Lumenique – Inside Solid-State Lighting

Product development and management has evolved from the days of taking a shot on a hunch. In the days of fabricating products with minimal tooling, the risk of failure was low, and profit reward for success quite good. Who needed product management? Design it, build it, catalog it and get it to the reps and wait for the orders to roll in.

The lighting industry also has a long history of operating with lean management structures, particularly in small organizations. Ownership, Marketing, Engineering, Finance, Design, Engineering, and Sales all have a role in product development, planning and line maintenance. How well product management tasks are accomplished is (more…)

The “Internet of Things” has now become the newest, hottest marketing powerhouse. The scale of claims and the breadth of its application transcends lighting, so it eclipses popular lighting themes of Energy Efficiency and Human-Centric Lighting. The idea of everything being connected through the internet, accessible, upgradable, and monitored from anywhere at anytime is the big sell. Refrigerators that not only tell you when a product has expired, but automatically places an order for a replacement is one proposed far-reaching concept. Products that learn from our use cycles to adopt and send data to manufacturers for product development is another. Lighting that responds to local natural light conditions without local sensors. Power grids constantly adjusting in anticipation of user demand. Facilities managers, utilities, and end users accessing and monitoring building activity, condition, and (more…)

Full disclosure

I do not use, like, or support, the term “Human-Centric Lighting” or HCL, and the marketing of it. Nor am I convinced the bullish marketing of the term makes it any more attractive or legitimate. The term has been tagged onto so many crack-pot claims, unsupported promises, and misapplication of hand-selected, overly simplified misleading single-line extractions from legitimate studies, and anecdotal claims by unqualified “experts” – that it has become nothing more than an extension of the now discredited “Full Spectrum” marketing that has plagued lighting for decades. (more…)

Early Days

As a young lighting designer for an electrical engineer, fresh out of the USAF, I was quickly introduced to wide range of customers from very frugal to mega wealthy. From small retailers to chain grocery stores, or retirement homes to massive custom homes, single office lease space improvement to multi-story office complex, beverage warehouse to manufacturing plant – the range of customer experiences was exciting. Every job was a learning experience.

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I’m going to go right at this one head on. The assumption of quality being equated to price paid is a marketing strategy. There is no irrefutable fact or reality associating price with quality. This does not mean that high quality is not a value worth paying for. I am also not saying that there is no justification for paying a higher price to attain a higher level of quality. What I am saying is, the connection between cost and quality is not inseparable. You can achieve high quality at a low price, and you can suffer low quality at a premium. The region between bargain and rip-off is vast.

Design is the work of assigning an appropriate level of quality in application and product selection, within the need and desire of the customer

To get a handle on this, let’s take a moment to define quality in minimal terms. I believe product and design quality is a composite of three core factors.

1. Performance that meets the intended demand. In other words, does the product and/or design serve the need and desire of the customer?
2. Physical integrity. Does the product and/or design include a high degree of fine fitment and refinement of finish, with minimal or no flaws appropriate to the intended use and application? Is the product and/or robust enough to endure or exceed the intended service lifetime?
3. Service after Sale. Does the provider of the product and/or design stand behind the product, resolving any unforeseen error or failure in a timely and satisfactory manner?

There are a great many pleasant, long-lasting, efficient, quality environments designed using modestly priced products well-selected.

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I have taken a break from publishing to this blog for several months for a reason. I needed some time to stand back and observe and listen without intent to respond or contribute, and to seek counsel of others. The lighting industry has been in a state of flux for more than a decade now. As a veteran spanning over three decades, there is nothing new in this. Here’s a bit of news for those new to this business – the industry has been in flux for over three decades now, the intrusion of solid-state technology is just one more in a long series of adjustments. However, the most recent decade has brought a new character to the industry that, frankly, stinks.

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My trusted and most valued tool – a resto-modded 1967 South Bend tool room lathe with all the fixings

My joy in life is in making things. In this, there is rarely a day that passes where I am not building something or tinkering a gadget together. Yesterday it was  drill fixture to aid a co-worker in drilling 30 brackets in less than a half hour, while protecting fingers from the part jumping around. It was 20 minutes a work and a few scraps of metal, job done – smile on face. Otherwise, it’s a light fixture for the conference table, a test rig for a cure light, a finger brace for a kids broken finger, an adapter to convert an old fluorescent task light to a UV cure light/500Fc detail work light combination. (more…)