Flex has a highly-engineered product that matches well with our other high quality equipment. They offer longevity of L70 rating, maintaining lumens without drastic fall off in years two, three, and even five. That’s important because it allows customers to focus on building new cars, not replacing lights.”
Nate Hauck, VP of PowerBuilt
PowerBuilt Material Handling Solutions Inc. provides lighting solutions, among other services, to automotive assembly facilities for manufacturers such as Nissan, Honda and BMW. These long term customers rely on PowerBuilt to recommend high-quality products that perform well for many years while keeping operating costs low.
Many of PowerBuilt’s automotive customers have plants with metal halide or fluorescent lighting, which are not cost efficient and provide poor, inconsistent light. PowerBuilt typically helps these customers upgrade their facilities when new models hit the assembly floor, touting LED’s ability to lower energy costs by 30 percent while also dramatically reducing their maintenance costs. When PowerBuilt noticed lighting inconsistencies, higher costs, and a lack of innovation by its existing LED supplier, executives began looking for a new partner.
Executives also saw an opportunity to address the needs of its own 7,500-square-foot assembly facility, which was lit with inefficient T5 fluorescents and first generation LEDs. Installing new LED technology at its facility would not only improve the workspace for its workers but could serve as a lighting showroom that could build trust and boost credibility with customers.
LED High Bays
After evaluating several LED manufacturers, PowerBuilt forged a partnership with Flex Lighting Solutions to distribute the Essentials Series and Linear Series LED high bays, which offers industry leading efficacy of up to 168 lm/W and up to 80% power reduction over traditional fluorescent lighting.
“Our customers really appreciate the cost savings and virtually no maintenance that come with Flex Lighting,” Hauck says.
Nate Hauck, VP of PowerBuilt
PowerBuilt also installed Flex Lighting Solutions Essentials LED high bay fixtures in its own facility, allowing them to increase light levels and lower operating costs. The new installation of Essentials and Linear LED high bays helped the facility move from 90 lumens per watt to 120 – 130 lumens per watt. The new lighting also provides a showroom so customers can see the benefits of moving to LED lighting. Many potential customers don’t know that all LED lighting and fixtures aren’t the same and come in various lumen outputs and color temperatures, Hauck explains.
“Some suppliers carry several manufacturing lines and sell them solely based on price, not quality or longevity of light. We don’t do that. We built long-term relationships and there are severe implications if we don’t deliver,” Hauck says.
