Last week we all spent the week in London’s Docklands for our annual industry exhibiton, and this year we walked away with an award! 

One of our lead suppliers, Crestron UK, awarded LairdKing with the ‘Most Extreme Makeover’ award for our recent project and full home automation installation in Cornwall.   Crestron UK (www.crestron.co.uk) supply high end, robust, and stable control processors along with the best looking and easy to use touch panels that we have found.   We were therefore very proud to have them judge our installation and find it worthy of one of their awards.

The judges feedback for our project was:  ‘Moving from an initial request to upgrade Sky to Sky HD and distribute the feed around this Cornish property, LairdKing inspired its client to think beyond these modest ambitions. The result is a fully integrated Crestron system that can be accessed even when the client is away from home in Australia.   As the house ‘opened up’ with the installation of the new HD cabling infrastructure, the existing lighting system was replaced, and integrated Crestron control fitted for extensive yet simple to operate AV, lighting, HVAC and security system operation’  

 The team here at LairdKing always work exceptionally hard to provide a very easy to use system even though it contains many complex and highly engineered components.   The award allows our team to appreciate that the work they undertake is of a high standard and exceptional quality, and this can be so hard to forget when you are deep in the execution of the project.   We are very proud to win a Crestron Award it will assist us in the future in winning new contracts as it clearly defines our knowledge and expertise within one of the most innovative industries.’

 As custom installers, we work in a niche market whose services, in our clients’ eyes, are clearly differentiated from their traditional service personnel such as electricians. To win a project, our specifications must be seen to add value, be this to the home they are intending to live in for years, or the project they are developing and intending to ‘turn’.

 One of the key strategies we use to achieve this level of added value is through the use of an efficient and effective project management system. I was therefore happy the other day to come across one of Wikipedia’s definitions of project management as “A project is a temporary endeavour, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value.”

 We may not feel that some of our projects are temporary endeavours, as from start to finish, we all know that a custom installer can be involved from months to years on a single one of these endeavours. But the key to success in any size project, I believe, is through an excellent project management strategy.

 Perfect Project Management is something I have been striving to achieve in the last few years and every now and then I feel like I get close! However, from the day we started with a deliberate and defined system we started to win project tenders because we have been easily able to demonstrate our project management strategy as well as being transparent in our operations. Ultimately these mean we are able to gain the client’s trust very quickly.

 Why should you go to the effort of spending time defining a system? It can all seem very time-consuming, especially when every penny counts. But there are several significant business benefits which should outweigh this. The main reason is to gain more contracts by having a clear process and project structure which clients, especially on their first project with an installer, can easily get to grips with. This then helps them to understand what we offer, and how we undertake their project. We have found in the past that one of many reasons why we find people don’t use custom installers is that they don’t clearly understand what we do and how we can add value over and above their local electrician or hi-fi shop.

 The other big reason for effective project management is to create extra margin by ordering equipment for projects on a ‘just in time’ basis. This is not always possible in our industry when some bespoke items have long lead times, but the idea is to not tie up our precious cash in lots of stock we don’t need every day. Also, having run a project management system for a while, you begin to work out which items are more often required with no notice.

 Being able to manage when you need to order and purchase equipment means you can better manage when you need to charge it to the client. Clients seem to like agreeing payment schedules, and you also then get to know who pays on time, who habitually pays late, and accommodate these adjustments within your system. These schedules usually change as specifications change, but along with this we can also manage the financial impact on clients and give easily-amended payment schedules.

 When setting out this base schedule for a project, we can also look to future products that are due for release and raise these as possibilities within the specification. This can be a points winner for those clients who want us to be ‘future ready’ and keep them up to date with all of the latest gadgets.

Project management can be made fairly simple through computer programs which offer easy ways to monitor tasks, milestones, drawing issues etc. However, these can be quite expensive, so give yourself time to trawl through the Internet and Google Apps and you can find some excellent tools which are free (or have nominal prices) and integrate easily into other applications you are running.

