Lighting Distribution Delivers on the Promise of a Winning Lighting Design

Within a facility, the choices for illumination are varied and can run the gamut from industrial to whimsical, providing different moods and levels of visual interest for the people who occupy or visit the space.  

It naturally follows that modern architectural lighting design straddles the worlds of art and science, seeking to provide experiential value along with energy savings and the latest developments in networked control.

For retail facility owners and managers, a winning lighting design can become an integral component of their brand, communicating the message they work hard to impart to customers every day.  

In commercial settings, creative lighting design can provide the type of interior environment that supports productivity while delivering a user experience that promotes employee satisfaction.

So when a new facility is under construction, or when an existing facility is being renovated, you can be sure that somewhere in those blueprints is the latest thinking of an architect, electrical engineer, or interior designer related to that facility’s lighting design.

Executing the Plan (That’s the Tricky Part)

That winning lighting design will meet technical and safety requirements for the facility’s lighting while delivering a certain extra quality – an ambiance – that differentiates similar-type retail or commercial spaces.  For many businesses, the lighting design for their facility will be a vitally important component of their success.

So everything would appear to be in place.  A great design has been presented, and your facility is on track for the best year ever, right?

Unfortunately, too many facility projects promise wonderful, even inspired, lighting design without an equally gifted lighting distribution partnership in place. Lighting distribution delivers on the promise of lighting design, not just today but long into the future throughout the lifespan of the facility.

On the bright side of that situation, however, is FSG.  For the delivery of lighting packages on a local and national level, there is no better option available for businesses intent on putting their fantastic lighting designs to work exactly as they dreamed them, every day, without interruption.

FSG: The Lighting Package Professionals

In the world of lighting distribution, the ability to seamlessly provide lighting packages that meet customer specifications for a custom lighting design is an increasingly rare talent. 

But this is a talent we have developed and continue to hone at FSG.  Our strategic approach to supply chain management allows us to deliver on the promises other distributors can only hope to keep.

In recent years, FSG has steadily increased its capacity to provide unequaled service in the delivery of local and national lighting fixture packages.  

Through the acquisition of a lighting fixture package distributor in a major market, and by leveraging 40 years of lighting distribution expertise, FSG has become a leader in providing lighting packages to customers across the country.

Getting With The Program

Providing lighting fixture packages takes more than simple order entry and drop shipping to job sites.  The best programs include:

• Initial design or design assist by certified lighting designers
• Bid stage diligence to provide a working budget for the customer
• Final product buy stage for exact customer investment
• Value engineering stage to meet the customer’s budgetary needs
• Project submittal including specifications, lead-time schedule, and job turnover to on-site project management 

The key to a winning local or national lighting program is the alignment of product procurement with both the manufacturer’s estimated lead times and the real-time construction schedule.  

If these items are not properly managed, job site delays and back charges end up bogging down the project for the customer.  

Over the years, and through our lasting relationships with lighting manufacturers, we have come to appreciate the essential nature of communication and transparency between all parties.  We expect it from our suppliers, and we deliver it to our customers on every project.

FSG’s lighting package program delivers the level of professionalism our customers expect when their business success depends on results.  Our local and national lighting package program includes:

• Lead Time Management – we coordinate manufacturer lead times with the construction schedule
• Inventory Management – we invest in inventory, staged nationally in our Master Distribution Centers and based on our customer’s lighting fixture schedules to eliminate job site delays
• Customer Care Team – our customers work with a dedicated team that is focused exclusively on their needs, including coordinating deliveries with job sites, and providing real-time updates to on-site project management
• Logistics Support – we provide seamless, nationwide logistics support 
• Warranty Documentation – we deliver warranty documents including materials and labor to support our customers after the project

Often, businesses find themselves in ongoing vendor relationships that have not evolved with the times.  Perhaps the issue relates to lack of supply, and the vendor simply cannot or will not provide what the customer wants.

