Arnold Electric, Inc. has two divisions- electrical and material handling. Being an electrical contractor is self-explanatory but AEI is frequently asked what is material handling. A brief explanation is provided below.

Material handling is essentially the dealing with the physical moving of products. That includes moving raw materials to the manufacturer of products to shipping and distribution. It encompasses all manner of conveyor systems and storage systems. Dealing with material handling systems can be broken down into two categories- manufacturing and distribution.

Manufacturing
There are a number of television shows that show how things are made- Modern Marvels, Unwrapped, How Things Are Made, and Made in America are just a few that show manufacturing of products. As you see products move from one system to another, all that product moving is material handling. Henry Ford is credited with being the father of the assembly line and gets a good part of the credit for being a sizable figure in the history of material handling. But material handling doesn’t stop when the product is completed, it still has to be boxed and shipped. That is part of the handling of materials also.

Distribution
As product is moved from point to point, it still travels on conveyor systems. From boxes being put on pallets, to being placed on trucks, shipped to distribution centers, and then to their final destinations all happens on material handling equipment- conveyors systems, hand trucks, forklifts, shelving/racks. The racks in some distribution centers are amazing as they can be stories high, and hold millions of items. Even when products arrive at their final destination material handling is not done. Behind the scenes products must be kept until ready to be used or displayed. That takes racks to hold everything and at times cages to secure from employee pilferage. Finally, heavy boxes need hand trucks and forklifts to get the products to be used or displayed.

The use of automation to create product is amazing to see, but also is the automation of moving products all the way to your store shelves.

Arnold Electric, Inc. is an electrical contractor that serves commercial and industrial needs. This is opposed to those that serve residential electrical needs. However, you may notice as you see vans or yellow pages advertisements that electrical contractors will choose certain specialties that break-down into there categories- residential, commercial, and industrial.

Residential
Residential electrical contractors focus on homes, either in doing electrical wiring in new home construction, or serving homes with electrical problems. Homes appliances typically operate on 110 volts with exceptions for 220 volts for major electrical appliances like electrical stoves, central air conditioning, and electric clothes dryers. Something few realize until there is an issue, but a homeowner is responsible for the power line from the power pole to the house. The utility company does not accept that responsibility, so an electrical contractor would address that.

Residential electrical contractors are paid by the homeowners.

Commercial
Like residential, commercial properties operate primarily on 110 and 220 voltages. However, commercial properties have more unique needs. When a business opens or moves, it typically does a remodel of the property they are moving into or has built a new property. Commercial electrical contractors focus on that work, and they do a lot of business with General Contractors who are in charge of new construction. Additionally, commercial electrical contractors work heavily with lighting for interior and external needs including parking lot lighting.

Commercial electrical contractors get paid by the business or from the general contractors.

Industrial
Industrial electrical contractors work with large manufacturing and distribution companies that have very unique power needs. These companies have high voltage equipment with varying voltage requirements. An industrial electrician works heavily from the design of electrical engineers to assure power needs are met.

Unless a new construction facility, industrial electrician are paid by the manufacturing company.

With the explanations given, electrical contractors typically couple either as residential/commercial or commercial/industrial, whatever best suits their business model and expertise. When seeking a contractor, check their advertisements (web sites, business cards, ads, etc.) to see what type of electrical work they do before calling.

With the all the trends toward Going Green, no other campaign has such a direct correlation to saving money as saving energy. Simply put, power companies charge us for our consumption, so it makes it easy to save money, save energy.

Beware Of The Vampires

Energy devices that seem to be off but are actually secretly drawing power have been termed energy vampires.  Anything that has a remote is actually in a quiet state of readiness for you to hit the power button, but also is quietly drawing power.  Computers and their peripherals are notorious for using power when supposedly off.  Chargers for cell phones and other devices, when left plugged in continues to circulate power regardless if the a device is plugged in or not.  Taking an inventory of such devices, could help reduce the electrical bill.

What To Do

Indeed, bending over every time you want to use your computer or watch TV to plug-in or unplug after use would be a bit much.  What could be done is placing outlets to a wall switch just like room lighting.  This would mean that a room could be completely powered down when one leaves it.  Of course, this would take an electrician to execute.  Variation on that theme is to use motion detectors or timer to turn power completely off in a room or office.

