Volume 13, Issue 2: Meet Frank Torres
WUE Supply Chain Update
Many within our membership have recently inquired about WUE’s ability to stock material given the economic impacts of the Coronavirus. WUE has proactively contacted our primary suppliers to determine any threats to their ability to deliver product. At the time of this publication, we have received no feedback of any serious supply chain disruptions due to COVID -19 from these suppliers and all have business continuity plans in place to keep material moving. WUE will continue to communicate with our membership as the situation progresses and as we receive information from these material manufacturers (factory closings, transportation constraints, etc). To date, only 3M has provided correspondence stating that, as they provide materials to the medical industry (masks, gloves, sanitizer, etc...), they will shift some resources to ramp up production of these critical items. They state, however, the impact on other product lines should be negligible. 3M has plans to maintain continuity in all markets and industries. WUE is in a good position on our stocked 3M inventory items and we will continue to keep material in the pipeline. We see no need for preemptive or panic purchases. If our stock of any critical items begins to decline critically, WUE will limit our sales to only our membership to ensure they have access to needed product. Finally, WUE has dramatically increased our total inventory, by nearly 20% since January 1st and has ample stock to serve our membership
Greg Mordini
Chief Executive Officer
Western United Electric Supply
Employee Spotlight
Meet Frank Torres
Western United opened our Albuquerque facility in July of 2011 to serve cooperative customers in New Mexico and Arizona and Frank Torres has been part this New Mexico team since Day 1. Frank came to WUE with a perfect combination of industry and operational knowledge having worked at WESCO Distribution in Albuquerque where he started in their warehouse in 1997 and worked his way up to Branch Administrative Manager. Frank was instrumental in the build out of WUE’s New Mexico branch, performing tasks ranging from coordinating the warehouse racking and layout to purchasing all of the initial inventory. Since then, Frank has undertaken the roll of Senior Inside Salesperson for the branch, however, working in a small environment requires wearing many hats which includes purchasing and accounting support functions. Frank came to WUE via Puerto Rico and has a wife, two daughters and several grandchildren. WUE is thankful to have Frank Torres on our team
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WUE’s Coronavirus Response
Like all of our Cooperative members, Western United is taking proactive action in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The health and safety of our employees is the utmost priority of WUE. Given the increasing severity of the virus and the ease in which it is spread, we are implementing changes to our procedures to minimize the possibility of spreading the disease.
Effective March 13th, WUE has ceased all discretionary business travel. This includes WUE Outside Sales Rep travel to our membership. Sales calls will continue to be conducted by phone. We have also ceased all face to face meetings with vendors both at WUE or vendor sites. Conference calls will be set up where applicable. When face to face meetings do occur, such as warehouse and driver personnel performing receiving and deliveries we have implemented social distancing. WUE has also implemented a work from home schedule with office staff. At this time WUE is continuing to serve our membership with regular weekly deliveries. We will continue to monitor the situation and refine our policies to keep our and our members staffs healthy.
Hubbell Releases 3-Phase Ganged Recloser and
3-Phase Load Break Switch
Hubbell is Your Choice for Advanced Distribution Automation 3PH Solid Dielectric Switches
For advanced distribution automation switching applications, Hubbell Power Systems has you covered. We are proud to announce the following additions to our product portfolio in the 2nd quarter: the Hubbell Three Phase Recloser and Hubbell Three Phase Load Break Switch.
These products are ideally suited for SCADA automation,
reconfiguring the distribution system, fault interruption, Fault Isolation (Sectionalizing), Tie switches, Loop schemes, Automatic voltage transfer, selectively adding (or) dropping loads on 15kV, 27kV, and 38kV systems up to 800A.
The HPS offering is a pole ready completely integrated solution of Hubbell products with embedded sensors, control cables, mounting frames, support brackets, control cabinets, wildlife protectors, surge arresters, etc. to minimize installation hassles.
Features and Benefits:
Solid Dielectric Vacuum Breaker Technology requiring no maintenance.
Integrated source and load side voltage sensors and integrated line current sensors ideal for advanced automation and switching applications.
Operational and lockout handles provide operating convenience along with secure and safe operation.
Integrated mechanical cycle counter and 360-degree viewable color-coded semaphore are lineman friendly features.
MIL Spec 32-pin interface with industry standard twistlock bayonet-style cable connector
Contact your WUE sales representative for more details.
Reliaguard & Greenjacket Wildlife protection now a Part of Hubbell Power Systems
With the recent acquisition of Cantega Technologies, Reliaguard and Greenjacket wildlife protection products are now part of the Hubbell Utility line
Reliaguard solutions for Distribution systems
Reliaguard manufactures guards for common powerline equipment to prevent animal and bird caused outages. Reliaguard parts are designed to have a superior fit for the underlying equipment to prevent gaps in coverage which can lead to an animal or bird caused power outage. Reliaguard parts are made from a proprietary material known as Reliatanium. Reliatanium meets the test guide requirements of IEEE 1656 2010.
Greenjacket solutions for Sub-Station and Transmission
Greenjacket Inc. offers a precise fit dielectric power outage protection cover that prevents bird and animal contact. Your equipment is protected, your system stays energized and your reliability – and reputation – is protected. From the very beginning, Greenjacket Inc. realized that they key to preventing animal outages was a better fitting product. When a product offers better coverage there is less of a chance that birds or animals will make contact with energized equipment. But how do we make sure Greenjacket fits precisely? We take the time to create a solution that is custom made to the unique needs and dimensions of our customer’s equipment.