Electric.ie May/June 2021

ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 43 Schneider Electric will be very soon. To make the most of this opportunity, you must remember that your role as an electrician doesn’t have to be just giving customers electricity. You can increase your value-add as a connected consultant able to empower them with insight and optimise operations for the better. Work smart, work fast, work safe Connectivity and insight don’t just benefit the customer, they benefit you. For example, when you’re called in for maintenance or repairs, having a pool of data to draw from the connected devices you installed will drastically speed up your workflow. Hours of manual inspection can be replaced by minutes of reading a series of data points. When supported by insight, you can isolate and resolve a problem much faster. You’ll develop a reputation for speed and efficiency – and make it more likely that the customer will call on you again. By working smarter, you work faster. This means you can get more work done is less time, offer more competitive prices and focus on what matters most – growing your customer base and business. Schneider Electric’s Acti9 Isobar P distribution board is a good demonstration of how connectivity saves contractors time. With a plug-on RCBO, the board demands much less wiring – therefore cutting installation times by around 50% and ensuring a faster, more competitive job. Connectivity also makes you safer by putting another layer between you and the live equipment. There’s an inherent danger in every job, whether it’s from electric shocks or arc flashes – yet the risks to health and life are greatly diminished when connected technologies are able to do much of the dangerous work for you. What’s more, when an application has more software components than hardware, there is much less of a risk from degrading equipment and more problems can be solved remotely. With some of today’s digital tools, a contractor can check or even perform maintenance on a device without ever having to touch the enclosure. For example, Schneider Electric’s MasterPact MTZ circuit breakers can connect to an operator’s phone through a smartphone app. Instead of having to open a distribution board and manually check where a problem might be, a contractor only has to download the app and it will indicate what’s wrong. Connectivity, of course, is also safer for the customer. When the capabilities are in place for connected monitoring and detection, potential dangers can be flagged and resolved before they can snowball into a larger problem. You don’t need to wait until a scheduled check-up before a potentially dangerous fault is discovered. With connected solutions that feed customers insight across their assets, repairs and maintenance can also be performed on a proactive rather than reactive basis. This means less downtime and safer, happier customers. PowerTag, the world’s smallest wireless energy sensor, helps with this proactive maintenance by measuring energy and power in real time and sending downtime alerts. Circuit breakers which are ‘tagged’ with PowerTag become fully connected, enabling assets to run smoothly. Ultimately, connectivity is king. It brings the ability to improve efficiencies, and therefore the quality of service offered to customers. Mastering connectivity gives you a clear advantage as an electrician, so make sure you get on board and stay ahead.