My final point is that a well run project, in the eyes of the client, opens many more opportunities for future work and for negotiating ongoing maintenance contracts.

 23 April, 2010

 LairdKing ‘Highly Commended’ at international awards

 LairdKing, an integrated technology and homes’ electronics specialist based near Redruth in Cornwall, was awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ honour at a high profile international industry award ceremony on 16 April.

 LairdKing were one of just three companies to be shortlisted for the category of ‘Best Integrated Home: £100,000 – £250,000’ in The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association Awards (CEDIA). 

 The team were awarded ‘Highly Commended’ at the glitzy ceremony for their entry, a residential property in Cornwall.  LairdKing designed, installed and programmed the entire electronic system throughout the property, integrating lighting, music, home cinema and security systems, as well as a few added extras.

 The CEDIA awards ceremony is an annual event for the sector with 12 categories, bringing together companies from across the globe to celebrate the very best in innovation and quality in design, installation and programmed control systems for homes.  This year the awards attracted entries from across the globe, from South Africa to Switzerland and the Netherlands to Greece as well as plenty of nationally renowned companies from across the UK.

 Claire Scholes, Managing Director of LairdKing said: “We were delighted to be awarded Highly Commended for our shortlisted entry. It’s great to be recognised on an international level and have our work acknowledged by our peers.  Being placed as one of the top three in the industry is testament to the skill and passion of everyone working at LairdKing.”

 But recently this has changed. A shift which came to light (no pun intended!) when we ran a series of seminars at the National Home Improvement Show last October. In between our seminars (talking about the benefits of a good lighting design and lighting control along with energy management issues), we had time on our stand to meet with potential home builders and discuss their lighting requirements. All of the home builders on their second project said the same thing: ‘We didn’t really think about the lighting in the last project and it ruined the home.’

 This may sound extreme, but a recent retrofit project that we worked on was a prime example: a small kitchen with 28 halogen lights with no dimming capacity, so either all on or all off, with half of the lights lighting the cupboards only! A large living room with sconces placed directly above the main television which gave glare on the screen! This is typical of developers who are taking on areas of a build out of their skill set to increase their margin – but in so many cases we have found that the final finish does not do justice to either the building design from the architect or the final decoration by the builders themselves.

Outside help

As installers, we are not expert lighting designers, so since last September we have teamed up on a number of projects with a couple of lighting designers who now become involved at a very early stage in all of our proposals where lighting control has been requested. This partnership has benefited both parties greatly, and it has been fantastic to have a light and fittings schedule produced ready for our design work, and to have a lighting designer who understands and promotes the benefits of controlled lighting.

 When we get involved with a client, it is usually via an architect or interior designer, and both appreciate that good lighting is crucial, but neither seems to offer the service. On our first meeting with a client when we take down their project scope, they talk a lot about lighting and how a lighting system can benefit their beautiful new home. Along with our lighting designer, we can offer a combined service.

 Justifying the cost

 In a time when people’s budgets are constrained, I find that the original budget for controlled lighting can be stretched if the energy management of the controlled lighting can offer some pay back for the extra investment, whereas a standard lighting systems will never offer such benefits.

 The other reasons for customers taking a much more detailed interest in controlled lighting from our recent experience are:

 1) Energy management. The ‘all off’ switch – everyone likes the idea of leaving the home and pressing that one button which saves time and money when rushing out of the home. And the benefit for those with whole-house automation means that one button can also power down AV kit, and set the security system.

 2) Easy control of multiple lights and sockets from one switch or other controller. Lighting designers love to design-in a range of lighting scenes, especially in key areas of the home. Control systems have the ultimate flexibility to allow them to generate scenes and access these from one panel on the wall (not a 24-button grid switch!)

 3) Attractive switches. The design of switches that come with some lighting control systems is also very impressive and attractive to our customer base. Our biggest seller is the Flat Design range from Jung. They are minimalistic, can be split in a huge number of variations and have a range of colours and surrounds to fit most interiors.

