Our Spanish reseller and automation partner GEDLux is a Madrid-based Spanish electrical systems integrator that has been engineering and commissioning control and protection systems since 2008.
GEDLux’s reputation for complete control system solutions has attracted key companies in the energy, transport, and industrial sectors, such as EDP Renewables, Elecnor, TSK Group, Catalan Government Railways (FGC), and E-Redes to whom GEDLux has provided custom engineering, equipment supply, commissioning, testing, and maintenance services since its inception. As well as Safegrid, GEDLux partners with Hitachi Energy and ABB.
GEDLux is particularly known for its specialist SCADA engineering and its innovative custom-designed power regulation algorithms and has completed over 400 control and protection projects for their customers in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, around 330 of which were focused on SCADA systems.
GEDLux and Safegrid have been partners since 2021, and their Project Manager, Álvaro López, was kind enough to sit down with us for a brief interview about the cooperation. Below is an excerpt from the conversation:
Safegrid: How did you originally come across Safegrid?
GEDLux: They contacted us over a year ago and proposed a partnership.
Safegrid: What convinced you to work with an unknown company from Finland?
GEDLux: We had previously worked together with another Finnish company called Viola Systems, and that cooperation went very well. Some of the people from Viola had ties to Safegrid, so we had no trust issues…and in addition, the timing for a partnership was perfect as we were actively looking for a solution like theirs at the time.
Safegrid: Did you consider other similar solutions, or have you sold similar solutions from other vendors?
GEDLux. Not really, however, the Safegrid solution covers a gap in our existing portfolio and has opened up some new opportunities amongst our electrical distribution customers.
Safegrid: Was it easy to come to an agreement with Safegrid?
GEDLux: Yes, very easy. Once we’d evaluated the feasibility, and viability, of the partnership, we received the agreement, discussed some minor details, and signed. It was all very clear and transparent; we had been on the same page from the start.
Safegrid: Have you been satisfied with the Safegrid solution?
GEDLux: Yes, and in various ways. Firstly, the solution does its job, and the pilot installations have worked very well. Our end customer is happy overall with the product and is even already looking to expand its deployment…and thanks to the cloud-based back end, the system is easy to deploy.
Secondly, and from a partner perspective, the solution has the major advantage of being simple to understand. This means very little training is required and consequently a reduction in the operating costs that we usually incur when we add a new solution to our service portfolio.
Safegrid: How about training and support from Safegrid?
GEDLux: Training and support have been very good. Tapio, (VP, Products and Engineering) has been involved hands-on to ensure the training was optimum; his overall product knowledge is pretty impressive. The day-to-day support is excellent and Safegrid is very responsive. If necessary, we can even call Tapio, or even your CEO, Jussi, directly and they are more than happy to help us and assure our customers of a high level of post-sale support.
Safegrid: Is the Safegrid solution easy to sell?
GEDLux: Yes. Our customers know GEDLux’s reputation for only offering high quality products and services. This, when combined with our local market knowledge, is a winning combination for everyone interested.
Safegrid: How about Safegrid product literature and other sales support tools? Are they sufficient?
GEDLux: The documentation is good. There is plenty of information available – data sheets, brochures, technical notes, manuals, etc. Safegrid updates the materials constantly and makes sure we have instant access to the latest version. This is an area in which Safegrid has invested and made a great deal of progress.
Safegrid: How have you organized technical support for customers?
GEDLux: We provide the first line of support, and our support engineers get their training and support from Safegrid experts. We’ve found that we need less and less support from Safegrid as time goes by as the systems are easy to learn and there aren’t many problems.
Safegrid: Is there something in our cooperation that has been especially memorable for you?
GEDLux: Yes, sure. When we were deploying the pilot for our first joint customer, it turned out that more devices were needed than planned. As it would have taken some time for the customer to issue a new purchase order, Jussi and the guys from Finland simply went ahead and sent the necessary devices. This way we could proceed immediately without any delays. This kind of responsiveness and can-do attitude is something that we really appreciate.
Safegrid: Would you be willing to recommend Safegrid as a partner to other companies like yours?
GEDLux: I would certainly recommend Safegrid as a partner. It’s a unique solution backed up by effective service support.
Safegrid: Could we do something even better?
GEDLux: Nothing that springs to mind at this moment…which considering that you only started in 2019, is quite an achievement. I’m personally more curious to learn how Safegrid thinks it can improve itself, I’m guessing you already have some new features up your sleeves.
Safegrid: Thank you so much for your time, Álvaro! Good luck and talk to you again soon.
GEDLux: I’m sure we will. ¡Hasta la vista!