EleBlog

31 Jul, 2006

At a business meeting this morning, I made an appointment for a near-future follow-up. My contact (my boss on the project) chose Monday, 9 /11, for the follow-up.

I hemmed and hawed, but I couldn’t find a legit reason to say no to that date. 9/11 isn’t a national holiday; it’s the week after Labor Day; business-wise it’s a good day for a meeting. We booked it.

But I got "the creeps," just a bit – a weird feeling. Not a premonition, not a worry. Just . . . a bit of sadness. I am, after all, New York City born and bred. Much of what happened on 9/11/01 boils down to an attack on my home town, as well as my country.

And much of the rest of what happened on 9/11/01 happened, or was scheduled to happen, in my adopted home town, Washington, D.C.

One more odd-ball 9/11 story, while I’m at it: A few years ago, Jack Pullizzi took two of us (me and Paul Rosenberg) on a tour of 140 West Street.

Jack is an electrical and facilities management genius (Paul is also a genius, the author of more than 30 books on electrical, construction, and related topics).

Employed as a consultant by Verizon, Jack was instrumental in restoring 140 West Street after the disaster. It’s a long, not-odd story. I won’t tell it here and now.

Jack’s tour took us to one of the five basement floors, on which there was electrical switchgear. This was ancient stuff, copper-and-slate. I asked Jack how old it was; he pulled out a Maglite and honed in on the nameplate.

As it turned out, the installation date was 9/11/28. I can’t speak for Paul or Jack, but I got a chill; they looked a bit surprised. Of course, it meant absolutely nothing.

But still . . . at that moment, just months after 9/11/01, standing in a building right next door to the WTC . . .  my body produced “goose bumps" -- and an involuntary shudder. Somehow, it felt as if it meant something.

This is the building left standing to the west of the gaping hole in lower Manhattan.

31 Jul, 2006

IAEI's Web site highlights an article from the July/Aug issue of the IAEI News -- on industrial instrumentation. Here's a key piece of it:

"There is little process industry awareness of the fact that some nationally recognized testing laboratory (NRTL) instrument certifications may no longer comply with the defined standards to which they were originally certified. Such instruments include salvaged, remanufactured, refurbished or re-marketed as new surplus, even though the reselling entity leaves the original manufacturer’s nameplate containing an NRTL approval mark on the instrument.

"To date, buyers and installers have assumed that they have purchased replacement-in-kind instruments when, unfortunately, they may not be replacement-in-kind. These purchases require increased scrutiny, including management of change (MOC) evaluations, to better ensure that plant design standards and regulatory requirements are met."

See the full article here.

31 Jul, 2006

Frank MacInnis, the boss at EMCOR Group, is CEO of the company that houses the largest U.S. electrical contractor (and the largest mechanical contractor, too). EMCOR declared its earnings on 7/27, and CNBC-TV took the opportuinty to interview MacInnis.

You can see/hear a replay on the Web -- at www.emcorgroup.com (click the link on the left-hand side).

Here's what I heard, in a Q-and-A with Bill Griffeth:

Griffeth made a reference to various energy plants on the drawing board, but asked -- is it really too little, too late? MacInnis: Yes.

MacInnis expanded on the point, saying we're facing a natural gas shortage. For EMCOR, he said, expansion of the nation's LNG infrastructure -- and distributed power work -- are great opportunities.

Griffith asked what MacInnis would do about the energy problem if he ruled the world. Many interviewees would come up short, or pause, or (even) giggle. I liked the fact that MacInnis took the question in stride, answering -- without hesitation: "Get started on a return to nuclear power."

Note that EMCOR is not in the nuclear business (other than whatever work it would get from building and maintaining nuclear plants).

 

28 Jul, 2006

Years ago, I would tell electrical contractors (in presentations) -- and folks who worked with contractors, like NECA-IBEW managers -- that if the electrical business didn't take over the datacom business, sooner or later the datacom biz might find it expedient to get into the electrical business. My case in point generally was residential security dealers. I don't think anyone believed me.

I found the item below in today's news scan. It's about a wireless company starting up an electrical contracting subsidiary.

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FFI Announces Creation of Fortune Electric

INDIANAPOLIS, July 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fortune Industries, Inc. (AMEX:FFI) announces the formation of Fortune Electric, a new operating entity within its Wireless Infrastructure segment. Fortune Electric provides electrical contracting services to the commercial and residential marketplace primarily focused in the Midwest. Services include the design, installation and upgrading of electrical, data communications, and utilities systems.

