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EnergyWatch Blog

Electrotechnology Insights

The EnergyWatch Blog is a daily information source created by Bill Attardi, president of Attardi Marketing. The blog provides a veteran electrical professional’s perspective on the news and industry insights through eyes of electrotechnology insider. Bill Attardi’s experience within the channels of electrical manufacturing and distribution keeps readers ahead of the curve about advanced product technologies and services that satisfy the ongoing energy conservation needs of the end user.

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Logistics as a Service, L(o)aaS by Steve Bryne, COO at Facility Solutions Group

Posted on April 23, 2018 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

LaaS may not be what you think it is. In the disrupted world of lighting distribution, the paths to market are ever changing. Manufacturers find themselves partnering with end users and traditional supply chain customers to bring products and solutions…

Tagged with: FSG, L(o)aaS, LaaS, logistics, Steve Byrne
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Never Forget Your Friends by John Grasso

Posted on February 10, 2018 by EnergyWatchNews — No Comments ↓

A very good friend of mine (thank you Linda) sent me this wonderful teaching moment and being the soft hearted grateful fool that I am who treasures all the friends that have been part of my life, I want to…

Tagged with: friends, John Grasso
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Within the Next 20 Years We Will Be Living in a Different World! And You Thought It Was Just in Lighting

Posted on September 16, 2017 by BillAttardi — 4 Comments ↓

An interesting talk by the Managing Director of Daimler Benz – a bit mind-blowing really. There have always been the same 3 constants… Death, Taxes and CHANGE! Our competitors are no longer other car companies but Tesla (obvious), Google, Apple,…

Tagged with: 3D printing, Airbnb, bitcoin, Education, self-driving cars, Uber
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Embracing the Digital Economy in the Wholesale Distribution Industry by Karen Lynch, Vice President, Global Head, SAP

Posted on August 26, 2017 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

Are you an innovator or a follower? Disrupter or disrupted? Growing or stagnant? Digital predator or digital prey? The choice is yours. Today’s competitive markets demand that wholesale distributors evolve more quickly, become more efficient, and provide memorable customer experiences.…

Tagged with: disrupter, distribution industry, Karen Lynch, SAP, value-added services
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WHO ARE THE KEY PLAYERS IN THE CURRENT SMART LIGHTING INDUSTRY? BY BILL ATTARDI

Posted on August 5, 2017 by BillAttardi — 4 Comments ↓

We defined the Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Stars / Problem Children / Cash Cows / Dogs in our last two blogs…….Now it’s time to put everyone in their place! Forget about Cash Cows and Dogs……..those still in the traditional no…

Tagged with: BCG, Bill Attardi, key players, Problem Children, Stars
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WE DID CASH COWS, NOW LET’S DEFINE STARS / PROBLEM CHILDREN / DOGS BY BILL ATTARDI

Posted on July 22, 2017 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

We defined Cash Cows in our last blog as follows: Cash Cows represent business units having superior market share in a mature, slow growing, fading industry. Cash cows require little investment and generate cash that can be utilized for investment…

Tagged with: BCG, Bill Attardi, Dogs, Problem Children, SBUs, Star
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WHAT DO GE, PHILIPS AND OSRAM HAVE IN COMMON? BY BILL ATTARDI

Posted on July 9, 2017 by BillAttardi — 2 Comments ↓

They all want OUT!….or do they? What keeps you up at night? I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I figured out where the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) of our friends in the lighting industry think they…

Tagged with: BCG, Bill Attardi, Boston Consulting Group, Cash Cow, GE
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Malcolm Gladwell Says AI Will Make Human Judgment More Vital by Phil Goldstein, Web Editor for BizTech

Posted on May 30, 2017 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

As artificial intelligence advances in the workplace, humans will need to solve mysteries amid large volumes of data that machines cannot. Artificial intelligence may replace some jobs, but it will also highlight the importance of human judgment in the workplace,…

Tagged with: AI, artificial intelligence, Gregory Treverton, human judgement, Malcolm Gladwell
Posted in Blog

Leadership is a skill, not a genetic disposition, so they say…

Posted on May 7, 2017 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

Leaders don’t create more followers, they create more leaders. Tom Peters Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. President Harry S. Truman Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made…

Tagged with: leadership quotes
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CHRIS BROWN IS FREAKIN SEVENTY

