Turn informal chat into Pro Talk:

Do you have genius in your sales organization? Of course you do--in the collective knowledge and experience of your sales staff. For years, these people have been key to your continued business success, each one using his or her own special expertise to make the sale. Pro Talk, from William Bradford Associates, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, is a program designed to help your salespeople share their collective experiences and know-how, resulting in everyone gaining new insights into their jobs.

A three-ring binder holds everything you'll need to conduct 10 Pro Talk sessions for an informal yet organized exchange of ideas and knowledge. The program is designed so that a key member of your own management or sales staff can act as leader of the in-house, peer-group discussions. Everyone in the sessions participates, and everyone walks away with new ideas and new solutions.

Support materials include instructions for leading Pro Talk sessions, a suggested introductory memo to distribute to participants before the first session, eight to 10 prompters for each session, and "warm-up" sheets to send out several days in advance to prepare participants for upcoming discussions. The program has endorsement from many users in the electrical distribution industry and is recommended by NEMRA (National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association). For more information, call 800-442-1299

NEMA releases Cat 6 and 7 cable standards:

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va., has released the firs North American standard for the next level of telecommunications cables. The new standard is called NEMA WC 66-1999, Performance Standard for Category 6 and Category 7 100-Ohm Shielded and Unshielded Twisted Pair Cables.

Category cables are used for voice and data transmission in a telecommunications environment. Developed by the Premise Wiring Subcommittee of the NEMA High Performance Wire and Cable Section, WC 66 defines minimum electrical performance and allowable conductor sizes, stranding and shielding for premise-wiring cables. The cables may be used for voice, data, and video applications requiring bandwidths up to 200 MHz for Cat 6 cable and 600 MHz for Cat 7.

According to Frank Peri, president of Communications Design Corp. and a member of the Premise Wiring Subcommittee, these cable designs should be able to support any copper-based application for the next 10 years. "Anybody in a commercial building environment requiring use of local area networks--businesses, hospitals, universities and other institutions--will find this standard invaluable," he said.

A-D software opens energy conservation market:

Affiliated Distributors, Inc. (A-D), King of Prussia, Pa., has announced a new software system that supports the sales of complete lighting-upgrade packages from product selection through project financing. The system, called A-D Earth Savers, was developed by ES Energ Technologies of Tucson, Ariz., in conjunction with IBM' e-business solutions unit.

A-D Earth Savers supports the development of financial proposals for owners of small- and medium-size businesses and includes a savings guarantee that reimburses customers if anticipated savings from the new lighting system don't materialize. The system, which is accessible via the Internet and exclusively to A-D distributor members and their customers, gives participating A-D distributors the ability to set up a network of installers such as electrical contractors and energy-service companies (ESCOs) and includes project-financing options through American Express. Other features include on-line access to lighting-upgrade information on the A-D member's Earth Savers Web site; an energy-audit function; a product database composed of A-D vendors; and a shopping feature. For more information, call Affiliated Distributors at 610-292-9270.

Graybar opens new facilities:

Graybar Electric Co., Inc., St. Louis, Mo., has opened a 200,000-sq-ft distribution center in Stafford, Texas. The regional zone warehouse will maintain a multimillion-dollar inventory of electrical, communications and data supplies and equipment and will serve as a replenishment and shipping facility for Graybar branches in the region. The company will use the new facility to stock and distribute items for marketing initiatives and new product rollouts from selected suppliers. It is the sixth of 17such facilities planned nationwide. Inventory for same-day shipments, sales and customer service functions, as well as counter and will-call service will continue to be handled out of existing Graybar branches close to Graybar's customers.

The company also has opened a new branch location in St. Cloud, Minn., to serve its customers in the central part of the state. The St. Cloud branch is the company's ninth location in Minnesota.

Not exacatly a garage sale, but . . .:

VirtualWarehouse.net, is an Internet-based product locator from Trade Service Corp., San Diego, Calif., that lists thousands of dollars in excess inventory, out-of-stock and hard-to-find items from electrical, plumbing, heating and piping wholesalers. The service now has been expanded to include a manufacturers section.

The service is essentially a product clearinghouse that supports the sale of manufacturers' excess inventory. Manufacturers may participate through a private network that allows them to control access to their products to just their authorized trading partners, or through a public network open to any member of VirtualWarehouse.net. Participants access product information via industry standard search methods and can sort item availability by location, giving a manufacturer increased access to regional markets within the U.S. Buyers can locate the items they need, access the seller's information with the touch of a key, then fax or e-mail orders directly to the selling manufacturer. For more information, call 800-701-7003 or visit the Web site at www.virtualwarehouse.net.

Vermont adopts NEC AFCI amendment early:

The Vermont Electrical Board has adopted an amendment requiring the installation of arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) in new construction effective January 1, 2001, one year sooner than the National Electric Code (NEC) requirement. The Vermont code amended the 1999 NEC, which states that AFCIs must be installed in all bedroom branch circuits for receptacle outlets in new residential construction beginning in 2002. The Vermont AFCI amendment requires that AFCIs be installed in all 120V living area (including bedrooms) branch circuits in residential construction for outlets beginning in 2001.

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