Old School

Seemingly, everyone was brought up to turn off the lights when the leave the room.  This is still a good idea.  To take that further, consider changing lighting to fluorescent (or other forms of energy saving lighting).  Energy saving lighting has changed greatly and there are many forms of lighting that will suit almost every form of interior design imaginable.  Again, using an electrician to replace lighting is a safe route to go.  And do not limit lighting needs to the interior, exterior lighting can be completed with photosensor and photovoltaic lighting, again bring a savings.

A big user of energy is environmental controls like heat and air conditioning.  Keeping temperature low in winter and high in summer may not be an option for an office setting, but it could be achieved during off hours.  Again consider using timers and/or motion sensors to control and environment to save money in the off hours.  Timers and sensors can also be used to control lighting also.

Arnold Electric is very proud of its employees and knows it success is due to them. Every successful business is because of its employees, unfortunately it is usually the owners that get the press and awards. Recruiting and retaining these valuable employees is never as easy an ad in the classifieds and then a paycheck every week.

Recruiting
Finding great employees starts with recruitment. It has been said the best employees are already taken, and those looking could be suspect (why has no else hired you?). The key to finding great employees is to take a long-term approach by finding who is the best in the field. True, they may be happily employed now, but getting in front of them and letting them know you are interested is always pleasing. It is nice to be recruited. But your real objective is to let them know that they have a home should they every become available. This approach takes time but will pay-off in the long run as most every becomes available at some point. It is much better than having a position and filling it with just a body.

Retaining
Keeping your key employees is an art and continual challenge. The best approach is to consider it a battle of the heart- to get employees to stop working for themselves and start working for the company. This is a particular challenge in the trades where most employers get employees for a project and then let them go, which conditions electricians to look out for themselves and get as much as they can while they can. But if an employee can feel that an employer has their back, then the employee will begin to reciprocate. In the trades this has meant that the employee will get a full check even in the slow times, and striving to never layoff anyone. In essence a business is setting themselves apart from any other employer, and those that get the best employees do just that- let the employees that there is no place better to work. That the grass is not greener on the other side.

The most obvious work that electricians do is electrical. Typically, most everyone only thinks of electricians when some appliance (or all appliances) is not getting power. However, electrical contractors very often do more than just power.

Consider This
Our lives have become more dependent on electronics, and that means an electrical current being run along a wire. This is what electricians specialize in. Consider that video is run along a cable (cable or satellite). Thermostats which regulate our heat and air conditioning run on a wire connected to our central systems. Security systems run wire from entry points to our security panels along to the monitoring service. Then phone systems run wire from the phone to the telephone pole. Most of what you touch or use daily at home and work depends on wires and electricity along those lines.

Undoubtedly, every business that provides you a service, will offer to run the necessary wiring in a business or a home. Usually, this will come at a premium additional price. And if done over time, this will mean that wiring is running through the walls from four or five different services without consideration of each other. However, if one is able to preplan, say during new construction or a remodel, an electrician can run the necessary wiring to the points designated in an orderly and systematic manner. Saving headaches and dollars later. However, the service provider in most cases will still be needed to terminate the ends of the wiring.

Check Into This
If you look into the advertisements of electrical contractors they will tell you what other services they do. This will vary widely from contractor to contractor, but as a business contractors they want to expand and specialize in certain areas. Some electrical contractors will also provide heating and air services (HVAC). Arnold Electric provides material handling services to manufacturing and distribution centers. Others may specialize in certain types of data or communication wiring mentioned above.

It could pay to look into what an electrical contractor could do for your home or business beyond the obvious.

Regardless of economic conditions, good or bad, the key to survival is to find the niche for your business. Nobody truly sells to everyone, a product or service will settle into a certain set of demographics. Knowing who that is will help a business stay viable in all economic climates.

Determining clientele is an imperative. This understanding will better able to distinguish a business from the competition. Better marketing and better operations will stem from understanding the customer base. Taking the “we sell to everyone” approach is presupposing a lot and lends itself to a business becoming a me too business. Knowing a clientele will know sale cycles, industry specific nuances, and the trend setters. It will also let a business know when it needs to change to stay where their client base is going to be.

