Working for Schweitzer

[AMBMI]

I'm evaluating the possibility to join SEL.
I'm based in Europe.
What do you feel about the possibility to sell the SEL relays in the european market? I know their relays quite well from a technical point of view and I think they are impressive. I'm not sure about the commercial side here in Europe.
Anybody has experience working for SEL?
Thanks in advance for any contribution/opinion.

 

[collies99]

SEL out of Washington is the most advanced relay manufacturer in N.A.

Their products are second to none. Continually on the forefront of advance design. I am not smart enough to work for them.

They are dominating the market surely and slowly.

 

[ScottyUK]

They have limited market penetration in a very conservative market. Over here the big names are Areva, ABB, Siemens. GE usually install their relays as part of their CCGT packages, but they're rare anywhere else. The big three have type approvals with national utilities, and also a large installed base.

Having a good product automatically doesn't equate to market dominance, which is maybe a little unfair but so is life.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[jghrist]

SEL practically owns the market in the USA, largely because of excellent technical support. They are behind others in implementing IEC-61850, however, which may limit them in the European market.

Trying to penetrate an entrenched market in Europe will be challenging, but could be frustrating. How are your sales skills?

 

[AMBMI]

I have basically no sales experience but 15 years of working experience in the protection art. I think that my role should be providing technical support both to the customers and to the sales people. However there are so few people here that probably my responsibility field won't be clearly defined.
In any case looking at your answers (by the way, thanks!) I feel that my opinion regarding SEL is confirmed (great products, innovative solutions). I know that great products doesn't mean market dominance but I think that engineers should fight to spread around the best technical solutions for a better world. Too idealistic? Perhaps ... but I think I found my next challenge!

 

[rmw]

in a very conservative market.

While I have a limited point of reference for how conservative the European Electric Utility Market is as compared to the USA Market I am familiar with trying to introduce new technology into our utility market.

I was involved with the early introduction of Zirconium technology in-situ Oxygen Analyzers for boilers and combustion equipment. The (dog) technology du jour was sampling types that were more trouble than they were worth even when they were working.

That was a long time ago and now, who would think of a major industrial or utility boiler without an O2 analyzer (in-situ of course). I seldom go up on the back passes of a large boiler and upon spotting the instruments that I don't remember how hard it was to convince 'stuck in the mud' types to give it a try. Sometimes the fight was fought in the very plants where I am spotting the current use of the probes.

Plan to be patient but persistent.

rmw

 

[lz5pl]

I am also in IEC-world (as can be seen from my nickname) and will confirm that introducing SEL on European market will be very difficult. Siemens is quite strong in all German-speaking countries and around them, including my country. AREVA/Alstom is the same in France, Spain, Italy, etc. ABB is always the first contester everywhere. All these Big 3 are good enough. Why utility people have to take additional headache training their personel for one more type, which will not give them some specific advantage which traditional for them suppliers haven't? It is not always matter of conservatism, it is also calculation.
I am not in a utility, even I tried to introduce SEL on our local market and found that utility people made every possible attempt to kick us out of the tender. And frankly speaking I cannot blame them too much.

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It may be like this in theory and practice, but in real life it is completely different.
The favourite sentence of my army sergeant

 

[stevenal]

Before you sign up, you might want to make an effort to learn how the employee ownership program works. As I understand it, you receive no dividends, and end up owning stock that cannot be sold in the open market.

If the technology alone does not make the sale, try customer service.

 

[tlrols]

I personally know the founder of SEL and a number of the VP's. SEL IS an excellent company to work for, it is small and very agile--especially when compared to GE, ABB, Siemens, etc.

The point about employee ownership of the stock is a valid one. You should find out how you dispose of any shares if you leave SEL (presuming you take the job).

Selling SEL equipment in Europe could be a challenge--you should inquire with SEL on how they plan to show greater value than the existing relay players in Europe. One presumes that large discounts might be in order if they wish to gain any appreciable market share.

 

[pwrtran]

SEL makes very good products, but we use SEL relays only for backup protections because the transmission system code requires main and backup protection relays must by different vendors. As a user I do feel:
1) SEL has very strong tech support team, poor documentation and relay is more difficult to work with
2) GE UR is on the opposite side, they have very easy reading manuals, but talking to the people in their tech support call center is a nightmare, the most thing they do for is to read the manual that you can read yourself. But the UR relay is very easy to work with.

 

[alehman]

SEL products seem to be more flexible than some others. But flexibility comes at the cost of complexity. I would not necessarily say the documentation is poor, but it does take a bit of study, especially if you are new to SEL products. Once you learn one and the programming nomenclature, learning the others is much easier. Tech support is 1st rate.

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.

 

[electrouw]

I am totally new to the field, but over in Australia Schneider Sepams seems to be up there with Siemens, SEL and Areva. Not a big player in Europe/North America ?

 

[alehman]

Almost never see Sepam in North America.

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.

 

[Ohmly]

I work for a utility in Australia. SEL is now one of the leaders here. It was probably the mid 90's when they started gaining acceptance.

I would think that they got their start because their distance relays were significantly cheaper than the established companies - and they backed it up with good service.

We like to be conservative with our relay selection, but our organisation has policies that say that we need to evaluate relays that are cheaper that what we currently pay.

If we find problems with the product or service, we can then rule them out, but if these aspects are OK the relay is a chance of being accepted.

It might be different in other parts of the world (and maybe even other parts of Australia) but if you can find companies with similar practices to ours, they will be your best place to start.

You just need to get the price right, and show you can offer them the service they need. SEL's products are pretty good so you will be OK on that aspect.

(By the way, we don't have any SEPAMs, but I think they are more common in industrial plants)