The LED Advantage

 

The desk lamp is a ubiquitous fixture in most offices and homes. A typical example uses a conventional incandescent or fluorescent light bulb, but these are not always the best choice. LED desk lamps are a new alternative desk light solution that has a lot of upside.

 
LED lights are great for a wide variety of reasons. They're growing in popularity due to their low power draw, durability and economy, and as technology improves they are getting more affordable. We are getting to the point where we are seeing LED lights showing up in the home and becoming common.
 
This article is all about  the properties of an LED desk lamps and why you might choose one over a conventional model.

Why good quality LED desk lamps blow the competition out of the water

 

 

LED lights offer significant advantages over incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Here are a few key reasons why you should consider an LED desk lamp:

• Low Power Requirements:

The best LED desk lamps have a big advantage over competitors in terms of low power requirements. As it stands right now, LED desk lights use far less power than incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs. Every little bit counts, and a low drawing LED light for your desk or office can make a big difference in power consumption over time.

• Long Life:

LED bulbs have an incredible lifespan. They don't have the same filaments that incandescent bulbs have, and they don't create a great deal of heat, so that means they last a very long time. An LED light bulb is a bit more expensive, true, but it also lasts 10 to 20 times longer than a conventional light source - so over the long term they provide the consumer with the best value.

• High Light Quality:

The light produced by the best LED desk lamps is among the best out there. Since LEDs are easy to alter, you can get both warm and cold light from them, and there is no 'flicker' like you get from fluorescent light tubes.

• Compact and Portable:

Light emitting diodes are pretty small, each one can be as small as a grain of rice. That means that a desk light with LED bulbs can be really small, compact and attractive. Why clutter up your precious desk space with a huge lamp? Keep it low profile with one of these lamps. 

 

• Health and Safety:

One of your most precious resources is your eye-sight. An LED desk lamp emits light directly to the area you need it - your workspace. This reduces eye-strain and fatigue which in turn makes for a healthier work environment. How many of us rely on the overhead fluorescents to light our work areas? That is tough on the eyes.

• Colour control:

Many LED Desk Lamps come with dial controls that let you adjust the light colour from a blue to a yellow hue which makes for a more pleasant workspace. 

•  Added Features:

From dimmer switches, to USB ports for charging your phones, to additional accent lights - modern LED lighting is reshaping the office workspace.

• Modern Styling:

LED desk lamps come in several modern, attractive styles that are pleasing to the eye and make for an interesting, contemporary work area.

 

For more information on LED Desk Lamps and information on where to buy an LED desk lamp, contact Vision Global Media:

 

http://www.visionglobalmedia.com/led-desk-and-floor-lighting.php

 

 

 

A Closer Look at the Jan/San and Break Room Category: Strategy (Part #2)

Who’s on your radar?

 Jan-Pro has over 10,000 franchises in the U.S. and Canada.

 ServiceMaster has more than 5,100 company-owned and franchisees. It has 27,000 corporate employees and a franchise network that employs over 31,000 additional people.

Many players in the Jan/San industry were considered too small in the office product world for the attention or cost of a commercial sales rep, but we’re entering a new world. Will paper and pens become an up-sell product?

Competition is Growing

Increased competition for market shared in the Jan/San category has created a crowded environment.

Major industrial suppliers and industry specialists, previously content with selling chemicals, forestry products or selling into niche markets, are gearing up for a major push into the broader Jan/San category – and why not. They are currently selling into the category now and have the technical expertise, but are missing the opportunity for growth and higher margins by not reaching out to a broader end-user market with their products and solutions.

SCA, a Swedish forestry company, (Fig.4) has divested itself from packaging and through aggressive acquisition over the last 7 years has become a world leader in consumer and commercial tissue and away from home (AFH) washroom products.

