Mar 26, 2020
By Swati Vora-Patel
With the imminent global COVID-19 pandemic, we are all reminded of an important lesson:
“Hardship brings people closer together if you share it” (John Wooden).
We are treading in uncharted waters. The hardships that we’re experiencing in our daily lives at work and home are not felt in solitude — even with physical social distancing measures in place.
Our circle of family, friends and co-workers share our fears, frustrations and hope; there’s comfort in knowing that we are in this together as one community. Our industry has pulled together to collaborate, lead and influence. Here’s how…
Collaboration: As this crisis continues to unfold, it presents an opportunity to recognize the strong collaboration that the electrical industry is exhibiting. Manufacturers, distributors, reps and customers alike have come to increasingly depend on one another to share best practices relating to health and safety, HR and operational efficiencies. You need only to look as far as the countless social posts that industry players are sharing — measures to improve working from home practices, social distancing in workplaces, splitting shifts, etc. It’s encouraging to see this cross-sharing of best practices in our one community. Check out recent industry activities on EFC’s Live Pulse web portal at: www.electrofed.com/coronavirus/ or in French at: www.electrofed.com/coronavirus/
Leadership: I recall a time a few weeks ago, when Electro-Federation Canada’s Board of Directors met to discuss the course of action for our annual conference. This meeting had been held prior to COVID-19 being named a pandemic, so the discussion wasn’t clear cut. The government hadn’t yet issued group restrictions, travel was not yet banned, events were still in motion. Despite this, the Board unanimously decided to postpone the conference to protect the health and safety of members. This was a critical decision at the time, as the EFC Conference yields a national audience of 500 electrical manufacturer, distributor and rep members — but a leadership decision that would mark a wave of other industry event postponements across the continent. All EFC events from now until the end of June have been postponed or cancelled. Stay informed on new dates, once announced: https://www.electrofed.com/events/
Influence: With federal and provincial decisions being introduced on a daily basis, many organizations are in a tailspin as they navigate financial relief opportunities, HR implications, and warehousing and operational restrictions. EFC has been at the forefront of guiding these changes in an effort to influence federal and provincial authorities on decisions that impact our industry — and our members’ businesses.
From EFC’s quick action on corresponding with all provincial premiers in an effort to emphasize our sector as an essential business, to collaborating with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and other partner associations as a co-signatory on correspondence, EFC is committed to working diligently to support members’ businesses during these trying times.
We are in this together — and will come out of this stronger!
These above examples of collaboration, leadership and influence all lead to one common achievement: our industry is sailin these uncharted waters as a unified community. I remain optimistic that the Canadian Electrical industry is well positioned to come out of this ordeal as a stronger community — let’s continue to share best practices and collaborate. John Wooden’s view that “hardship brings people closer together if you share it” is more important now than ever before.
Swati Vora-Patel is VP, Marketing & Channel Development, Electro-Federation Canada.
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Best Practices: Marketing
Everyone is an expert in pricing. It’s either too high or too low based upon your role. Salespeople like it low. Management wants it high. The customer wants it “right” which, usually means “competitive” or “It’s reasonable for the value I am receiving.”
And the term “value” is intriguing as it infers that you understand
• the value that you bring
• the value that your product / service brings
• the competitive landscape (which also includes alternatives and inertia)
But I digress.
Magic Lite Announces New Sales Agent for the GTA
Magic Lite has announced the signing of Lightspec Canada Inc. as their Specification Sales Agent for the GTA.
As the Canadian Division of Lightspec, LLC, NY, this agency is headed by Steve Danzig as President and Neil Whiteford as Sales Manager. This talented sales team has over 150 years combined experience with Lighting Design, Applications, Lighting Controls, Distribution and Project Management. They are committed to bringing attentive service and expertise to their clients for their designs, projects, lighting requirements and acting as their trusted advisor and partner.
Mentoring: Good for Business, Good for Employees
By Carol McGlogan
EFC has just polled our members to determine the game changers that keep them up at night. Understandably, COVID-19 topped the list this year. However, talent remained the biggest issue outside of the pandemic. In September, members will have a chance to gather insights from EFC’s most recent research study: Talent for an Emerging Workforce.
This is not intended as a spoiler alert, but “upskilling of current employees” is identified as one of the critical strategies that members need to employ...
Manufacturing Sales Rose 20.7% in June
Manufacturing sales rose by a record 20.7% to $48.7 billion in June, following an 11.6% increase in May. Many factories operated at a much higher capacity in June, with the capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector increasing 10.9 percentage points to 73.3%.