Posted on March 25, 2017 by BillAttardi — 5 Comments ↓

70! Not just a number anymore. Not when it’s me and I’M FREAKIN SEVENTY! (To read the unexpurgated original version, find Chris Brown on Facebook). First thought……YIPPEE, I MADE IT! On second thought, How the hell did this happen?!? Thinking…

Tagged with: 70 years old, Chris Brown
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A Judicious SWOT Analysis – Just Five (5) Apropos Questions to Ask Yourself by Bill Attardi

Posted on February 12, 2017 by BillAttardi — 1 Comment ↓

The SWOT (Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats) Analysis is an important tool in the strategic marketing planning process and is taught in every graduate and undergraduate business course in academia. My view is that this should be an…

Tagged with: Bill Attardi, IT, new entrants, questions, SWOT
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Finished: The Whole Customer Value-Added Proposition by Bill Attardi

Posted on January 22, 2017 by BillAttardi — 2 Comments ↓

Ok, I’m back…….to finish my previous blog: The Whole Customer Value-Added Proposition. Let me define what I mean before I relate it to the lighting industry. Much has been written about the value proposition, the almost holy value proposition. You…

Tagged with: Bill Attardi, LaaS, product, service, solution, value proposition
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The Whole Customer Value-Added Proposition by Bill Attardi

Posted on January 15, 2017 by BillAttardi — 2 Comments ↓

Let me define what I mean before I relate it to the lighting industry. Much has been written about the value proposition, the almost holy value proposition. You mean you do not know what your value proposition is….shame / shame!…

Tagged with: Bill Attardi, product, service, solution, value proposition, value-added
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The Past, the Present and the Future by Bill Attardi

Posted on November 20, 2016 by BillAttardi — 1 Comment ↓

This blog is an attempt to pull together an understanding of the transition taking place from the Traditional Lighting industry (the Past), to the Smart Lighting industry (the Present) to the Intelligent Lighting industry (the Future). Your comments are welcome…..…

Tagged with: Intelligent Lighting, smart lighting, traditional lighting
Posted in Blog

My Retort: Disintermediation Will Never Happen Unless You Let It by Bill Attardi

Posted on October 15, 2016 by BillAttardi — 5 Comments ↓

I still have a full head of hair, maybe it’s because I’m a consultant and have never been in the distribution business. Tough business, I agree, with some very savvy professionals, some with hair and some very bald. Tough businesses…

Tagged with: Bill Attardi, disintermediation, Intelligent Lighting, Koday, traditional lighting, Uber
Posted in Blog

Verizon acquires Sensity……..Disintermediation personified? by Chris Brown

Posted on September 25, 2016 by BillAttardi — 2 Comments ↓

Repeating the question I asked two years ago at Strategies in Light……when technology gorillas and lighting manufacturers align, who will be driving? Here is what I wrote back in 2014, speaking about DISINTERMEDIATION: “I’m not convinced that most lighting distribution…

Tagged with: Chris Brown, Cisco, disintermediation, gorilla, Sensity, Verison
Posted in Blog

Dawn De Grazio Appointed IES Technical Editor

Posted on September 17, 2016 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

Congratulations Dawn…The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) has announced and will welcome Dawn De Grazio, MIES, LC as Technical Editor, effective October 3, 2016. This newly created staff position then will include editing IES standards, documents, articles and…

Tagged with: Dawn De Grazio, IES, Technical Editor
Posted in Blog

The King is Dead, Long Live the King by Bill Attardi

Posted on August 26, 2016 by BillAttardi — No Comments ↓

“Some distributors are already out of business, they just don’t know it yet”, emphatically warned my good friend Chris Brown when he first penned Illumigeddon. http://energywatchnews.com/some-distributors-are-already-out-of-business-they-just-dont-know-it-yet-by-chris-brown-ceo-wiedenbach-brown-illumigeddon/ May I go one step further and even more emphatically state, “every single traditional…

Posted in Blog

It is Time for a Business Model Disruption by Bill Attardi

Posted on August 13, 2016 by BillAttardi — 6 Comments ↓

Let me start with a quote from Jack Welch: If the rate of change on the outside is greater than the rate of change on the inside, the end is near. Disruptive change can do that to your business and…

Tagged with: Bill Attardi, disruptive business model, Intelligent Lighting, Jack Welch, smart lighting
Posted in Blog

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