Don’t ignore these niche players. They’re big and making a profit on 3-7% margins. "We haven’t given up on launching innovative, earth-friendly products; we’ve just taken a step back to think about how and when consumers will be ready." Bruce Fleming, Chief Marketing Officer, Arm & Hammer




Consumer Brands Are Not Immune
To combat private label encroachment, P&G offers at least two product forms in many product categories. For example, the company has seen increased sales in Gain detergent from Tide and offers "Basic" versions of its Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels.
The traditional commercial resellers are feeling the squeeze. Industry consolidation in products and equipment is rampant. Cleaning companies are moving into building management, security, and landscaping. Finance and equity firms are also putting skin in the game.

Battle Lines

Price Wars
The concentration of the market has begun and the threat is coming from all directions.

 Producers will lower prices rather than shut down or reduce output to maintain the economy of scale.

 Merchants will introduce alternatives instead of trying to price-match existing products in the market.

 New entrants with a healthy bank balance will deliberately under-price new products in an attempt to topple existing merchants.

 Firms who recognize their strengths and weaknesses will join with like or complementary competitors, or simply sell or close their business.

 Firms that do nothing will fade away.

Go Green

Price is the number one reason more consumers are not going green. These premium priced products have seen a drop in sales since the economic downturn in 2008, resulting in a near zero advertising spend in 2010 and fewer product launches by the big consumer players. The more expensive brands like Method and Seventh Generation continue to see double-digit growth demonstrating that there is a solid core of users. Others will follow if the price is right.

 Green products simply do not have the economy of scale. In a recent Green Day survey, 59% said they were unwilling to pay more money for green products.



 Green products are still viewed as a niche product and priced at a premium.

Are we are waiting for a brave company to do some creative pricing in the short term to tear down the price premiums and achieve volume and price parity?
 Ford recently did an industry-first by pricing their Lincoln MKZ Hybrid the same price as the gas version, and their hybrid option skyrocketed.
   Green may soon be cheaper.

 With soaring energy prices pushing up the price of mainstream goods, will they soon meet falling price of green products?

 Green manufacturers point to the higher cost of ingredients as the reason for higher prices. But, for the 38% of all conventional detergents containing stain and odor removing enzymes, the two most common enzymes (proteases and amylases) are becoming commodities.

 Alternatives such as quality microfiber cloths and water can eliminate over 99% of bacteria from hard surfaces.

 Green cleaning can also describe the way residential and industrial cleaning products are manufactured, packaged, and distributed. Will governments levy an Eco tax?

 According to a Forbes media estimate, if one accounted for the types of pollution caused by the manufacturing and the use of a new car, then the price of a car would rise by over $40,000.

  If you were investing in Janitorial and Sanitation products would you put your money into traditional or green products?
 How and When  The industry is changing. Green is the future. How and when is the only question.

Timely information is critical: product sales and volumes, traditional vs. green products, retail vs. commercial. Are you taking full advantage of this growing category?

Closer Look at the Jan/San and Break Room Category: Market Size (Part #1)

By Bob Smith - Canadian Office Product Association

 

 

With no growth in most traditional products, the office product industry is now focusing on new product areas with existing customers. The janitorial/sanitation and break room product category is the new saviour for most office product resellers. Dealers who have embraced the Jan/San and break room category are expecting 10-20% of their total sales from this category in the next few years.


Despite the efforts to ensure the traditional office supply chain gets full value from the category, there is still a nagging feeling that the opportunity isn’t being fully grasped with both hands.

Office product resellers have a number of competitive advantages and new opportunities in this inefficient, multi-layered industry.

The already crowded cleaning and sanitation industry is in turmoil with resource based giants, niche players and resellers of every breed fighting for market share. What does the near future hold for this industry?

A DESTRUCTIVE PRICE WAR WHERE EVERYONE LOSES?

OR

WILL CLEANING AND SANITATION PRODUCTS BE THE FIRST CATEGORY OF GREEN PRODUCTS TO SEIZE MARKET SHARE AND BE MORE PROFITABLE THAN THEIR PREDECESSOR?

