Sparks Electrical News May 2018

CONTRACTORS’ CORNER

9

HOW US AND SA LIGHTNING DEATH STATS COMPARE L ast year, lightning deaths in the United States reached an all-time low in that coun- try’s recorded history. This is according to the American public has been made aware of the dangers of lightning and knowing when and where to find shelter.

“In contrast,South Africa has a disturbingly high number of lightning fatalities annually. While the average number of local annual lightning deaths is not always easy to estimate, due to such factors as the unrecorded deaths of homeless people and those who are killed by lightning and buried quickly due to cultural beliefs, the South African Weather Service has nonetheless estimated a figure of over 300 recorded deaths every year, while acknowledging that this figure could, in fact, be skewed higher. The fact that South Africa has some 300 actual annual recorded deaths, as verified by mortuaries, is a serious cause for concern.” Manas says that ELPA is determined to implement all programmes necessary, including educational, in its quest to become South Africa’s recognised National Professional Body for earthing and lightning protection, and make serious inroads into the improved protection of life and property. ELPA was officially established in June 2017, after two years of hard work by lightning protection industry experts from around the country, and is supported by various institutions such as Wits University, the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa (ECA)

a year-end report published recently by the Na- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which cited a total of 16 deaths across the US. This was seven fewer than the previous record low of 23 (2003) and significantly below the previous year’s total of 39 for 2016. Lightning fatalities in America first started being recorded in the 1940s. When lightning fatalities first started being recorded in America, the annual number of deaths reached as high as 432 in 1943. Following the institution of the American National Weather Service’s (NWS) Lightning Safety Campaign in 2001, about 55 lightning deaths occurred each year, based on the previous 10-year average. That death toll has now reportedly been cut in half, as the current 10-year average is 27 deaths per year. “When you consider the geographic size and population figures of the United States as a country, these latest figures are highly commendable,” says Trevor Manas, the national director of South Africa’s Earthing and Lightning Protection Association (ELPA). “The continuing trend in the drop in lightning fatalities figures in the United States is ascribed to an improved educational outreach and public awareness, as F inding the right software to perform that unique task can be a nightmare. Here are tried and trusted apps and systems for your business’s operations to get you going in the right direction. CRM – Customer Relations Management BluWave CRM – From R350 per user/month BluWave is a cloud-based customer relationship manage- ment tool that gives you complete views of your custom- ers. It includes tracking email conversations by customer, doing web based email marketing promotions and auto- matic import of CRM Software leads from the Internet straight into the Application. Find it here: www.bluwave. co.za/cloud-CRM-software Freshsales – From $19 per user/month Freshsales is the fourth addition in the Freshdesk prod- uct lineup, and a quality CRM designed for high-velocity teams to keep track of contacts while solving their inquir- ies. Satisfied sales teams describe it as the single contact management hub that helps them stay in control of thou- sands of leads, while still providing a simple and easy- to-navigate interface. Find it here: www.freshworks.com/ freshsales-crm Pipedrive – From $15 per user/month Pipedrive is a web-based Sales CRM and pipeline man- agement solution that enables businesses to plan their sales activities and monitor deals. Built using activity- based selling methodology, Pipedrive streamlines every action involved in converting a potential deal into a suc- cessful sale. Pipedrive provides sales team’s full visibility of different sales pipelines, as well as the progress through stages for each deal. Find it here: www.pipedrive.com Production and Time-Tracking Management Trello – From $12.50 per user/month Trello is an online kanban tool that helps teams collabo- rate and manage work. It’s a solid, flexible system, but it’s less powerful than traditional project management soft- ware. Find it here: www.trello.com BOSEnterprise – from R550 per multi-user li- cense/month BOSEnterprise is business software that is custom installed to help streamline and simplify complex op- erations, specifically in manufacturing and production. Built-in functionality includes production dashboard for real-time updates of production through its stages, time-tracker per user, per task, to accurately track costs, time, and productivity, plus a host of other valuable

Richard Evert, ELPA national director designate and Trevor Manas, ELPA incumbent national director

and the Department of Labour. In demonstrating its ongoing commitment to becoming the recognised National Professional Body for earthing and lightning protection, an ELPA delegation, including Manas and Richard Evert, recently attended the annual conference of United Lightning Protection Association (ULPA)/ LPI (Lightning Protection Institute) in Florida in the United States. “ULPA in theUnitedStates is now in its 82 nd year. It really was a great privilege for ELPA to be able

to attend this world-renowned body of lightning expertise and learn from those who have such a long official history within the lightning protection industry. Saying that, we shouldn’t underestimate the expertise that is present in South Africa, and the ground-breaking lightning research that has taken place in our country since the middle of the 20 th century,” concludes Manas.

Enquiries: www.elpasa.org.za

11 OF THE BEST APPS AND SOFTWARE FOR YOUR SME

business-centric functions – invoicing, management reports, financials and CRM. Find it here: www.quick- easysoftware.com/bos-enterprise/ Harvest – From $12 per user/month In addition to strong time tracking, Harvest boasts a beautiful interface and good customer service. However, the software has limited invoicing features and is unsuit- ed for product-based businesses. In addition, Harvest’s pric- ing plan can get expensive if you have multiple users, and the software’s expense tracking is far behind what other in- voicing programs offer. If you are a service-based business looking for strong time tracking, Harvest might be a good option for your business. Find it here: www.getharvest.com QuickBooks Pro is aimed at all business sizes, from small to medium, to growing businesses. QuickBooks Pro is the starter package, but is by no means an ‘entry level’ prod- uct. The Pro suite has everything you need to run a suc- cessful business. QuickBooks Pro has the ability to be up- graded to the more advanced versions as your company grows and needs more advanced options added. Find it here: www.quickbooks.co.za WorkflowMax – From $25/month WorkflowMax provides a cloud-based business solution for creative agencies, architects, engineers, surveyors, lawyers, IT companies, construction firms, consultants and anyone else who bills by time. Find it here: www.workflowmax.com Freshbooks – From $19.95/month FreshBooks is cloud based accounting designed exclu- sively for the self-employed. Automate tasks like invoic- ing, organising expenses, tracking your time and follow- ing up with clients in just a few clicks. Find it here: www. freshbooks.com ERP and MIS Software SAP Business One – For $1400 per user as a one- time cost, $410 per user/year for a subscription SAP is enterprise resource planning software developed by the German company SAP SE. SAP ERP incorporates the key business functions of an organisation. You can connect SAP ERP with SAP cloud solutions: Finance, Hu- man Resources, Sales, Marketing, Procurement. Find it here: www.sap.com SysPro – Cost subject to customer’s needs SysPro calls their ERP systems Business Process Man- Invoicing and Accounting QuickBooks Pro – From R4 500 once-off

changes to trigger actions. Enforce your qual- ity and inventory control processes. Create ac- curate estimates without human intervention. Process e-commerce orders based on busi- ness rules and your CRM data. Notify sales about stock issues. Notify customers about delivery status. Find it here: za.syspro.com

agement (BPM). Simplify your tax reporting. Produce financial disclosures. Pay bills. Cre- ate invoices. Create regulatory documenta- tion dynamically. Create an audit trail. Con- trol information access with tighter security. Automate orders based on demand triggers and out-of-stock alerts. Enable engineering

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

MAY 2018