Many business who falsely believe that they sell to everyone during a good economy, will be left with nothing when the economy shifts. All because they didn’t shift with their customer because they did know they had customers, they believed they had everyone.

Which brings up another benefit to pursuing niche business, it creates loyalty. When niche clientele feels that a business exists just for them, they will follow the business. Actually finding reasons to do business for them because there is a sense of ownership. They will take care of what is there’s. Without that loyalty customers will just move down the road to the next thing without giving your business another thought. Niche business brings partnership.

In the trades there are plenty of electrical contractors. All waiting for a phone call from the phone book or submitting bids trying to win low bid situations. However, being able to finding niche business has helped Arnold Electric, Inc. grow. Not only has having niche business been able to let AEI distinguish itself, but in some categories AEI is the premier business in that niche.

Electrical contractors in addition to providing power through out a building also work with lighting. As Thomas Edison has made famous, we get light from electricity. However, since Edison’s day, the options have grown and so has the energy efficiency. Retrofitting a commercial space with new lighting can save money and improve efficiency. Giving significant thought to lighting for new construction is an imperative.

When considering which type of lighting to use- the use of light needs to be considered, where it will be used, and how often.

Light Use
Not all light is created equal, so considering how it will be used is a necessary consideration. Different lighting has ratings for color rendition, which is a measure of how closely a light source can render color as sunlight does. Lighting can also be categorized as warm or cold lighting. Simply put cold lighting puts off light with a blue-green color and warm lighting with a yellow-red color. The question of light use is a question of how colors are to be represented.

Location of Lighting
Proximity to surface areas will need to be examined when choosing a light source. If lighting will be placed high above a floor, say twenty feet or more, a High Intensity Discharge (HID) light can be used. It floods a broad area with light well and efficiently, an area like a warehouse, gymnasium, or a high atrium. For lower level lighting under one story, more traditional lighting can be considered like fluorescent or incandescent lighting.

Frequency of Use
How long a light source will be used is a consideration also. HID lighting is very energy efficient. A typical lamp for HID is metal halide or mercury vapor, both of which take a great while (up to thirty minutes) to warm up to full efficiency. Not something to be turned on and off. On the other hand areas where light use will be limited but full efficiency is needed immediately like a supply closet, traditional incandescent lighting would serve well.

Once all these factors are considered an electrician can recommend which light could be used where. At this point is when more aesthetic questions can be asked, as certain lighting requires different deployments. Some lighting cannot or should not be recessed or other lighting fixtures may need to be covered by unattractive safety glass, etc. Some of those questions may belong more to an interior designer, who help you decide from the choices an electrician gives you.

Arnold Electric, Inc. is a proud minority owned company. This designation has helped with business but also has come with responsibilities. There are considerations before pursuing minority business, but there are also options for a business that may not be a minority owned company.

Acquiring Business
Minority owned companies can utilize their minority status to acquire business if they desire. There are programs in the federal, state, and local governments that will help businesses obtain government business. Large corporations also have diversity programs that will help small businesses to do business with them. Still, these are not easy avenue to new business, just another route. It is better to decide to pursue this business at all costs, accept that the process will take time and effort. The rewards can be nice and be a good way to develop a new niche of business.

Giving Back
It is good business to give back and not just take from minority programs. Arnold Electric has done this by being an active members of local chambers of commerce and attempt to do business with other minority businesses when possible. AEI has also teamed with other minority companies to pursue contracts. This is a good way to fill voids in expertise and also create a win-win with other minority own companies. Governments and large government contractors like to see teaming arrangements.

Working With A Minority Business
Even if a business is not minority owned, it does not preclude it from the benefits of a minority owned company. Most if not all ethnic chambers of commerce will accept any business as a member to their organization. Attending these events is a good way to get business in these communities, by attending their business events. Also, if a business would like to have the assistance afforded to minority business, they can approach a minority owned business to see if a partnership could be formed to pursue business.

Finding a minority business that already has minority status can be found by doing a search on the Dynamic Small Business database from the Small Business Administration at http://dsbs.sba.gov.