 

 

 Janitorial and Sanitation Industry

Janitorial and Sanitation (Jan/San) products and services, like most businesses, have their challenges in today’s economic environment; sales are flat. But, unlike other office product groups that have been devastated by technology, growth will rebound with the economy, increased activities in office building construction, and growing investments in health care and education.

 

How big is the market?
Defining the Janitorial and Sanitation market is the biggest problem. Does the market include products, services and equipment? Does the market include exports which, in the case of Canada, are over 50% of the production? Government numbers (Stats Canada) are not helpful as cleaning products include other products with no additional breakdown.

Various Estimates:

 Global clean industry forecast to grow to $3 trillion by 2020
 U.S. demand for janitorial equipment and supplies (excluding chemical products?) is forecasted to reach $7.2 billion by 2017

 The U.S. specialty household cleaners market is expected to reach USD 7.9 billion by 2018

 The strong growth in Canada resulted in a $9 billion industry in 2010. (Products, services and equipment?)

Regardless of the actual size or current challenges, the category holds enormous opportunities for office products resellers. Jan/San and break room categories are expected to be the fastest growing category for the coming years.

Inefficient Supply Chain
 The market is crowded with multiple layers.

The players in this market range from multi-national chemical companies to consumer goods companies to custom packagers (private label) and industry specialists in the food, medical, hospitality and janitorial industries.

The Jan/San industry operates as many industries did 30 years ago, with each player passing on the product in smaller and smaller quantities, adding and blending their special ingredients, until the product reaches the consumer.

With wholesalers and brokers at every step, the final price is loaded with profits on profits and handling fees.

The office products industry has the experience and size to bring manufacturers and resellers closer together.

 Logistics and Delivery Capabilities

 Janitorial and Sanitation products (Jan/ San) offer OP resellers a chance to capitalize on their investment in stores, on-line sales, logistics, and delivery services.

 "If I desperately want something, I can go to a store. If it’s too bulky or heavy I can buy a smaller size at a higher unit cost or have it delivered. If I’m going to have it delivered, I might as well order on-line."   

Grocery stores and Amazon are struggling with same-day delivery of perishable food products. Both retailers include cleaning products in their same day service. The cost and customers misgivings about buying perishable food unseen may prove to be a costly experiment. The alternative is to fall back to same service as office products. Jan/San products aren’t perishable and you can still get in your car if there is an emergency.

The lowest total cost to the customer by combining bulk purchases with a cost efficient delivery and on-line ordering system may be the winning formula.

 

A Product Category Made for Commercial Sales
 

How do you find the person who is responsible for the Jan/San, facility and safety products in the back of the warehouse? 

 Households buy sanitation products at grocery stores and more recently at general stores, pharmacies, and home improvement retailers but there is no clear choice for businesses.

Office buildings comprise the largest segment (31.6% worldwide) of the cleaning industry.

Large corporations with a mature purchasing/strategic sourcing group don’t buy Jan/San products. The responsibility usually falls to real estate/premises departments who, perhaps innocently and with little thought or analysis, contracted these responsibilities to building or cleaning service companies.

What appears to be an unassailable chain of contractors and sub-contractors is open for business (Owner – Tenants – Facilities Management – Cleaning Service).

Office Cleaning is either part of the office lease or charged extra. Tenants may be required to use the building cleaning service or contract for their own cleaning. Regardless of the terms, when the cost goes up, there is a negotiation. Office product suppliers need to be part of that conversation.

Sourcing groups are struggling to provide new savings and justify their existence. Expanding their scope to include cleaning products and services is opportunity to provide new savings.

Tenants and landlords know that you can’t cut costs at the bottom of the food chain (Fig.1 above). Workers already make minimum wage or less in mom and pop operations, so, how do you cut costs and add value?

 Landlords, building management need to compete against the new eco-friendly, energy efficient building which have come online in the last few years.

