Large Corporate National Account Chains & LED Specification

[Erik Sine]

Been talking to a number of Sign Distributors and I have to shake my head when I hear of the big number of large national accounts that are usually bought and sold by the LED module manufacturers.

We all know the usual suspect LED manufacturers that run around to these large corporate chains (banks, food & retails) who market direct to what used to be our clients, which circumvents us the Sign Manufacturers in testing and evaluating what should work best for OUR national sign accounts.

I think it's been a HUGE, monstrous mistake on the part of the national retail, corporations, and banks to let a light source manufacturer sell them on one light source to fit all. It's throwing all your eggs into one basket "hoping" that light source holds up, and is a good return on investment over time, and of course compared to what else is in the market, even in different light sources. But what do they know? They get an expensive power point presentation along with an impressive dog and pony show, which isn't honest most of the time, it just favors what they're pimping.

I've seen a lot of National accounts go bad around town, most of the time it's with poorly lit, but expensive light source LED modules, maybe it should have even been Neon as a light source instead. A lot of times, the specification is COMPLETELY wrong, and it's something that was over sold, a project sold on very bad information, and very bad MISLEADING information.

These end clients who USED to be be fully ours, the food, retail and bank chains in choosing what components works best in our experience in case history . As a sign company who has decades, scores, maybe even the rare century of track record and experience who see's first hand and even knowingly is forced to purchase components we know not to be very good, or efficient is needed to complete large contracts in order to keep our business's going and growing.

But, now the big question. What steps can be made to take/bring that specification process back to the professionals, and away from these large light source manufacturers who know better than us????? Nobody knows better than us, after all, we don't use one specific light source for everything we do, well if you're a true professional of the trade you don't. We've seen light sources prevail and widely fail. Similarly to the testing we do here on the Sign Syndicate in light testing a number of large sign companies do their measuring with them. I've see, and heard too many times knowing the results with the light products here the mismatching of products to application.

As a sign company who comes across a large invitation to bid, what do you do when you see a specified component that you know isn't the right for the sign application? Maybe it's a inefficient product, too pricey vs quality, or you know it has a bad case history?

What can we do as an industry to bring this decision, the R&D back to the sign companies and bypass the LED manufacturers who hype, mislead, who can at times mismanage our clients, or potential clients? What are you doing, or are you just nodding your head ignoring the potential mistake and submitting your bids?

Would it help to bring the testing we do here in large high powered (Great White Hope), mid & mini (Project Tighty Whitey) light sources, Red Light District & Border Security in specialty light sources and even our future sign cabinet light source testing more to the forefront for even our end clients to see and monitor for themselves? Instead of keeping it so internal and within ourselves? That way they can see and witness what we do in measuring Neon, LEDs, and Fluorescent lamp technologies? Can this one aspect help and be a potential tool to point OUR clients to in aiding the sign program/specification process?

What else can be done to take our industry back to shed a "good" light in the evening times? It won't be asked or addressed anywhere else unfortunately.