Electrical Industry Leaders’ Insights on 2015 and 2016, Part 2

Round Table Part 2

 

Jan 19 2016

 

We asked industry leaders give us their opinion on 5 key points of our industry in the Canadian economy in the year ahead. These people are in alphabetical order: Bill Hammond, CEO, Hammond Power Solutions, Juan Macias, President, Schneider Electric Canada, David Nathaniel, CEO, Standard, Nathalie Pilon, CEO, ABB Canada, and Dave Syer, VP, Vendor Relations and Business Development, Sonepar Canada. Some have provided longer answers, but all and all responded to the questions and have agreed to share their unique perspective on our industry. We thank them once again.

In Part 1, we asked about key developments in 2015, and major changes, if any, anticipated in 2016. This week in Part 2: technologies of the future and challenges ahead.

Which emerging technologies do you think will have the greatest impact on our industry in the near future? 

Bill Hammond (BH): Smart grid and microgrid technologies. Certain electro-mechanical technologies as we know them today won’t be required in the buildings and the power generation grids of the future.

David Nathaniel (DN): Connected devices will accelerate into the market, Power over Ethernet (POE) will become more relevant, and e-commerce will continue to become more impactful.

Nathalie Pilon (NP): Energy storage.

Dave Syer (DS): Internet of things and big data. 

What single word would you use to summarize 2015?

BH: Adaptation. 

DN: Challenging.

JM: Volatile. 

NP: Challenging and difficult to predict from month to month.

DS: Interesting… again.

What is/are the industry’s biggest challenge/challenges for 2016?

BH: Continuing slow growth in Canada in 2016 will put more pressure on companies to grow and maintain profitability. 

DN: Mitigating weak economic growth and managing the impact of technological change.

JM: The biggest challenge will be a return to growth in the Canadian oil and gas sector.

NP: Economic environment and further industry consolidation.

DS: Balancing investment and profitability in a margin-challenged environment.

Missed Part 1? Read it now: www.electricalwholesaler.electricalindustry.ca/latest-news/1004-electrical-industry-leaders-insights-on-2015-and-2016-part-1.

 

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