People in every field surely desires upward mobility, but as life often shows us- the grass is not always greener on the other side. Working and spending time as an employed electrician, probably even doing more work than the owner, it would seem that hanging your shingle is the next logical step. However, be aware that being your electrical contractor may not be everything you wish it to be.

The Perils Of All Businesses
It is known that those who decide to become business owners often forfeit being a craftsman for being a salesman. Meaning that a proprietor may love what they do and do it well, but when one decides to be their own boss they have to bring in dollars. The owner spends his or her time getting the business and not doing the business they love. Additionally, there is a lot more to a business than simply getting business cards- payroll, accounting, regulation requirements, marketing, all add hours to small business owner’s day. Yes, these duties can hired out but that can just means more money going out the door.

Run The Numbers
As an electrician you know what you bring in after deductions. The number, while it may be thrilling, you know it and can count on it. So, let’s say that you make $20 an hour or $40,000 a year before taxes (a rule of thumb- multiply an hourly salary by 2,000 to get the annual salary). The owner would have to have a net profit of 4% from one million dollars to get what you earn as an employee. That means after the owner pays for all materials, employees, insurances, accountants, taxes, vehicles, property, after everything he is able to clear 4% net profit just to get the money you do. When you are staring at $1,000,000 a year in sales and making sure everyone actually pays you, being in business in for yourself may not seem so lucrative.

Being Your Own Boss
It has been said that there is a difference between being self-employed and being a business owner. Essentially if one is working twice as hard to make the same money they would if employed, easily that is someone who is self-employed. Also, dismiss any idea of more time or free time; because a business owner will find that their time is eaten by numerous sources, and that there is no five o’clock when work stops. For many business owners the evenings and weekends simply means its time to do paper work. It is actually like having two jobs- being an electrician and being a businessperson for less pay.

Since the early days of electrical power specialists were needed to do the installation and distribution of power in homes and businesses. As many in the skilled trades, electricians have had a generally, quality career path. This is due to supply and demand, that the demand for electricians have outweighed the supply. Deciding to pursue a career as an electrician is a good choice and relatively straightforward.

Each state is different what it requires for electricians. All will require one to start as an apprentice before moving forward. Apprenticeship will require time working under the supervision of a licensed electrician but can take the form of classroom training and/or on-the-job training. Once this is apprenticeship is completed one can apply to become a journeyman electrician. The final phase of an electrician is to become a master electrician which requires a rigorous test of electrical and electrical code knowledge.

The pay continues to increase with each phase, and many master electricians becoming contractors with their own business. Other master electricians can work in steady industries like local governments, manufacturing plants, and utility companies. Higher pay can often be found working with contractors but work can be unsteady.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has job projections for electricians to be steadily growing as society continues to need more wiring done to maintain demand for power, data, and video wiring. The BLS also has pay between $12.76 to $31.90 an hour with an average pay of $20.97. Understandably this fluctuates by region and these reported number are a national average. Apprentices start at 40-50 percent of full electricians and increase in pay over time.

The benefits of a career as an electrician include relatively good pay with growth potential. Even an entry level apprentice could possibly start pay above $20,000 a year their first year. Then looking forward, the need for electricians will not diminish, making a career as electrician a good choice.

Arnold Electric, Inc. has had it share of growing pains over the years. As it started like many electrical contractors, the business was small making problems small. But as the business grew so did the scope of problems encountered. Following are some areas that a growing small business can expect growing pains.

Finances
Pursuing larger and larger contracts requires bigger resources to complete them. When a business is new, the scope of projects will most likely be small. Initial capital outlay can seem large but the possibilities to cover expenses will be more numerous. When materials and salaries for a project total $10,000, there are a number of possibilities to cover them. When those costs require a $100,000 capital outlay the possibilities diminish greatly and continue to decrease as expenses climb. This also makes timely payment from clients more important, but it will take any client’s company longer to approve payment of $1000,000 than a payment of $1,000. Meanwhile, you have suppliers and salaries requiring payment.

