The Lighting Rep of the Future

Following Lightspec West hosted in Los Angeles back in September, it is clear that lighting companies can develop efficiencies and minimize risk within their respective businesses by leveraging technology. I had the opportunity to discuss some of these initiatives with industry peers during “The Dynamic Evolution of The Lighting Agency Today” panel session. Though everybody agreed that these are important initiatives, there is still a lack of solutions that cater to our industry. 

Lighting businesses face constant issues ranging from pricing pressure, long lead times, inefficient communication, and endless requests to revise projects. At Parspec, we believe that companies are limited by the software that was developed in a prior generation before data and collaboration were the norms in every industry. We believe that software technology curated for lighting companies will simplify and streamline the sales process for our industry by improving how we collaborate and how we access information. 

On access to information, the sales channel usually leans on receiving updates from thousands of manufacturers to learn of new products, pricing, availability, and specification information. It is impossible for a single firm, let alone a single individual for that matter, to stay on top of this information in today’s dynamic market. This adds to the risk these companies incur, oftentimes penalizing their bottom line. The market and its products are dynamic. Yet the tools and the processes conducted by the supply chain are not. Why shouldn’t companies have instant access to specifications, lead times, and pricing? The efficiency of the construction supply chain depends on this information, yet it’s not readily available.

Instead, we believe that companies should have instant access to current and comprehensive product data, and intelligence around that data. Project stakeholders need to find alternatives to products due to long lead times, budgetary constraints, or energy code compliance, among many other reasons. The challenge? Providing a tool that is both easy to use and convenient. Technologies like AI can also help with automating repetitive, rule-based tasks like searching for suitable product alternatives when products are not available or cost too much. At Parspec, we’re building a system where a specifier can simply define or upload a specification and our system will identify all of the products available in the market today which meet this specification.

Secondly, collaboration is something that has dramatically changed for most technology-related industries, yet for the past 20 years, most companies in the lighting industry have collaborated over email and attachments. Again, technology can help in this regard. Parspec aims to facilitate real-time communication between the specifier and the rep for each product. By hosting project workflows in the cloud, providing collaboration tools, and facilitating communication between project stakeholders, Parspec is able to not only reduce the time it takes to create a professional submittal package but also dramatically reduce the total time it takes to finalize any lighting project.

In summary, I believe that software technology like Parspec can augment existing processes and empower teams to work more efficiently to maximize value for their customers. They benefit from instant access to intelligent product data, eliminating repetitive tasks, and enabling more seamless collaboration on projects. Parspec already helps many lighting rep agencies and distributors save time and money, in fact, it is an incredibly easy way to level up your lighting business.