Fortune Electric operates in three segments, Commercial, Residential and Communications/Service. The Commercial segment provides electrical contracting, design, installation, and engineering services. Services are provided to facilities such as offices, theaters, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, school districts and manufacturing facilities. The Residential segment offers electrical contracting, installation, replacement, and renovation services in single and multifamily housing units including apartments and condominiums. The Communications/Service segment provides electrical contracting, design, installation, renovation, engineering and upgrades, and maintenance and replacement services. It also offers utility services such as overhead and underground installation and maintenance of electrical, transmission and distribution networks.

Combined with the services of Audio Video Revolution, a Fortune Industries company acquired in November 2005 specializing in design and installation of commercial and residential electronics, a full-line of product offerings is available to the commercial and residential construction industry. Additionally, Fortune Electric enhances the servicing capabilities to wireless carriers. The creation is expected to alleviate the expenses of outsourcing electrical services on telecommunications projects. First year sales projections are approximately $1.0 million. Outsourced services that are expected to be performed by Fortune Electric are approximately $250,000; while annual cost savings relating to utility services are expected to equate to $75,000.

Fortune Electric is led by Karl Lee. Mr. Lee's management team has over 42 years of electrical experience. Headquarters will be in Indianapolis.

Contact information is as follows:

Fortune Electric

6402 Corporate Drive

Indianapolis, IN 46278

317.472.7227 Office

317.472.5647 Fax

About Fortune Industries, Inc.:

Fortune Industries provides technology solutions to businesses categorized in three operating segments, Wireless Infrastructure, Ultraviolet Technologies and Electronics Integration, and Human Resource Solutions. The Wireless Infrastructure segment provides wireless turnkey solutions directly to carriers in 20 states and provides other specialty infrastructure services. The Ultraviolet (UV) Technologies and Electronics Integration segment provides worldwide state-of-the-art UV ink technology solutions and sales and installation of commercial electronics. The Human Resource Solutions segment provides professional employment organization (PEO) services to small and medium sized businesses with up to 1,000 employees in over 30 states including human resource consulting & management, employee assessment, training, and benefits administration. Fortune Industries is publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol FFI.

More information can be found at Fortune Industry's website at http://www.ffi.net/

27 Jul, 2006

Yes, I'm back from an extended absence, which included preparing for a vacation (getting all of the work done ahead of time), the vacation itself (two glorious weeks in Botswana -- seeing dozens and dozens of elephants), and recovering from the vacation (adjusting my internal time zones + trying to leave lethargy in the dust).

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The BIG news in the period between my last post and this one was the acquisition by Rexel SA of GE Supply. I was called upon to do a write-up for TEDMAG.com -- a "second-week lead" on the deal. It's 928 words, with some perspectives you might not find elsewhere (he said, immodestly). Read it here.

A couple of notes:

a. YES, I work for Rexel Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Paris-based Rexel SA. I am a freelance wordsmith. One of my jobs is as Editor of Rexel's U.S. magazine, POWER OUTLET.

b. Fact (a) doesn't mean I have any inside information on this deal.

c. Rexel and Wesco are now neck-and-neck for the title of #1 electrical distributor in the U.S. in terms of sales voluime. Graybar appears to be #3. Wesco's first-half '06 sales were $2.6B; some of that, I think, was nonelectrical. Rexel's 2005 sales, adding GE Supply, come out to about $4.7B. Add in 10% or so for 2006, and you come to more than $5.1B. Double Wesco's first half, and you get about $5.2B. See?

d. I know it's important to writers and editors, but I'm not sure the specifics of whether Wesco, Rexel, or Graybar is #1, #2, or #3 in U.S. sales volume matters to anyone else.  It's a fact, but it might not have a a great deal of  relevance or importance.

e. On the other hand, Rexel SA -- the global company -- might have sales of $12B to $13B in 2006, thanks to the GE Supply acquisition (and a number of smaller recent buys). That's what the TEDMAG article says. That's a might nice neighborhood!

f. What matters, of course, is profitability. Along those lines:

• Rexel said it's Q1 gross margins were 25.2%
• Wesco said its 1H gross margins were 20%.
• Graybar's Q1 gross margins (from its 10Q filing with the SEC) were 19.8%.

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Thanks for your patience with me. I've got a plan; you'll find more information, and more interesting material, here on the EleBlog in the coming weeks.