Consistent with the increase in sales and capacity utilization in June, the May reference month release of the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions indicated that almost one-fourth (23.9%) of manufacturers expected to increase their number of employees over the next three months. Still, the capacity utilization rate remained 8.0 percentage points below the June 2019 level (81.3%).
Wesco Canada — The New Path Forward
By John Kerr
Last week Wesco held its first call detailing its results post merger with Anixter. This meeting followed Wesco’s agreement with Competition Bureau Canada to divest its legacy utility businesses (Trydor, Brews and Laprairie), along with its datacom business with annual revenues approaching CDN$200 million, according to the release of August 6.
Canadian Electrical Wholesaler estimates the merged group after divestitures will reach just under CDN$2 billion, making it the largest electrical distributor in Canada ahead of Sonepar and Rexel...
Changing Scene
EFC Supply Chain Summit Going Digital
EFC’s 2nd Annual Supply Chain Summit will be held virtually. You won’t want to miss this event…where the electrical industry meets modern supply chain technologies and emerging trends.
Overview: Digital technologies have amplified the features and functionality of our electrical products and are fast-becoming mainstream in how we service our customers and partners. Learn how your organization can pivot its supply chain strategy towards a digitized and automated enterprise, optimizing supply chain management to reach new service levels, lower costs and improve overall operational effectiveness.
AD’s New Canada Warehouse and Meeting Center Opens to All Canadian Members
AD is announcing that its new Canada warehouse and meeting center, located in the greater Toronto area, is officially open for business. The new facility provides Canada-based AD members with redistribution of over 75 product lines of industrial, safety and janitorial items, including private-label brand Tuff Grade.
The original warehouse location came to AD as a part of its merger with IDI in 2019. Until now, it was available exclusively for use by members in the Industrial & Safety-Canada Division. The new facility, nearly double in size from the former location, broadens the scope of AD’s warehousing capabilities to all AD divisions in Canada, paving the way for growth and added services for members.
IMARK Electrical adds Steven Wright as VP, Supplier Relations
Mr. Steven Wright joins IMARK Electrical, Inc. as the Vice President of Supplier Relations and Development effective September 1, 2020. Mr. Wright will report to Jerry Knight who is transitioning to President of IMARK Electrical as of November 1, 2020.
Mr. Wright comes to us with a varied background in wholesale distribution with Vallen / Sonepar, WESCO, Ace & True Value Hardware.
New Outside Sales Rep at Ricard Agency
The addition of a new member to Ricard Agency’s team is in line with the growth and development strategy the agency has envisioned for the province of Quebec and the Ottawa region.
As an outside sales representative, Corinne Galarneau will mainly cover the south shore of Montreal as well as the eastern side of the island. She will represent and support manufacturers in Ricard agency’s portfolio while developing strong, ongoing relationships with prospects and customers.
With over 12 years of experience in public relations and marketing, Galarneau excels in business development, more specifically in the sales of world-class products and services.
Peers & Profiles
Southwire Canada President Tim King: A Leader in Listening
By Line Goyette
Tim King, Southwire Canada’s new President and first Canadian to assume the role, has taken the helm in the midst of the midst of the COVID-19 health crisis.
Previously, Tim served as Southwire Canada’s Director of Finance, HR and Administration. He has a background in economics and finance from Wilfred Laurier University. As a student, he was convinced that having a solid understanding of finance and economics would be an essential foundation to build his professional future. Over the course of his career, he purposefully acquired a broad range of skills, experience and knowledge to succeed in his new role. “I’ve had the opportunity to have worked for two large Fortune 500 corporations and I was very fortunate to have been exposed to many areas of the business. In fact, I have held 9 different roles in 15 years, in finance, operations, marketing and sales.”
Trevor Elliott on the Formation of Mission Technical Solutions and Panduit Partnership
By CEW Editorial Team
Mission Technical Solutions is a recently established sales agency founded by industry veteran Trevor Elliott. Panduit announced it would move to an agent representation model across North America earlier this year and named MTS as its Canadian representative, outside of the Atlantic provinces.
In this role, Elliott brings a long history in both supply and electrical distribution in Canada and he and his team are experienced in the Panduit electrical product line. Joining Elliott are Jean Pierre La France, Dennis Wight, Keith McRobbie, Kevin Wilkinson and Paul Stoynich.
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