 The tenant, who eventually pays the bills, wants to discuss ecology, electricity and water consumption, health concerns allergies and odor control. The tenant wants a proposal to go 100% green. (Note: This is currently impossible.)

Who can landlords or tenants talk to: the guy with the mop, the grocery store or the chairman of Dow Chemicals?  Who has the commercial relationships or feet on the ground: grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Amazon?

The commercial sales group of office product retailers have been working with senior staff in the office environment and have the skills to put together a proposal and demonstrate savings to senior level management.

What is the lead product; paper or cleaning products?  Who is the traditional commercial client for office supply companies?

How will the customer profiles change if 20% of sales go to Jan/San and break room products?

  ...........continued next week 

Review of the Tombow Mono Pencil

Reprinted by permission from the blog: http://thatonepen.com/

A pencil review?! I thought this was thatonepen.com, not thatonepencil.com. That’s true but doesn’t everyone pick up a pencil at least now and then? In my job as a chemistry teacher, my analog writing time is divided something like 70:30 between pen and pencil. Like most folks, I write most of my notes or to-do lists with a favorite pen. Unlike most folks, I need to do a fair amount of scientific problem solving/thinking. Maybe it’s just habit, but these process just feel more natural with a pencil in hand.

 

Back in my student days (Don’t ask how long ago. Suffice it to say that I was writing organic chemistry mechanisms before anyone heard of a little known governor from Arkansas), I did most of my problem sets and tests with a mechanical pencil (typically 0.7 mm) and one of those clicky erasures. I didn’t have anything against wooden pencils, but a couple of mechanical pencils loaded with “leads” seemed like a more efficient approach than walking into a test with a fist full of wooden pencils. In graduate school, I had to use pen in my lab notebook of course (Anyone remember these bad boys?) but I picked up the habit of using a wooden pencil from my research advisor. He always had a Cross Century ballpoint in his shirt pocket, but he also kept a cup of sharpened wooden pencil handy on his desk. Maybe I was trying to suck up or maybe I thought that if wood pencils were good enough for one of the smartest people I knew they were good enough for me, who knows. Regardless, pencils, in one form or another, have always been close at hand in my world.

 Fast forward to today and this little pen blogging hobby has brought about a number of minor life experiences and opportunities including two pen shows, more than a few ebay purchases, much more than a few orders to JetPens and Goulet Pens, a Field Notes Colors subscription, custom-made pen holders and a few reminders. I’m reminded every day that I, and you if you’re reading this post, care much more about what I write with than the typical (read “normal”) person. More recently, I’ve been reminded that this writing implement snobbery extends to pencils as well. It was always there, but folks like the Erasable podcast gents and sites like Dave’s Mechanical Pencils have made me come to terms with this part of my personality. In short, my name is Todd and I’m a pen AND pencil snob. (Paper too but let’s confront one demon at a time.)

Well, that was more preamble than I original planned so let’s get to the present pencils shall we. Like most casual users of pencils, the idea of using a pencil that doesn’t have an erasure just seemed inefficient to me. Then again, what are all those clicky erasures doing on my desk and in my book bag? Upon further review, it was clear that I dismissed a larger portion, probably a majority, of finer pencil options for no good reason over this erasure issue. I came to Tombow brand pencils after ordering a bunch of different wooden pencils from Pencils.com and Jet Pens. Specifically, I got the Palomino collection pack from Pencils.com and a couple of different Tombow 2558s from Jet Pens. While I liked aspects of nearly all of these pencils, I found myself going back to the Tombow 2558 (H) most frequently. So, with my no-erasure pencil bias eliminated and my Tombow preference in tow, I walked the aisles of Blick Art looking for other options – enter the Tombow Mono.
 

