What is your current role, and what are your main responsibilities?
As a Project Manager, I am one of the main points of contact between our customers and Prolectric. I work together with our customers to review upcoming projects, attend site walks with customers to gather their requirements, liaise with our R&D team to get lighting designs and obtain technical data when needed and assist customers with a proposal and quotation in order for them to make informed decisions.
Once an order is placed, I will liaise with our operations team on behalf of our customer, sending them all the information gathered for the project and agree an activity schedule for the delivery and installation of the lighting and/or power. Together with this planning, operations and I will work as a team to ensure compliance for RAMS and other relevant paperwork is submitted to the customer for approval prior to commencing works on site. Working together with the customers Project Managers, we ensure operatives and subcontractors are booked in and inducted.
Regular site visits are arranged with the customer, once mobilised on site, to discuss progress and follow up on any concerns or feedback.
What inspired you to pursue this field, and how did you get started?
I looked after the rail account for Prolectric initially, as I had worked within the rail industry for 5 years previously and was put in touch with Prolectric by a colleague, as they had developed solar and battery powered lighting, and due to my personal values, and the way the rail/construction industry was going with the carbon reduction targets and so forth, it seemed like it would be a good move.
Can you share an example of a successful project you worked on, and what made it successful?
We recently did work for a housing estate with a defence contractor; 89 lights were installed over a period of 2 weeks, we received really good feedback from the customer and the lights improved the standard of lighting across the site, helping them towards their carbon reduction targets.
The project was successful due to there being good communication between all parties throughout. This relationship allowed for an activity schedule to be agreed between the Prolectric sales and operations teams as well as the customer, fairly quickly, and ensured that all paperwork, RAMS and lighting designs were in place and agreed prior to commencing works on site. Each party was aware of the plan and what the expectations were.
How do you see the industry evolving in the next 5-10 years, and what trends do you think will drive this evolution?
I believe that there will be continued increases in the amount of off-grid, solar/battery/hybrid systems used as technology improves and carbon reduction targets become a closer reality.
How do you think technology is impacting the industry, and what opportunities and challenges does this present?
I think that the growth and overall improvement in solar and battery technology has enabled further opportunities and additional uses for solar and battery equipment to be identified. It is having a positive impact on the industry as a whole. When I first started with Prolectric, almost every site you went to, someone would make a comment such as ‘I have these solar lights in my garden from B&Q and they are rubbish, they only work about 2 weeks a year’ and that is what solar and battery lighting was compared to.
There has definitely been a shift in people’s perception of solar and battery overall in recent years. However, at the same time, the increased demand for solar and battery equipment has meant an increase in the number of products available on the market. Where companies have produced products which do not perform as well and or, the capabilities of the product have been oversold to the end user. This in turn, can have a negative impact on the perception of solar and battery and present challenges when trying to demonstrate the year round reliability and exceptional quality of our products.
