED staff never sees your individual results. The Profit Planning Group, a third-party profitability research firm, conducts these surveys on our behalf.
• The results help our industry operate profitably, productively and efficiently, which benefits our individual businesses and our customers.
  

Make 2012 the year you participate in these surveys. Scope out a sample PAR survey, check out the video below, and revisit survey webinars on the NAED Learning Center. Get familiar with the format, watch for the surveys in the mail and respond. It's that simple.

Then, get your personalized PAR report for $300, along with the PAR Highlights report that's free to participants. The Compensation Survey is also discounted for participants to $95, or $295 for those who chose not to participate.

Have a question? Leave a comment below or contact our Member Services at 888-791-2521 or memberservices@naed.org.