COMMeMOratiVe ISSue - Illuminating Engineering Society

e n e r g y
By Willard L. Warren a d v i s o r
Top executives from
some of the leading fixture
manufacturers discuss
the current state of
the industry, as well future opportunities—and
threats—in this Q&A
roundtable. The panel includes David
Feldman, president, Cooper Lighting;
John K. Morgan, president and CEO
of Acuity Brands Lighting; Larry
Powers, CEO and chair of the Genlyte
Group; and Michael Petras, vice president-electrical
distribution and lighting,
GE Consumer & Industrial.
How has the lighting industry
changed in the last decade What
changes do you anticipate in the
next decade
Morgan: There has been an
increase in professionalism in the
lighting design community, especially
with the advent of NCQLP certification.
The associated training
and education has manifested itself
in the adoption of new technologies,
especially in the area of optical
design. In addition, new technology
in manufacturing processes has
allowed us to greatly improve the
aesthetics of products.
As training, education and certification
continue to take hold, they
will add a level of decisiveness, confidence
and boldness to the design
community, which will lead to more
influence over the design of buildings
and infrastructure. Manufacturers
will continue to focus on profitability
initiatives, and this will eventually
allow more money to be plowed back
into research and development.
Powers: In the manufacturing sector,
two factors have impacted the
industry. First, while consolidation
has been going on for the last 20
years, during the last decade there
has been substantially more consolidation.
Four major players now
represent over 60 percent of the
lighting market. Second, offshore
manufacturers have significantly
expanded their position in the U.S.
Decorative fixture manufacturing
is now nearly 100 percent China
based. Additionally, an increasing
number of Chinese manufacturers
are now directly, and through their
own brands, selling in the North
American market. Although a large
number of small- to medium-size
companies have been absorbed by
larger organizations, an increasing
number of newcomers have been
added to the industry. The combination
of ease of entry and evolving
technologies is encouraging the
launch of new lighting fixture manufacturing
companies.
Petras: We’ve seen some consolidation
in the fixture industry, an
increase in imports and an overall
trend toward the globalization of
lighting products. We’re also seeing
an increased focus on energy
regulations, including more aggressive
energy efficiency standards
and building energy codes, plus an
increased environmental focus on
materials and disposal. In the next
10 years, we expect to see more integration
of lighting controls within
the broader context of energy management
systems. We see greater
opportunities in lighting services,
such as energy and demand management,
disposal, recycling and
financial services.
Feldman: During the last decade
we saw continued development of
energy-efficient products—and a
continued lack of emphasis on adopting
these products into our normal
buying habits. Going forward there
will be a continued focus on the use
of more efficient products and there
should be, considering the current
energy situation, a greater embrace
of their use.
The industry has been criticized
for emphasizing product “commoditization”
and R&D directed toward
making products more competitive.
Have we invested enough in traditional
R&D or in innovative manufacturing
techniques
Morgan: Industries are not commoditized,
products are commoditized.
It’s the nature of things that
any truly successful product will
become a commodity. This does
not imply poor quality, it just means
that something has found wide consumer
acceptance and many alternatives
exist.
We are investing enough in R&D. If
you look worldwide at the luminaire,
ballast, lamp and controls manufacturers
as a whole, the R&D investment
is in the hundreds of millions of
dollars. This investment is manifesting
itself in some very interesting
new products. We could do a better
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