“I am inundated by companies which claim to have cutting-edge LED fittings. The majority will tell you that their fittings can do the job that you want them to do. But after doing a ‘free’ site survey, many of them are never heard from again. While the survey costs nothing in terms of direct financial outlay, it means I lose a whole day’s work for no gain,” he says.
He explains that Dialight, Forth Ports’ current LED lighting supplier in Scotland is more realistic.
“When we ask them if they have a solution for a particular problem, they will model the problem and often come back to us and explain that existing technology is not yet quite good enough. However, they invariably add that they should have developed the necessary fittings within the next couple of years. That honesty pays dividends.”
There is, he says, nothing more frustrating than a potential supplier getting a port manager excited by suggesting it has a solution for a 35-metre pole that will save the port a fortune, only for that company not then to follow through.
“Having a company that talks no nonsense and honestly is night and day and makes all the difference. From this industry, I am looking for robust, reliable products that give cost and energy savings, as well as honesty and a relationship that results in confidence over time,” says Dr McGlashan.
He says that the relationship Forth Ports has struck with Dialight, which has now lasted 18 months, is a good one. The only faulty unit to have been supplied was immediately replaced.
“As far as I am concerned, if the port operators and port engineers are content, and the lights are delivering significant savings, I can’t ask for much more. And some of the areas where we are making savings from weren’t necessarily immediately considered, nor were some of environments in which we have put the lights.”