This Sounds Great (But I’m Already In a Relationship)

With some vendor relationships, little deficiencies here and there have begun to add up, creating a situation years later where more is wrong than right with the arrangement.

Most often, customers look to change their existing lighting vendor relationship because their situation has changed, with higher stakes and a lower margin for error becoming the new realities of their business.  

These customers simply need to upgrade their lighting vendor relationship to partner with a company that shares their sense of urgency.

READ: Vista Star Realty Lighting Design Case Study

We know very well the challenges that switching vendors can present.  We understand that incumbent suppliers can become entrenched, with an intimate knowledge of the account, and institutional awareness of how various departments operate.  

Many business owners consider these facts and assume they are better off maintaining the status quo.  Other business owners spend some time reading up on the economic concept of sunk cost.

Regardless of the reason why customers occasionally need to change lighting package vendors, FSG makes it easy to switch suppliers with confidence.

Turn That Ship Around

Changing lighting vendors can seem like turning a cruise ship – a big, lumbering process that does not happen instantly. Thanks to the numerous national account transitions we have successfully managed over the past several decades, FSG can offer a steady hand on the wheel as the big boat comes around.

Whenever our lighting package team hears from a customer considering an upgrade to their lighting vendor relationship, we like to propose the following transition plan to guide the process:

1. Create a timeline for transition in collaboration with the customer.

2. Provide time to develop a true understanding of the customer’s pain points, from the perspective of key department stakeholders such as design, procurement, facilities, and operations.

READ: JP Morgan Chase Case Study

3. Assign an FSG team member to develop a solution roadmap to mitigate each of the identified customer pain points.

4. Create a dedicated team at FSG to oversee the customer’s account.  Schedule two meetings to include the customer’s stakeholders and the FSG dedicated team – one at the customer’s HQ and one at FSG’s National Account HQ.

5. Meet with an agenda that includes:

• Design Focus – understand the design intent of all locations with our Lighting Design Team, to ensure each location is delivered exactly in line with the specifications of the lighting design
• Customer Care Focus – manage individual location profiles (store to store) and inventory levels to match the nearest FSG Master Distribution Center 
• Project Management Focus – review upcoming projects, store rollouts, new location construction, site renovations, and more
• Logistics Focus – introduce the power of FSG logistics and hot it helps minimize issues with project deliveries, project staging, and other logistic challenges
• Inventory Control Focus – detail manufacturer lead-time coordination strategy and forecast coordination to manage inventory levels and avoid backorders and delays
• Executive Sponsorship – orchestrate all support activity to provide cohesion from forecast to demand to fulfillment

While changing lighting vendors might seem like a monumental task, FSG is confident we have a plan in place to make the process efficient and eliminate stress for our customers.

Success Is In The Details

A quick look at a recent vendor transition experience for a commercial, multi-site financial institution reveals how FSG can elevate the traditional lighting vendor relationship.

Pain Points	– Long material lead times – Short construction schedule – Construction delays and liquidated damages by general contractors. – Poor communication across the supply chain and to EC / GC stakeholders in the field
FSG Solution	FSG coordinated full supply chain collaboration including specification design, forecast, demand planning, sourcing, and forward buying
Result	FSG efficiently managed $19MM of material and successfully completed 500+ locations on schedule, with no delays.

One Call… and The Healing Begins

As we mentioned before, there is an art to properly providing lighting fixture packages on a local and national level.  At FSG, we are exceptionally good practitioners of that very specific art form.

Within the ever-changing world of LED solid-state technology, lead times and inventory levels could easily become a moving target.  Without an overall strategy to properly manage a program, many lighting distributors fail to deliver on the promises they make to their customers.

We have intentionally built our business to avoid that outcome.  

For commercial accounts and national accounts, there is not a more reliable choice for lighting packages available today than FSG.  Because reliability is the cornerstone of any successful business practice, your business depends on solid relationships like the one you’ll find when you call FSG and ask to speak to someone about lighting packages. To speak to our team, fill out the form below, or call (877) 293-6689.