4) Less wall acne. The ability to integrate heating/blind/volume control into light switches means that there is less on the wall. The flexibility of software and hardware allows for the reduction in the number of control switches required and for the upgrade of switches and the accommodation of any change in function that may be required in the future.

 5) Security. The security benefits of a controlled lighting system outweigh that of a standard lighting system. The programming of switches to provide pathway lighting during the night can reduced the midnight stumbling around for switches and, on occasions, broken toes falling up stairs!

 Conclusion

 As the general requirement for a well-designed lighting solution for the home grows, and the complexity of scenes and light fittings offered by many designers increases, then controlled lighting will be required more and more.

 Even with the basic control systems offered by retailers such as B&Q, planning of the system, the light fittings, and the settings are of ultimate importance. I see that clients are more willing to pay for the planning, design, and programming of lighting than ever before, and this comes down to the knowledge that investing in their home correctly from the start gives them the ideal home they wanted.

The project lasted 12 months and saw our team retro fit a complete AV, lighting, heating, security, and cctv system integrated control system.    The result of the system has given a sleek finish to the home AV system and lots of potential or saving energy via the programming and control of the power, lighting, and heating.

The award winners are announced on April 16th at CEDIA’s very glam awards ceremony and we have our tickets booked and ball gowns waiting!!   http://bit.ly/asVi4w

Guests ranged from private residential to those from the environmental sector and we discussed everything from energy efficiency via intelligent lighting and heating control to the death of CD players!  

We are very grateful to several of our dealers who provided the toys for our guests to play with.   This included the Kaleidescape mini system which is an excellent movie and music server providing multi room audio and easy movie and music browsing.   Crestron provided the control processor and the wireless touch panel interface giving our guests control over the home cinema system and lights.   Artcoustic provided their Superstar speaker which is a beautiful and powerful speaker with iPod ports.

If you are interested in a demonstration then please contact our Sales Director, Rhonda, who will gladly arrange a time for you in our showroom.

Selling energy management

For the residential market, Control4 announced its Energy Management System 100 at CES. This is a combination of ZigBee-enabled thermostats and a touchscreen energy controller which gives quick and easy access to energy data for the home. Set for completion in April, Control4 has teamed up with utility companies to roll the technology out to the consumer market.

Control4 is not alone. Those installers who have been working on complete home automation projects, as we have, know that energy management in the home has been achievable for some time via control systems such as KNX, Crestron, and Lutron. These companies have also introduced ‘green papers’ to the industry to prove how their technology reduces energy bills – and quite significantly too in some cases. However, the payback for a full home automation system is still relatively slow: on a quick calculation I would say six to eight years for most properties. For this reason, energy management is still rarely the major selling point of a total home automation system, and therefore still not the biggest cash cow for installers. However, this will change as the consumer continues to become more cost- and efficiency-aware, and is increasingly interested in green credentials.

Fortunately for us as an installation company (or unfortunately, depending on how you view it), we are based in a region which suffers from a lack of economic stimulus. Therefore, the region has always had a significant level of cash input from Europe through a Convergence funding programme, and I am sure there are many similar schemes across the country. If not, then there is all of the money that the government has to invest in new energy-efficient builds, which are particularly strong in the commercial sector. As an industry, we more than deserve a big slice of this money, and by working on funded builds, can indirectly benefit from the funding which promotes energy management systems.

For example, a new industrial unit near us needs to manage energy in different areas of the building and with many different energy systems, from commercial ovens to heat extraction, and this energy management is required to ensure that the contractors meet their BREAAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) excellent build status. For the architect, it is a major headache, as it is for their contractors. Where do they find an energy monitoring system which works with all of their different energy elements, and is easy to read data from?

At the moment, it is by chance that these projects are crossing our paths, but there is a real gap which we can exploit, and those builds that are part-funded or have energy management as an essential requirement, are far more likely to have the budget to spend on our skills.

