"Making electrical wiring safer and more efficient" is how electrical manufacturing firm Electec describes its approach to business.

The company is a leader in the design, development and manufacture of building wiring and cabling systems, offering a range of simple, safe and economical products.

The green building wiring specialists is celebrating its 33rd anniversary this year and has a lot to shout about with an innovative range solutions at its disposal.

Electec’s reusable and relocatable modular wiring system, EZ-Wiring, is one such product and with its eco-friendly and halogen-free credentials is described by the company as ‘The Next Generation in Wiring Systems’.

"A lot of early modular wiring systems come from the lighting sector, so a lot of light fixture manufacturers offer a cable to connect their fixtures in a ceiling grid," notes Electec Vice-President of Business Development Chris Pezoulas.

"Where the term ‘Next Generation’ comes from, however, is twofold. First of all EZ-Wiring does not discriminate in terms of application; so whether it’s lighting, power installed within the walls, above ceilings, in systems furniture, under raised access floors, or anything from a panel to an outlet, we can do it.

"Furthermore, we have built our system utilizing the latest in eco-friendly materials. We offer a cost effective, labour saving and reusable approach to modular wiring.

"We incorporate halogen-free, non-toxic materials in the construction of our product to further enhance safety," he adds.

Pezoulas says that safety is currently a hot topic within the green building industry and is also of major importance to Electec.

"There is a lot of concern regarding the toxicity of wire insulation and very little is being done about it in North America," he remarks. "Europe and Asia are more progressive in this area as they’ve adopted halogen-free materials which we have also incorporated into our products, even though North American standards don’t call for it.

"We’ve taken the initiative and are leading the charge in finding safer, eco-friendly materials to build all our systems with."

Pezoulas says that the company is a pioneer in the modular wiring industry and is helping to save customers money due to accelerated installation times the plug and play modular concept affords.

Enabling efficient electrical systems

Electec has been in the manufactured wiring business for more than 15 years and with its base in Ottawa has access to a broad range of projects, including everything from specialized government projects to standard commercial offices, retail and institutional work.

"There are benefits to all sorts of different applications, whether its retail, commercial space or even a factory environment," says Pezoulas on the company’s products. "Our customers can use our systems to be a safe, simple, flexible, reusable alternative to expensive, disruptive, expensive traditional methods as well as affording substantial savings on installation time and maintenance costs."

According to Pezoulas, the company was founded by a man who has a "very rich background in electrical construction."

"He has always worked with construction firms that believed in adding value to their work and looked for ways of gaining efficiencies and developing innovative solutions," says Pezoulas.
With this foundation in place the company has found itself continually working to develop its products and services in the most efficient manner possible.

"It was from this philosophy that our approach to modular wiring systems developed," remarks Pezoulas. "And not just a simple wiring system, but one that is really simple, intuitive and safe; a system that cannot only be applied in the commercial construction world, but can at some point be utilized within the residential market."

Electec has developed unique tooling, processing equipment and components to assure consistent and efficient manufacturing of their patented system. The company also produces its own armoured "BX/MC" cable built to the highest performance criteria.

Electec partners with SRED Solutions of Ottawa to take full advantage of R&D incentive programs offered by the Government of Canada.

"SRED Solutions helps us with our scientific research and experimental development projects and have helped us capture rebates and whatever benefits the Canadian government offer companies who are doing substantial R and D," says Pezoulas. "They have come to the table in helping us prepare the necessary background documentation, help us identify R and D opportunities that would qualify and put the whole package together for us, and have been able to recoup some of our expenditures through these programs that otherwise we would not have the resources or time or manpower to do ourselves."
One of the keys to Electec’s success was its continual investment in R & D, which was helped to a large extent by the SR & ED  program.  SRED Solutions Inc. continues to give invaluable guidance to ensure that Electec is in compliance with the program in order to maximize its SR& ED claims.

Going ‘green’ for future success

Electec’s ecological approach toward wiring and cabling solutions is giving the company what Pezoulas describes as its competitive edge.

"Last year alone we received a top 10 green building product award along with many positive reviews from green advocacy groups and as a result EZ-Wiring and EZ-Cabling have been listed in directories of environmentally preferred products," he says.

"Wiring and cabling is of particular interest to green advocacy groups, because it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

A lot of the products being paid attention to in LEED and other green building rating programs are focused on fabrics, furniture and wall finishes, etc., because that is what is seen. But people really need to pay more attention to what’s behind their walls and especially in their air-handling spaces such as drop ceilings and raised floors," he adds.

"Green advocacy groups really like what we’re doing because we’re paying attention to the materials that are going up into hidden spaces-it’s not flashy, and it’s something that most people aren’t going to see – but it is safer and more environmentally friendly."

The company has worked in the U.S. market and even has a customer building stores in Japan, but the majority of its work is in Canada. With close to 50 per cent of its business based in Ontario, Pezoulas hopes that it new Next Generation product line can take the company into new markets.

"Our future goal would be to take this product global," he asserts. "We’ve had a lot of inquiries about the concept from all over the world, from the Middle East to Europe to South America, so that is pretty exciting."

The company has come a long way over the past two decades, and with a product as revolutionary as EZ-Wiring, the future of Electec is one worth keeping an eye on.