 

First, the pencils looks awesome. The black finish and white end produce a sharp chiaroscuro. Add the gold-colored lettering that resists chipping or fading and you’ve got yourself a classy pencil. Maybe this sounds strange, but this wooden pencil also feels solidly built. Compared to bodies of other wooden pencils I have that demonstrate a bit of flex, the Tombow Mono almost seems not to be made of wood. I can even hear a difference. When I roll multiple Palomino, Dixon or other pencils in my hands the sound is dull, almost hollow, compared to the higher pitched “click clack” I hear when rolling the Monos in my hands. The label on one facet of the Monos reads “hi-precision DRAFTING” and I think the description fits well. These are wooden pencils that, when sharpened nicely, feel very much like a mechanical drafting pencil. It’s a weird analogy, but I think this will work. Tombow Monos are the cyborg of pencils – fundamentally organic yet with a mechanical, precise feel.
 

 

How do the pencils write? Let’s start with the HB grade. Compared to other quality HB-ish pencils I have, the Tombow Mono HB definitely favors the hard end of the HB spectrum. For instance, compared to the Palomino Blackwing 602 or the standard Palomino California Republic I have, the Tombow Mono HB graphite is clearly made of sturdier stuff. While I don’t have one to compare directly, I suspect we’ll need to get into a Mono 2B range to find something comparable to the 602 or Palomino. As we move to the F and H Monos, the graphite cores clearly get harder but, importantly, they maintain a surprisingly smooth writing experience. Right now, I think the F is my preferred grade. It’s very smooth, lays down a decently dark line but doesn’t require the frequency of sharpening of an HB core. My preference isn’t so profound that I seek out the F grade exclusively. Usually, I just grab any of the Mono’s out of the cup and go with the flow. However, If I’m looking to pair pencil grade with writing circumstance, then I’ll grab the HB for smooth paper like Rhodia, the H grade for cheap notecards and most legal pads and the F grade for copy paper and Field Notes. Yeah, you know it’s bad when you’re selecting your pencil grade based on the paper you’re using. Goodness help us all. Yes, I do mean “us” because you’ve read this far haven’t you, you pencil freak.

 

So, there it is – my first pencil review. It won’t be my last but I suspect it may be a while before a wooden pencil that compares so favorably to the Tombow Mono comes to my attention.

 

 

 

Data & Content Information – Making it Better

By: Gayle Anne McCaskill

If information is power then poor quality information will render you powerless. You cannot analyze what you cannot read, sort or organize. The costs can be measured in lost sales, lost opportunities, employee and consumer frustration and organization wide operational errors.

 

Whenever I speak about data, information and its requirements to colleagues, friends and family, I get amused by the glassy-eyed stares I receive from all of them. The “what do you do for a living” question always makes me uncomfortable – I really do not know how to respond without boring the person to death.

Data cleansing, data cleaning or data scrubbing is the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt or inaccurate records from a record set, table, or database. Used mainly in databases, the term refers to identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, or irrelevant, parts of the data and then replacing, modifying, or deleting the inaccurate or coarse data. [Wikipedia]

The term (Data cleansing) is also commonly used for adding, changing or discontinuing data in existing databases.

 

Data and information is considered a tactical versus a strategic exercise by most business professionals. It is work commonly assigned to entry-level resources or over-burdened merchandisers to populate data into the mainframe. Billions are spent annually by companies upgrading their hardware and software. The same cannot be said for any data-related content; field restructuring and future requirements, product classifications, universal classification systems, data attributes, business rules, certifications, database compliancy, and internal and external processes.  The lack of focus on content is evident within many companies but accurate content is critical to every organization.  We upgrade our hardware and software usually ignoring both current and future content requirements. 

A number of e-procurement projects experienced catastrophic failure simply because nobody thought to invite a data specialist to the table during the project development phase. The cost to fix what was missed was staggering – both projects were terminated with losses in the multi-millions.  Each failure was directly related to missing data fields that everybody ignored or missed in the development phase.

 

As I journey down the road of data and information cleansing, which includes translation, categorization, classification, mapping and compliant databases, I have learned a great deal. Here are some observations:

1.     No two people speak or write language in the same way. If there are no business rules attached to description fields then every single line will differ depending on who populated the information. If our written language skills are not the best then our abbreviation skills are far worse. There is a difference between being able to read a product description versus knowing what the product actually is.

