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TSMC Says It Can’t Meet Chip Demand

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing company, says it will take “a very long time” to meet the current computer chip demand due to AI. CEO C.C. Wei says the ongoing demand for advanced computing and cutting-edge semiconductors will not slow down due to the growth of AI. TSMC recently invested nearly $165 billion to increase manufacturing at it’s U.S. location in Arizona. The investment is expected to play a significant role in supporting U.S. customers over the long term. But, Wei admitted that fully meeting domestic demand through American production alone will take a “very long time.” Business News Today – tEDmag

 

Electrical Wholesaling’s 2026 Top 100 Ranking

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

This year’s listing of the largest electrical distributors in North America is sponsored by LEDVANCE. Electrical Wholesaling’s2026 Top 100 electrical distributors remain quite bullish on their 2026 sales prospects despite economic uncertainty in the overall economy because of the war in Iran, the related spike in inflation, a still-slumbering residential market and sluggish new office construction in many metros. Despite these concerns, the average 2025 revenue increase for the 70-plus distributors who provided sales data was +9.3%. Data centers were by far the most common large construction projects mentioned by Top 100 execs. Leon Mowadia, COO, Facility Solutions Group (FSG) , Austin, TX, said FSG has also worked on several large Manhattan office buildings, as well as Netflix’s studio being built in Fort Monmouth, NJ, and other large commercial projects in Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles.  Electrical Wholesaling’s 2026 Top 100 Ranking | Electrical Wholesaling

Successfully Incorporating AI Into Building by Gretchen Catlin

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

Operations Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the most practical tools: not as a replacement for skilled staff, but as a workforce multiplier that captures knowledge, sharpens decisions and extends the capacity of the teams we have. Key Takeaways:

  • With a large portion of the facilities workforce nearing retirement, AI can help preserve critical institutional knowledge before it is lost.
  • AI can improve facility operations by supporting predictive maintenance, analyzing data and streamlining everyday tasks such as communications, documentation and capital planning.
  • Organizations can successfully adopt AI by starting with small, practical applications while addressing cybersecurity, cost and workforce training considerations.

Successfully Incorporating AI Into Building Operations – Facilities Management Insights

LCA Publishes Education Video Covering Occupancy and Vacancy Sensors

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

The Lighting Controls Academy has published a video version of EE102A: Occupancy and Vacancy Sensors, a free course available at YouTube. Occupancy and vacancy sensors are devices that detect when a space is unoccupied and accordingly automatically turn Off (or dim) the lights, thereby saving energy. Due to their relative simplicity and high energy-savings potential, these sensors are a staple in new construction and a feature of many retrofit projects. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) select an appropriate sensor technology based on a given application’s characteristics, 2) select appropriate features for the sensor to optimize performance in the given application, and 3) apply sensors to spaces based on their characteristics. . Lighting Controls Academy Publishes Education Video Covering Occupancy and Vacancy Sensors

Domino’s Case Study – Quality-Centric

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

From almost going out of business to #1 in the pizza industry worldwide! Founded by Thomas Monahan in 1960 and initiating the turnaround in 2010 by Patrick Doyle, this is a case study about how important solving problems and making sound decisions are to a business and that these skills are the core of effective management.

 

Walmart Enters the Facility Services Industry by Elaina Myers

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

Walmart is stepping into the facility services arena. Known for running one of the largest retail operations in the world, the company is turning the maintenance experience behind its thousands of stores into a commercial service for businesses nationwide. Upstream Facility Serviceswas launched in April 2026 and will use the same systems and technician network Walmart uses to maintain its stores and Sam’s Club locations. Upstream will offer HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, electrical and general maintenance services combined with urgent repair responses and preventive and predictive strategies. The goal is to reduce downtime, extend asset life and improve operational consistency, according to the company. Because of the high volume of Walmart locations, they will be able to deploy technicians close to customer locations nationwide. This density could offer faster response times than other regional vendors.  Walmart Enters the Facility Services Industry – Facility Management Maintenance & Operations Quick Read

NAED, IDEA Launch ProjectNexus From ‘Where’s My Stuff?’