Where to look for them? Architects and M&E contractors are just some of the areas where these projects are managed from, and with thanks to the new CEDIA training ‘Using technology to manage energy in the home’, we have a really useful tool to get in front of these sectors.

Conclusion

If, as an industry, we fancy a real challenge (I do!), then it is time to gather the proof that intelligent lighting and heating systems are significantly more energy efficient methods of energy management than merely ensuring that 30% of the light fittings are non-reversible low energy. Maybe then, the Code for Sustainable Homes will recognise our systems as a requirement under their scheme, and then the residential market will catch up with the commercial.

Meet the team in our biographies section and put a face to the name!! Find out if there are any career opportunities with LairdKing and look at all our news in the news section. We are going to try and keep you informed on all the latest in products and what’s on in the industry.

For those who are new to Custom Installation and the concept we have added information on our work process and what you should expect from a Custom Installer and also from a CEDIA member.

We would like to thank website creators UKNetWeb (especially Richard) for their patience and excellent skills in creating a really easy to use website – but that also looks fantastic. Also thanks to Niddocks who are going to make us the number 1 in Google!

I hope you really enjoy using the new website.

One of the most fruitful discussions focused on whether the new wave of consumer products is threatening our industry. Hard not to mention names, but the Sonos multiroom audio system has taken the market by storm. It has made multiroom audio accessible to volume markets which have a small budget, and as a ‘plug and play’ product, it requires little installation or set-up assistance from our industry. We all know it can be happily installed by those with almost no knowledge of networking. So, what now for us installers?

Undoubtedly, a lot of people buy and install their own product, but those who do this are not generally our traditional target market. We have to accept that there will always be this ‘DIY’ sector of the market, and many will never be converted into paying customers.

Selling our expertise

With our current target market of clients with high levels of disposable income, we are more likely to be asked for advice on which systems the client should have, and whether these integrate better with systems and controls that they already have, or have heard about. Sometimes you have to be realistic and admit that the best system for a particular project is an off-the-shelf package that is relatively easy for the client to install themselves (should they wish). This may leave us with a little less income than before, but with a happy client. And a happy client should eventually lead to more referrals. Indeed in the twelve years that we have been in business, around 90% of our work has been referral-based.

For people new to the custom install world, we can make ourselves much better known, a lot more easily, because of these consumer products. As industry experts and a knowledge base for these products, we can attract attention, not only to our individual companies, but to the industry as a whole. People should know that a CEDIA member and custom installer is the person they need to give them the home cinema they want, and that their mate’s mate who drinks with them in the pub down the road, is not their most reliable resource.

It is safe to say that as products are more accessible and clients are more knowledgeable, it becomes more difficult to make big margins out of one or two projects. This leads to an increase in our ratio of projects to turnover, but we need to embrace this and adapt to changing market conditions.

Additionally, as the amount of product on which we make a good margin in a project can be fairly small, our approach to projects should be more service-based than ever. We market ourselves as experts in our field, for product specification, design, integration, and programming for everything a client may want in their home. Windows 7? Yes, we can answer all your questions on that. Media Center? Yes, we integrate this, and we can tell you the pros and cons versus Kaleidescape.

Conclusion

Heightened exposure of the industry benefits us all – the more we become like the NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) or RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), the more work we get as installers. If people know what they can expect from a custom installer, they are much more inclined to involve us in their projects, and this goes for consumer as well as business partners such as RIBA and BIDA (British Interior Design Association). The more ‘off-the-shelf’ products that require our knowledge to maximise the customer benefits, the more enquiries we get.

So, instead of feeling threatened by new products that initially require little interaction from us, we should embrace these changes. It is a time to tell manufacturers about organisations such as CEDIA, about our network of members who can assist in the installation of their products, and assist with the integration of these products into other home entertainment kit the client may have. Wouldn’t it be great to see on the back of a Sonos installation guide: ‘Any questions? Call your local CEDIA member’?