Current by GE Launches 2019 Product Suite to Enhance Productivity for Channel Partners and Customers
Patented technology delivers the industry’s fastest linear suspended retrofit product
Current, powered by GE unveiled a series of new products and digital solutions at LIGHTFAIR International that provide channel partners and distributors with workflow improvements and deliver productivity savings to end users. The company is focused on engineering products that extend benefits beyond energy savings with innovative approaches to installation, component modularity and asset management.
New products from Current are engineered to help channel partners with quicker installations of complete solutions that stand the test of time
“Multi-level efficiency means thinking beyond energy efficiency and using other product features to find ways we can help our channel partners with quicker installations of complete solutions that stand the test of time,” said Melissa Wesorick, Current’s General Manager of LED Products & Technology.
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Product Portfolio Delivers Industry Leading Installation Advancements
Current’s new LUR Refit* product features a patented mechanical-electrical interconnect technology that decreases installation time by 75 percent compared to other suspended fixture retrofit products, making it particularly valuable in retail spaces with long continuous runs of suspended fixtures. Once the starter is installed, it takes less than two minutes to install an eight-foot fixture which is less than a tube and driver replacement solution. The LUR includes Current’s TriGain* technology and has built-in features to eliminate snaking. It is also the first product to debut Current’s new photo banding technology, which works with iOS and Android devices to enable more precise indoor positioning than BLE for retail applications.
Customers working on outdoor solutions can improve installation efficiency by upgrading their 150W HID Cobra Head products with Current’s new ERLC Compact Cobra Head, which is 30 percent lighter (8 vs 12.5 lbs) with comparable lumen output to illuminate local roads. This product is complemented by Current’s new Cat-M version of its LightGrid* Outdoor Wireless Control, which is designed to extend controllability beyond city centers onto highways, rest stops, malls and suburban areas where streetlighting is sparser.
Current continues to expand in the horticulture space with the introduction of the Arize Element* TopLight, the industry’s first one-for-one replacement for 1000W High Pressure Sodium products. With multiple light spectrums to maximize growth for specific crops and universal installation with loop cables, this fixture design can be installed dozens of different ways — dramatically reducing inventory needs to meet demand for greenhouse LED retrofit options.
Earlier this year, Current introduced the RPL, its first flat panel retrofit door kit with field installable lighting controls, and the industry’s first and only LED replacement for a traditional 1000W HID lamp used in industrial and outdoor applications.
“We continually talk to our customers and channel partners to understand how we can help them become more efficient,” Wesorick explained. “Installation ease is a critical need that we have challenged ourselves to deliver.”
Digital Innovation Improves Productivity from City Streets to Grocery Aisles
Current’s digital innovations showcased at LIGHTFAIR demonstrate the industry’s shift to efficiency improvements that extend beyond lighting.
- A new partnership with IMS Evolve allows Current to help food retailers reduce operational costs and improve customer experience. The IMS technology leverages real-time performance and efficiency data from refrigeration, lighting and HVAC assets to drive significant savings across energy, waste and maintenance/supply chain spend. With these new levels of control and visibility, grocery customers have moved beyond energy savings to realizing productivity improvements like reducing stock loss from machine failure by approximately 50 percent and slashing reactive maintenance calls by 40 percent.
- Current debuted its new Daintree* WMZ10 people count sensor to passively count people in commercial office settings. The ceiling sensor is the most economical solution for companies to anonymously count people in open areas. When coupled with Current’s desk level occupancy sensors, the solution creates the most efficient way for real estate executives to understand space utilization.
- Current’s CityIQ* hardware is being paired with app partners to spawn entrepreneurship and improve public safety and mobility. A new bicycle planning API will soon be helping cities make informed investment decisions to improve biker safety and increase biking as a percentage of mobility. A partnership with Genetec’s reporting software is helping police departments increase conviction rates, reduce investigation costs and save time from incident to prosecution. The San Diego Police Department leveraged CityIQ data to facilitate complex investigations in more than 90 serious incidents involving violent crime and fatal traffic collision cases in nine months.
“Time is the new currency. We want to provide measurable time saving solutions throughout the lifecycle of our products, from the first installation continuing through the final end user experience,” Wesorick noted.
