ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR MAGAZINE FEATURED GEORGE STROUMBOULIS ON THE LED LIGHTING INDUSTRY
FEATURE AT A GLANCE
Outlet: tED Magazine
Archive date: August 22, 2011
Format: Trade magazine feature — August 2011 issue
Language: English
Journalist / host: Susan Bloom
FEATURE SUMMARY
tED Magazine’s August 2011 article, Work in Progress, examined opportunities and technical challenges that LED lighting presented to electrical distributors. George Stroumboulis contributed a manufacturer’s perspective through Solais Lighting. The feature focused on evaluating products and choosing partners amid confusing claims, changing technology and pricing concerns, with practical attention to metrics, transparency and testing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The article brought together comments from lighting industry professionals about the developing LED market.
Solais’ guidance included choosing partners carefully, understanding metrics and testing products.
The discussion addressed distributors’ need to assess LED products individually rather than rely on broad claims.
FEATURE DETAILS
George Stroumboulis was featured in tED Magazine’s August 2011 issue in a feature article titled “Work in Progress”. The article, featured in the “products” section, presented comments from a panel of industry lighting professionals commenting on LED technology and how LEDs present both new sales opportunities and technical challenges to distributors.
tED (the Electrical Distributor) Magazine (www.tedmag.com) is the leading publication for the top distributors in North America. tED is read by distribution companies in the industry and is targeted to salespeople and key executives – looking for relevant and insightful industry-related information.
Solais Vice President, George Stroumboulis, was asked a series of questions regarding LED technology and how it relates to the distribution industry from a manufacturer’s perspective. “As anyone who’s walked the Lightfair show over the past few years knows, LEDs are the dominant lighting technology on display” said Stroumboulis.
Solais provided a list of tips for approaching the LED market. "Misinformation, high costs, ignorance, and lack of transparency coming from all facets of the LED world can certainly make it very challenging for distributors to truly evaluate LEDs on a product-by-product basis" said Stroumboulis. Tips shared in the article, included: choose your partners wisely, master the metrics, be aware and urge real-time testing.
Excerpt from tED Magazine’s August 2011 “Work in Progress” feature.
Link to online source: https://tedmag.com/
READABLE EXCERPT FROM THE ARCHIVED CLIPPING
The following excerpt contains the legible portions of the archived clipping. Omissions or unreadable passages are marked.
Work in progress
LEDs present both new sales opportunities and technical challenges; here’s how distributors can navigate a road that’s not always clear.
By Susan Bloom
Whether in a conference room or at a customer’s site, a trade show or a training class, we’ve all heard the forecast for LEDs: an explosive market that’s poised to grow by 30% annually and surpass $1 billion in annual revenues by 2014, according to GTM Research and Groom Energy in its 2010 Enterprise LED Lighting: Commercial and Industrial Market Trends, Opportunities & Leading Companies. At the same time, as an emerging technology still coming into its own, the market is also grappling with technical issues such as evolving LED specifications, compatibility concerns, and standards setting.
“As anyone who’s walked the Lightfair show over the past few years knows, LEDs are the dominant lighting technology on display,” said George Stroumboulis, director of marketing for Solais Lighting (solaislighting.com). “This has essentially forced the industry to become better educated and well versed with respect to the technology’s features, functions, benefits, standards, metrics, and shortfalls. For electrical distributors that carry numerous products from multiple manufacturers, this process has only gotten more challenging.”
As Stroumboulis alluded, the presence of these concurrent and sometimes contradictory variables often requires distributors to navigate the LED market on their own and develop a customized strategy for this exciting and promising new technology. Here, we’ll look at how several distributors are approaching and embracing LEDs.
ACCEPTING A NEW PARADIGM—FLAWS AND ALL
“LEDs are here to stay, so we’ve chosen to take a proactive stance on communicating to our end-users both the benefits and the potential pitfalls as they relate to this emerging technology,” said Evan Regenstreif, vice president of procurement for Regency Lighting (regencylighting.com). “Given the fact that there are so many new suppliers of LEDs out there, it’s important that distributors become well versed relative to LED product specifications, certifications, and warranties.”
Al Thomas, certified lighting consultant and director of lighting design services for North Coast Lighting in Seattle, added that distributors can often be put in a difficult position with this new lighting platform.
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TIPS FOR APPROACHING THE LED MARKET
George Stroumboulis, director of marketing for Solais Lighting, offers LED tips for distributors based on his team’s experience in the field:
• Choose your partners wisely. “There is certainly some degree of confusion and misinformation in the LED industry today, and distributors will need to filter through that so they can accurately evaluate products at face value,” Stroumboulis said. “Distributors are encouraged to partner with quality manufacturers that are transparent with their published product information—making sure that product claims are properly supported with published LM79 reports.”
• Master the metrics. “When evaluating potential products, remember to evaluate based not only on a single metric, but also on a series of metrics to help formulate transparent and concise comparisons,” he said. “Distributors and their personnel will need to understand these metrics in order to choose the best option for their customers and the application at hand.”
• Be aware. According to Stroumboulis, the emergence of new channels of distribution surfacing in the United States and Canada is beginning to threaten conventional market forces. “Some foreign companies are entering the LED lighting market with a lack of consideration for existing channels of distribution. Distributors need to fully understand the dynamics of this evolving industry and be aware of a manufacturer’s channels of business before aligning with it or supporting its efforts,” he said.
• Urge real-time testing. Stroumboulis encouraged distributors to evaluate LEDs in their most accurate light. “Distributors should push for a test of LED products on-site in actual customer locations to experience how the product performs in a real-life set- [Text cuts off at the bottom of the supplied scan.]
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