With the right know-how for a smart home

BY CARMELA MELONE

(Published in The Produktkulturmagazin issue 3 2018)

As a specialist for modern building system technology, Jung, established in 1912, stands for premium quality and timeless design in electrical engineering. With a focus on controls for office buildings, hotels, residential buildings and functional buildings, the company helps us to design an increasingly functional and networked environment. The advantages of future-proof living lie in sustainability and energy efficiency in particular – standards the company’s production adheres to. We speak with Deniz Turgut, Head of Marketing at Jung, about innovative technologies in building services engineering.

Mr Turgut, building system technology has made considerable progress in recent years. Kindly tell us which areas benefit most from this development and how residents may benefit from these developments.

The good thing is that modern building services engineering has advantages in every area and makes planning, building and thus living and working easier – as well as safer and more comfortable. Thanks to modern software and mobile usage via smartphones or tablets, coordinating architects, planners and all other trades – and ultimately building owners – is possible at all stages in a more flexible manner and without any loss of time. Planning can be carried out down to the smallest detail in advance. For the resident, but also for the employer, hotelier or hotel guest, this means building technology is individually tailored to their needs, offering greater security, more comfort and resource-saving applications.

How is Jung positioning itself in this field?

As a pioneer of his time, Albrecht Jung laid the foundations for Jung’s values and visions today, when he founded the company and developed his pull switch with 1/8 turn. The motto “Progress as tradition” means Jung develops and manufactures timeless products and future solutions to this day. Our switch designs and applications can be adapted to individual requirements. We consider ourselves a strong partner for both the trade as well as for planners and try to actively shape the future in our pioneering role – always with the aim that our customers receive the optimum solution to meet their demands and wishes. Applications that are thought through, sustainable and durable. Customers all over the world now rely on our consistently high quality.

More and more people expect functional and networked living. But where do you start and what do you have to pay attention to?

It is important that the respective solution fits the various requirements and really simplifies working and living. Our partners from planning and trade are the first point of contact for customers, therefore exchanging with them in close cooperation is the basis for us in order to find a meaningful and long-term solution.

Revolutionary technologies are one thing, but design also plays a central role when building one’s own home. How do you ensure that your solutions are attractive for customers in this regard as well?

When realising progressive solutions ranging from classic electrical installations to intelligent building technology, Jung has played an important role from the start. Our switch designs enable the implementation of over 200 functions, from a conventional to a smart home, without requiring special tools or installation boxes and instead using standard components. With the design classic LS 990, Jung has had a timeless switch in its portfolio for 50 years which offers almost limitless versatility thanks to its simplicity. In addition to a version made of plastic and metal, it is also available in 63 Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier colours. This is a worldwide unique position that enables individual adaptation to the interior concept. The LS ZERO is the contemporary interpretation of said classic LS 990. The puristic design of the switch references the iconic switch. What is special about the LS ZERO is that it allows for flush-mounted installation. This creates smooth, even transitions between switches, sockets and smart operating elements and goes hand in hand with consistent flush-mounted integration into walls, ceilings and furniture fixtures. Jung has absolute knowhow in metal production. Partly brushed by hand, the switches are of the highest quality and manufactured with the highest precision. Everything is “Made in Germany”.

With the Feelsmart configurator you adopted a method from the automotive industry. Can you tell us more about the configurator and how it supports building owners?

In practice, the road to a smart home is often rocky for the owner of a building. There are numerous systems from various manufacturers to choose from, and determining the actual requirements is usually time consuming. Professional systems such as KNX or eNet Smart Home clearly rely on the competence and advice of the electrical trade. Determining the actual needs of the building owner requires the identification and offer of individual requirements and the resulting possibilities. Simple time and cost-efficient planning has been a reality in the automotive industry for a long time. Thanks to user-friendly online configurators, the right model, engine and many additional options can be put together playfully and with just a few clicks. The customer sees what they are getting and immediately receive a price for orientation. At the end, the customer’s configuration generates a code and a PDF. The Jung Basic configurator based on Feelsmart translates this procedure of the automotive industry to the electrical industry. The building owner can go ahead with just a few details; all they need is the floor plan of their house. The configurator then uses the rooms, windows and doors to determine the need for operating elements and equipment for power distribution. This results in the proposal of four equipment trims, ranging from basic to premium, as well as over 25 additional options such as heating control, energy consumption measurement or connection to the door communication. The building owner can see the list price at any time and decide whether they want additional functions such as garden irrigation or multi-room control. At the end of their configuration, they receive a corresponding PDF file including a personal code. Any specialist company with access to the Pro version of the Feelsmart configurator can read this code, submit an offer to the client and finalise the planning. This significantly reduces consultation times and the time spent on coordination. Such a configurator with millions of options requires a very good and qualified product database in order to be possible at all.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is revolutionising the planning process in construction. What role does BIM play at Jung?

