IDEA Names Industry Veteran Jay Andrews as Platform Director for Supply Chain Visibility Solution
June 11, 2026
IDEA has recently named Jay Andrews as Platform Director for ProjectNexus, the industry’s supply chain visibility solution developed in partnership with the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) and Pull Logic.
Jay Andrews brings nearly three decades of electrical industry experience spanning manufacturing, sales, and agency ownership. He co-founded Next Generation Lighting, an independent manufacturers’ rep firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia, that grew to represent more than 90 lighting and controls manufacturers before its acquisition in early 2026. He also co-founded the American Association of Independent Lighting Agencies (AAILA), which was integrated into NEMRA’s Lighting Division in 2024.
ProjectNexus gives distributors and reps visibility into order status across the supply chain, replacing the phone calls and manual follow-ups that salespeople and operations teams rely on today. The solution was designed with input from the industry and announced at the 2026 NAED National Meeting.
“Jay understands the supply chain and where the opportunity exists for distributors, manufacturers, and reps to improve visibility and tracking. That is a costly pain point for everyone and solving it opens up value for the entire channel,” said Patrick Knight, CEO of IDEA.
In his new role, Jay Andrews will work directly with distributors, manufacturers, and reps to onboard them onto ProjectNexus and drive adoption across the channel. His focus will be on getting the solution into the hands of the people and teams who need it most.
“When I was running an agency, a big part of every week was tracking down orders for customers. Where is it? When does it ship? That is time my team could have spent selling,” said Andrews. “ProjectNexus was built to solve that problem, and I’m looking forward to helping the industry put it to work.”
Prior to co-founding Next Generation Lighting, Jay Andrews held national sales and account management roles at Lithonia Lighting, ConTech Lighting, and Cree Lighting. He is a graduate of the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.