2.     No two people think the same way. Product classifications are one of the most important set of data fields any company can populate. Rarely audited or even discussed, these fields can cause havoc if not done properly.

3.     Manufacturers never planned for their internal databases to be seen or used by their customers or the consumer. Information field demands from clients have changed dramatically in the last two decades. Manufacturers are expected to provide their customers with all fields of information related to their products in usable formats. This requires a specialist who can manage the expectations of the customer as well as adding and populating new fields.  Providing compliant databases for the purposes of communication to external service providers is the new mandate.  Many manufacturers try to manage these demands on a “request to request” basis instead of developing a long term project plan regarding their product content and related fields of data.

4.     Your computer and its capabilities are not the same as my computer and its capabilities. Manufacturers and their clients use differing computer systems and software; some very sophisticated versus those that are rudimentary. There are many rules regarding what you can and cannot do. Formatting to the client requirements is largely ignored. The client may not be able to receive your data because their software differs from yours. Some systems will not allow symbols to be used (*, -, _, /, #, &, etc.) Therefore these limitations should be kept in mind when assigning manufacturer product code numbers.

5.     Did it really take me that long to enter the item number? I have seen product numbers that subject to numerous entry errors because of their length and complexity. I understand that some internal logic is applied to manufacturer product numbers for the purposes of production but many resellers, wholesalers and retailers use the manufacturer product code as their own. Lengthy alpha / numeric numbers slow everybody down and are particularly frustrating for the actual consumer who needs to reorder the product.

6.     Product code numbers can be very difficult to read? Many errors are created in databases because of the following; numeric 0 versus alpha O, numeric 5 versus alpha S, numeric 8 versus alpha B. Worse is starting a product code with a zero. Unless formatted properly, most databases will simply drop the zero corrupting the code.

7.     Brand and sub brand naming conventions. Remember when assigning a brand and sub brand name that your clients have a limited number of characters in their description fields to identify your products. Going back to “lengthy”, Unilever’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” takes up a lot of the description real estate without considering size requirements and other information that is needed to identify the product. When these sub brand names are too long, the client will be forced to drop them from their descriptions.

8.     Incorrect data only got worse with the internet. Researching product on the internet has shown what happens when the manufacturer’s data is in error and these errors are shared with the world. Once the error is out there, correcting the content and misinformation is impossible. Multiple content versions for a single product confuses the consumer and can result in lost sales.

9.     We don’t read or write in CAPS LOCK. The old mainframes had to use CAPS LOCK. That changed decades ago. If someone sends an email all in CAPS Lock, then you know they are furious with you. Reading any document in CAPS LOCK is difficult and also takes up needed real estate. So why are so very many of us still using it on our mainframe systems?

10.  The kiddies have invented a new language and I am beginning to see it all over the internet. Text messaging and its online jargon (text message shorthand) are beginning to worm their way into product descriptions and sub brand naming conventions. It is bad enough out there without having to keep e-documents helping us all translate what is being said.

There you have some of it – but not nearly all of it.

 

 

We run our businesses on data but I have never heard of a senior role in any organization dedicated to data and information content. (e.g. Vice President of Data)  The management and audit of current data and the implementation of future data field requirements begs the question “who is responsible”?  This position would work closely with information technology professionals, marketing, sales and operations. This position should stand apart as an integral role for enhancement of information and content, improving operational capabilities and providing first class data to the customer and the consumer. Savings on good data can be measured in the millions (CAD) by improving sales, eliminating errors and providing the client and consumer with the data tools they need to reorder your products.

Who is the single individual responsible for data integrity and continuity in your organization? 

Gayle Anne McCaskill,

Canadian Office Products Association (COPA), Data Factory Specialist for data cleansing, categorization, and classifications.