BIM defines the structural processes during planning and enables architects and planners to develop a component-oriented three-dimensional building model. A digital twin of the building, so to speak. The BIM models contain all relevant building data and properties and can thus be retrieved by all participants in planning. Hence BIM simplifies communication between the individual trades and contributes to cost-efficient planning. The so-called BIM objects are networked associatively within the framework of integrative planning, thus enabling the definition of interfaces between the trades and the identification of errors in planning. BIM models consist of many features – such as graphical step data, dimensions, colour, weight, technical properties, object dependencies for assemblies, images –  and in several languages. This data forms the basis for the BIM model put out through various solutions for architecture software such as Revit or Archicad. This data is also used to model with different levels of detail. Data quality and the management of product data by means of a PIM database are also essential when it comes to generating BIM data.

The Jung catalogue app allows access to the entire product portfolio. Which product groups does this cover exactly and who is the catalogue app for?

Our printed main catalogue comprises 8,000 articles and is 800 pages long. On the construction site it is sometimes difficult for a specialist to carry the catalogue on them and to read the technical data it contains. This is why we also offer our catalogue online, including considerably more information and all operating instructions, declarations of conformity and technical connection diagrams. Experience has shown though that reception on a construction site is not always a given. That is why we developed the catalogue app, which works offline as well. All data and documents can be downloaded to a mobile device via the app and can therefore be retrieved at any time. This is all made possible through our PIM database from MPDigital. It is unique in our segment and offers the electrician immense support.

Print catalogues are also part of your information. How do you see the future of print catalogues and similar information carriers?

We have long been immersed in the digital world and have become used to retrieving catalogues, 3D or CAD data, product data sheets etc. online. It has become almost indispensable in the modern way of building and planning – especially in view of the speed at which we move today. Nevertheless, I don’t think that the possibilities of the internet will completely replace the print sector. Jung is a traditional, down-to-earth company that lives by old values and stands for them. We like to give our partners something to hold in their hands, something with quality. Of course, sustainability is an essential aspect of all our decisions here as well. In addition, there is the internationality. Today, we produce catalogues in many different languages.

Which significance does digitalisation have for Jung in general? Which partners do you work with?

As a globally active company, we have been working with digital solutions for a very long time. I think we started using them even before the word “digitalisation” was on everyone’s lips. Simply out of conviction that we were doing the right thing. Of course, we are far from finished, as this also affects all areas of the company, from production to communications. We have qualified different partners for each segment. The basis for the publication of media such as the online catalogue, the catalogue app, our graphic tool, the Feelsmart configurator and our BIM data is MPDigital’s PIM product database. We have developed many projects together and in partnership over the last few years in this regard.

What other measures can we expect in the context of digitalisation? 

The “big picture” of Jung’s digitalisation shows us where we still have work to do. The main task now is to further internationalise the tools we have developed and to adapt them to the requirements of various regions and cultures. Digitalisation is more of a cross-country race than a sprint.

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DENIZ TURGUT

Deniz Turgut has been in charge of Jung’s global marketing for two years and is responsible for brand management. He began his career 18 years ago as Key Account Manager in Sales at Jung. By leading project sales, field sales and architectural communication, he built up an international strategic marketing team. 

VENDOR

MPDigital GmbH has been developing tailor-made software since 1997 and offers services for enterprise-wide product information systems (PIM), digital asset management (DAM), cross-media publishing and eCommerce.

MPDigital GmbH
Kontakt-mit-MPD@mpdigital.de
mpdigital.com

CUSTOMER

JUNG GmbH & Co. KG
kundencenter@jung.de
jung.de

Picture credit © martin-dm/Getty Images