Payroll
Every employer has a steep learning curve when it comes to payroll. Deductions, reporting, and schedule payments will be new. Then there will be a place when payroll with be relatively smooth until growth happens. With more employees will come more experiences. Child support, back taxes, direct deposit or no direct deposits, court ordered garnishments all will be new experiences. Plus, there will be the employee questions on pay amounts and accurate hours. Also, expect employees to ask for an advance on occasion (even if you have firm policy otherwise). Outsourcing payroll is an option, but that comes with its own learning curve also.

Compliance
Something not often discussed, but as a business grows it will run into issues of regulatory compliance. There are numerous labor laws and as the number of employees increase, what few exemptions there are they will cease. Meaning the business will be required to be in compliance from all sort of regulatory bodies. Plus, employees will bring about issues which require new polices in all types of areas- disability, affirmative action, drug policy, sexual harassment, hiring policy, termination policy, domestic violence. Then there is OSHA with first aid kits and fire extinguishers required per employee or by square footage. These policy and compliance issues are seemingly endless, but must be addressed.

The seemingly simplicity of the early days of a small business will be longed for as one grows. Still, growing a business is a laudable goal and even with the pain.

Electricity is not something to be toyed with, and while most understand that, there are dangers in every office that should be checked.

Over Used Outlets
With the advent of extension cords and power strips, it just gets easier to add devices that ultimately come from a single outlet. Unfortunately, if one has a number of power strips daisy chained or a packed power strip with every device on simultaneously, this is an indication of an extreme danger. Or if some form of outlet multiplying device is used, again danger. The safe solution is to have an electrician add outlets in areas where additional power is needed. An electrician will add power while providing protection by adding circuits and breakers as needed.

Small Space Heaters
Everyone wants their office space to be comfortable, but using a small space heater could be dangerous. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has space heaters causing 20,000 fires annually. Keeping a space heater under a desk is probably the worst thing someone could do with a space heater. Electric space heaters must be kept in an open area, turned off when no being supervised, and should only be purchased with a safety laboratory tested certification. Definitely do not use with an extension cord or power strip. Paper and clothing should be kept far away from a heater. So, with all these restrictions it may be better to not use a space heater for an office and find other ways to stay comfortable at work.

Stay Safe
Many people will be cautious at home with smoke detectors, but assume someone else is taking care of things at work. Even the presence of a water sprinkler system can bring a sense of false security. Having smoke detectors at work can help prevent fire damage and water damage from sprinkler systems by catching fires before they start or when they are small. Each state will have regulations for fire extinguishers throughout the work place. Make sure you know where they are, that they are rated for an electrical fire (Class C fire extinguishers), and you know how to use one.

Constantly am amazed at the number of people in leadership positions who completely miss the most important aspect of leadership: commitment. Individuals such as supervisors, project managers, and even business owners fail to completely commit themselves to the promises they make. None are perfect, but with commitment, one can appear to be.

If a supervisor states a project will be completed by a certain time, it is expected that he/she will do whatever it takes to complete the project on time. A supervisor employed by our company (who no longer works for us) constantly missed deadlines he set. He could verbally commit to a date, but lacked the commitment to follow through. Often it would have only taken a couple of additional hours one evening or weekend to
make deadline. There is an old saying ‘time is our enemy’, but time is our friend if we utilize it properly. Don’t complain that you do not have enough time, if you don’t plan on utilizing the time you have. Fail to complete the project on time or work a couple of extra hours? Which one says success?

Another example, the project manager of a subcontractor to our company, on a time sensitive project, had been asked when a particular piece of equipment would be installed. He informed us that the equipment would be installed by tomorrow. The next day, when we checked on the project, the equipment had not been installed. The project manager was asked when it might be installed. Again, the project manager informed us that it would be installed tomorrow. The next day it was not installed. The project manager should have said that it would be installed next week and make sure it happened at all cost. Commit to tomorrow and fail or commit to next week and succeed? Which one will make the customer happy? Even owners of businesses misunderstand leadership. If an owner of a business informs me that he will call with an update by a certain time, it is expected that he/she will make that call. If they do not have the information required to update, then they should make the call to inform me of a new time. The following is an example of something that happened to me recently.

