Above It All Episode 41: Logistics Lighting Guarantee With JM Systems

Podcast episode 41 features Regional Services Manager for Johns Manville, Jeff Caldwell. Jeff discusses our partnership with Logistics Lighting, who they are and the value they can bring to your roofing projects. 

Above It All is a podcast by Johns Manville dedicated to the roofing industry. The goal of this podcast is to bring knowledge from a Johns Manville perspective on trends, innovations, and people shaping the roofing industry. Join us as we dive head first into enriching conversations about the people and passion that are an integral part of the JM experience.

Transcript

Daniel Robbins: Here we are again for another episode of Above It All, a podcast dedicated to the roofing industry by Johns Manville. Today I have the privilege of sitting with one of our Regional Service Managers, and that is Jeff Caldwell. How are you doing, sir?

Jeff Caldwell: Doing well, thanks.

Daniel Robbins: So Jeff, we are here today to talk about Logistics Lighting, our partnership with them, what the brand is, and then also kind of how that fits into our guarantees. So before we get into the guarantee part, tell us a little bit about what Logistics Lighting is.

Jeff Caldwell: So, Logistics Lighting is a skylight provider, kind of at a high level, right? I think if you look at their website, one of their slogans is “We are skylight experts.” They go a little beyond that. They’ve got a few other offerings, but they’re kind of a one-stop shop for skylights. They can help you with design, they can help you with install support. They handle a couple of different skylight manufacturers if you, depending on what’s potentially [specified] on the project. So really, they kind of look at themselves and we look at them as kind of a one-stop shop for your skylight needs.

Daniel Robbins: So that’s pretty cool. And how common are skylights on projects?

Jeff Caldwell: It’s going to depend on the building use, right? But if you think about kind of the green energy, energy efficiency and how skylights play into that, I expect we’re going see an uptick as we were going to more renewable sources. It’s kind of free light during the day. Think about a lot of big box stores too, is kind of where I imagine you’re typically going to see them. Warehouses is a real popular one. If you think about walking into a Home Depot, there’s a lot of skylights there. And think about the size of these buildings. So if you’re a contractor or an owner that gets involved in one of these projects, a lot of times you’re not going to have three skylights. You’re looking at hundreds potentially, depending on the size and how primary of a source of light.

Daniel Robbins: So not to get too nerdy with it, but the skylights set up is really about energy usage mitigation in the building.

Jeff Caldwell: Yeah. It’s an alternative, right? So instead of having to run fluorescent lights or something and pay for that energy, just kind of a free source.

Daniel Robbins: It’s letting the heat come in through the skylight essentially.

Jeff Caldwell: Yeah, yeah. Right. Light, just not paying electricity bill kind of thing.

Daniel Robbins: Very cool. So, when we are moving into our systems and our guarantees, I know you guys have been talking about this more than ever here at JM. What is some things that would be valuable for our customers and other people to hear?

Jeff Caldwell: So not only the services we kind of talked about and we can get deeper into that. If you go to their website and reach out to them, Logistics Lighting definitely provides services to help you complete your project. But then, bringing that under the JM umbrella again, just kind of puts everything under one source, right? So we can include those, because of our agreement with Logistics Lighting, we have the option to include some of the manufacturers or skylights that they provide in your JM NDL, right? So then it’s all just under one company, right? It’s under us. So we kind of take care of everything as it comes in. And that coverage is just going to be right. It’ll be very similar. It’ll be the same of what you would get typically from that skylight manufacturer, but again, you’re working with us now. Because if you think about, right, this is all, it’s the roof really, right? They are an integral part of the roof.

Daniel Robbins: So it sounds like we’re making it turnkey, so to speak. And historically, what are some issues that you’ve seen with people trying to use other manufacturers, maybe not even wrapped up in that NDL that you were talking about?

Jeff Caldwell: Right. So at that point, right, it [will] turn into a paperwork mess. “Hey, who did we buy those skylights from? How long ago was it? When did we do that? Where’s the paperwork for that warranty that we got from? What exactly is that coverage?” Right? So here again, it just kind of consolidates it all. So you’re working with one person, we’ve got the info, we’ve got the paperwork from Logistics Lighting that we document in our system so we can keep it all straight for you. It’s a similar, we offer this in a few other aspects, like Edge Metals, kind of a similar thing. We can roll up Edge Metals under our guarantee. So I would look at it like a very similar situation to that.

Daniel Robbins: So ultimately, it sounds like these type of issues, if you didn’t roll it up into one NDL, one guarantee set up with us, at some point someone’s going to start asking questions and you could create more problems on the project such as lengthening the time of the project.

Jeff Caldwell: Yeah. Right. If you’re just working with us, it’ll definitely keep things a little bit more efficient and consolidated in one location. And then even, I would say even more so though, it’s for the life of the roof, it’s a lot for the owner, right? So the owner then gets everything under the JM name and that’s, right, keeping track of one piece of paper for your JM NDL versus five different ones for whatever else you got up there.

Daniel Robbins: Interesting. So, it really does, yeah, the contractor might have an easier time working with this, but also you said building owner and then the transfer, like if the building owner’s going to sell the building or anything like that, it ends up being an easier package to pass on, so to speak, right?

Jeff Caldwell: Right. Yeah, potentially.

Daniel Robbins: Very cool. Very cool. Well, so if customers and people want to learn more about this, where could they go right now? Who should they contact to talk more about this?

Jeff Caldwell: Yeah, so I’ll pause on giving any specific names just because that will, for the longevity of this podcast as people change roles and come and go. But for sure, it’s obviously Logistics Lighting. They’ve got a website where you can go and see some of the services they provide and the manufacturers of skylights that they provide. And then our inside tech team is who I would direct you to, either inside tech or outside sales. Well, absolutely have the most kind of up-to-date contacts and info on who to get in touch with.

Daniel Robbins: So get a hold of your local JM sales rep.

Jeff Caldwell: Perfect.

Daniel Robbins: And we will roll it up for you. We’ll make it happen.

Jeff Caldwell: Get it taken care of.

Daniel Robbins: Well, Jeff, thank you so much for enlightening us on that. We are out of time. And until next time, everybody stay safe out there.

Jeff Caldwell: Awesome. Appreciate you Daniel.