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

NAED has selected the joint venture of IDEA and Pull Logic to build ProjectNexus, the first industry-owned middleware solution giving the electrical channel real-time visibility into order status, from manufacturer to job site. Tracking material across the electrical supply chain still means phone calls, emails, and endless spreadsheets. Frontline teams spend their days fire-fighting instead of moving projects forward. A first-of-its-kind, industry-owned middleware solution that lets manufacturers, reps, and distributors share trusted order and shipment information directly between systems. ProjectNexus – IDEA

  • Real-time PO Status – Every order, every line. Confirmed, in production, shipped, or delayed.
  • Proactive ESD alerts – Slips flagged before the call comes in. From reactive to proactive.
  • Secure and role-based – You decide what to share and with whom. Role-based controls give every partner access to exactly what they need, and nothing more.

A.I. Doesn’t Have to Mean Layoffs by Patricia Cohen

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

A French multinational, Schneider Electric, decided to use artificial intelligence in manufacturing to make workers more productive, rather than to replace them. Here’s how that’s going. For many chief executives, success in adopting artificial intelligence is measured by the number of jobs they can eliminate. But such views reflect “a very narrow understanding” of A.I.’s potential, said Erik Brynjolfsson, who directs the Digital Economy Lab  at Stanford University. It’s a message that Schneider Electric, a global energy technology company based in France, has taken to heart. Before the company started using A.I., customer service agents received thousands of questions from callers and engaged in a grand hunt through millions of pages of information to track down the answer. Now A.I. does the hunting and details how the information was selected and the source. The agent then reviews and if necessary, modifies and refines the answer with the caller. In the last three months of 2025, call centers fielded 150,000 questions. Three-quarters of the time, A.I. was able to provide the right answer to straightforward questions. I. Doesn’t Have to Mean Layoffs – The New York Times

Cyclone Lighting Launches Stretto Outdoor Luminaire

William Attardi on June 2, 2026

Cyclone Lighting has released its Stretto luminaire, which features a sleek, linear shape that integrates naturally into contemporary urban environments. Available in two complementary sizes that accommodate a wide range of applications, the luminaire delivers enduring performance in demanding outdoor spaces. The larger 54-LED version supports higher performance packages and delivers up to 16,000 lumens for contexts such as boulevards and streets. The smaller 27-LED version delivers up to 6,000 lumens for more intimate spaces like sidewalks and bike paths. Choose from more than 14 standard distribution types, as well as the option to integrate crosswalk or backward optics options. Optics can be oriented in 90-degree increments up to 180 degrees, allowing two distribution types to be combined within a single light engine—for example, illuminating a roadway and the adjacent sidewalk or bike path while using fewer luminaires.

AI Is Enabling the Next Generation of Distributor Workflows by Michael Delgado

William Attardi on June 1, 2026

Customer expectations have never been greater, and distributors must respond to growing volumes of requests quickly and accurately, often across fragmented inputs and constantly changing information. Highly manual workflows can’t keep up with this new reality. AI represents a practical solution. Not as a bolt-on tool, but as a way to change how work gets done — handling the translation between how requests come in and how orders need to be processed. That shift removes the bottleneck at the center of quoting and order entry, allowing teams to respond faster, reduce errors and operate more consistently despite the rising pressure. AI has moved from a competitive advantage to a baseline requirement to keep pace. Distributors that embed it into their core workflows will operate more efficiently, compete more effectively for customers and build an operation that holds up as the industry continues to evolve. Those that don’t will find themselves poorly positioned to keep up with a world that isn’t slowing down. NAED Selects IDEA & Pull Logic for ProjectNexus E-Commerce Initiative | Electrical Wholesaling

Remembering the Solemn Purpose of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the last Monday in May to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. The holiday traces its roots to the years immediately following the American Civil War (1861–1865), which caused massive casualties—roughly 620,000 soldiers dead, about 2% of the U.S. population at the time. Communities across the North and South began spontaneously decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and flags, a practice that gave rise to the original name: Decoration Day. On May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—a powerful Union veterans’ organization—issued General Order No. 11. This proclaimed May 30, 1868, as a nationwide “Decoration Day” to honor those who died in the Civil War. After World War I, the holiday expanded to honor all American service members who died in any war, not just the Civil War.  In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. This moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, effective in 1971, when it was also officially named “Memorial Day.” As one 1868 quote put it: “That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.”