The company was having work done on one of our vehicles by a local business. The work ended up being about a three-month project, which should have taken (as stated by the business) three weeks. Two months into the project, I contacted the owner of the company to request an update on the project at 2:00 PM. He informed me that he would call me back by 5:30 PM with a full update. He did not call at all that day, nor spoke with him again until I called again the next day. The question is always, “why would he give me a specific time if he doesn’t intend to commit to that time?” If he doesn’t have an update, he should call and let one know he is working on getting an update. Don’t return a call by a committed time or call asking for additional time? Which one will make the customer happy? I believe on doing what I say and saying only what I plan on doing. This requires commitment. May not be an expert, but am committed. A sales training many years ago, taught giving customers a specific time to complete a task. Such as, “I will call you with an answer by 3:30,” or “we will have a quote ready by Friday at noon.” That is the simplest part; the commitment to complete as promised is the hard part. The answer- do not promise anything you are not committed to completing. This seems to be a lost art these days. Leadership or Commitment? Without commitment, there is no leadership.

There are a number of possibilities that your business could be without power. Most businesses cannot afford to be without power for any length of time, much less for days or weeks. Pre-planning helps your business stay in business when all others are closed.

Uninterrupted Power Supply or UPS is essentially a battery system to keep critical systems alive for a very short time, allowing for proper shutdown. UPS time lasts from 5 minutes to 2 hours, depending upon the system. This amount of time maybe good for power blinks but not for extended power outages. Also, by design UPS systems typically are only used on critical systems and cannot be deployed business-wide.

Portable power generators are prolific during emergency situations. Yet, their capabilities are limited and possibly dangerous. Not designed for immediate and automatic usage, properly getting them to business systems can be cumbersome. Need to be housed outside the building, running a portable power generator would require using professional grade extension cords or having a professional electrician install a power transfer system to use with your portable power generator. Never back feed the electricity into the building. If done incorrectly, you can electrocute utility workers repairing downed power lines. Portable power generators have long power times but are typically powered by gasoline or diesel, meaning that for extended usage refills are necessary. Still, generator must be powered down to be refueled (safety protocol).

Standby Generator
Installing a Standby Generator will automatically deploy when power is lost. Running on LP or natural gas, the power is uninterrupted. Many systems have automatic self-maintenance assuring preparation for down times. These system can deployed building wide, but must be installed by professional electricians who have consulted and valuated your power needs.

It is unfortunate that many new homes and offices are still designed with the power needs of the 1940’s and 1950’s in mind. Let us not forget that many are still inhabiting homes and offices from that generation or even earlier. Couple the building with today’s power needs, and you find danger is easily found under every desk. Consider, an average office worker needs of a computer, monitor, printer; then compound with possible additions of comfort and work – of a scanner, speakers, lamps, fans, space heaters, coffee warmers, etc., the average wall two outlet is quickly over matched. To accommodate their needs most people will use power strips and at time use power strips upon power strips. Overtaxing a power strip is dangerous. Surge protectors, power strips, or extension cords are not a substitute for permanent wiring.

Professionally Installed Outlets
The safest way to supply your power needs is to add additional outlets, and this can only be done by a professional, licensed electrician. The professional, licensed electrician will not only provide more outlets, but will assure power is balanced in the panel. If you have ever had a breaker switch go off, you know the necessity of having professionally installed panel.

• If at any time the power strip is hot to the touch remove and call a licensed electrician for more addressing the overload.
• Any power strip that does not have an internal circuit breaker, has frayed wires, or has a unit that is not working properly, should not be used.
• Do not plug a power strip into an existing or power strip. This practice is called “daisy chaining” or “piggy backing” and can lead to serious problems.
• All surge protectors or power strips need to be UL (Underwriters Laboratory) or ETL (Electrical Testing Laboratories) approved. The UL or ETL label must never be removed from the unit.
• There should only be one surge protector or power strip plugged into a single duplex electrical outlet.
• When the surge protector or plug strip is not in use, unplug the unit.
• The surge protector or power strips should always have either a polarized plug with one of the blades being larger then the other one or a three-prong grounded plug. Never use a three to two prong adapter to power the unit.
• Surge protectors or power strips should have a cord of no more than 6 feet in length.