ellies 1st quarter newsletter 2014

Ellies Newsletter- 1st Quarter

Happy New Year and welcome back to all.

2014 will be a challenging year with the rand weakening and retail still relatively quiet, however

this is when I believe we are at our best. This is when we are energetic, innovative and

motivated to push the boundaries of sales and service. With new products in lighting and

electrical we remain ahead of the technology curve in SA and poised to gain market share.

At the end of last year cabinet finally made a decision on DTT and we should see the start of

migration before mid-2014. I believe that this will lead to a tremendous Xmas rush as the

protection of analogue signals cease mid-2015. Ellies as a company is ready for this long awaited

event and I look forward to us being leaders in the market.

This year will also be the resurgence of the corporate division with lighting being a big part of the

focus. At Ellies we know the savings to be had on electricity bills when converting to energy

efficient lighting. It is up to us to now educate all businesses and corporates of these benefits and

drive sales into this market. Come Xmas 2014 we want to look back on the year that saw Ellies

become THE dominant player in commercial lighting in Southern Africa.

It was reiterated at the ANC election manifesto gathering in Mpumalanga that there will be a drive

by government to ensure procurement of locally manufactured product for all its

infrastructural rollouts. This places Megatron in a superb position to become a significant

supplier in SA of its entire manufactured product.

With adverse conditions comes opportunity. It is for every single Ellies staff member in every

division, every department and every branch to make sure that we create and maximize every

opportunity. Deliver perfect service and make sure that all customer experiences are

memorable ones.

Let’s have a fantastic 2014!

Wayne Samson

We are looking to change the name

of our existing newsletter “The Switch”.

Page

2See how

Content

Head Office

Health and Safety

Using Stairs Safely 01

Know Your Department

Can You Help Us Pick a New Name 02

Team Dynamics 03

Cleaning Ladies Having Fun 04

Service Award Furniture Division 05

Know Your Products

Brand Awareness 06

New and Cool 07-11

Know How We Engage

Casual Day 12

Know How We Engage 13

Know Who’s New 14

Toy Drive 15

Cape Town

Brights Montage Park 16

Builders Express Store 17

OVHD Roll Out 18

What’s Happening 19

Things On Wheels 20-21

Port Elizabeth

What’s Happening 22-24

Charity Drive 25

Casual Day 26

Things On Wheels 27

East London

Solar Powered Golf Cart 28

Display & OVHD Roll Out 29

Installer Evening 30

Long Term Service 31

Megatron - Botjheng 32

01 We support renewable energy.

USING STAIRS SAFELY

Most of us use stairways every day going up and down various levels either here at work or at home.

We have done it for years and the problem is . . . we no longer think about the real danger in doing such.

Falls on stairs are one of the most common incidents that occur both at work and at home. With over 8

million people treated for fall-related injuries in 2004, falls are the leading cause of nonfatal

unintentional injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the All Injury Program, (a

cooperative program involving the National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control), the Centres for

Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

One of the most important things you can do when ascending or descending stairs is to utilize the

handrail. Holding on to the handrail gives you two points of contact and balance at all times.

Here are some other tips:

distractions that may be present.

if it is raining.

Head Office Health and Safety at Ellies

Know Your Health and Safety Act

Lebogang Makwetlane


Can you help us pick a new name

for the newsletter?

We are looking to change the name

of our existing newsletter

“The Switch”.

Get your creative juices flowing and send your suggestions to:

email - [email protected]

CLOSE DATE - 2014


Head Office Team Dynamics

KNOW YOUR DEPARTMENT

TEAMWORK

Lebogang Makwetlane


Head Office Team Dynamics


Head Office Service Award


ELLIES Furniture Division scooped the Furniture Trades Service Excellence Award beating rivals

Samsung, LG, Sony, Tedelex and many others who were in competition here.

A very proud moment for us…Well done team!!!


Alan Friedman

Head Office Brand Awareness

The stand was designed and installed with the aim to grow and drive sales as well as deliver brand

awareness to consumers from an in-store perspective. The process in securing the space was a long and

slow process. It was achieved with good relationships at store level and at Pick n Pay head office. The

stand was set up overnight by a team of merchandizers, and sales reps, who then merchandized the

stand the following morning. It was a tiring process as stock was moved from old stands to the new

stands as seen in above pictures. Since the installation of the new stand, sales have doubled in this store.

With the appearance of the new stand and our Red Promoters driving sales, sales and turn over at Pick n

Pay have increased extensively.

For the second time running, at the Randburg Waterfront Arena, the Stax show has seen some brilliant

results. The show focused on Recycling which covers energy saving products and regular products that

make life easy. Ellies showcased its range of energy saving products. Our TV accessories fell under the

Easy Life products and saw some great results and awareness. The show ran for four days, Peter and

Selvan, merchandizers from Brenden’s team worked over the weekend to promote the Ellies products

at the show, alongside Brenden. Sales were not pitch perfect at the show, but we did achieve great

awareness by letting consumers know that Ellies is not only a TV accessories distributor but also a

renewable energy company.


Brenden Khanihee

Head Office New & Cool


What is OpenView HD?

Platco Digital introduces South Africa’s

first multichannel free to view satellite

television platform that gives you access to

a variety of exciting channels and

empowering entertainment. The service

went live on the 15th October 2013 with 15

new channels including HD channels and

you get to keep your favourite SABC 1,2,3

and e.tv and has recently introduced

3 additional channels.

OpenView HD brings you a wonderful new

world of multichannel TV in digital quality

without monthly fees. Once you're ready to

go, it's absolutely free! There are no

monthly fees, no contracts, just a once-off

purchase for an OpenView HD decoder,

dish and installation.

Ellies meets Platco Digital-OVHD

Ellies has been intimately involved with OVHD from the beginning of the development process for this product. Platco Digital

had set out terms & conditions regarding the type of product they wanted and those guidelines were set out for us as Ellies.

When the initial process began we met with distributors and set top box manufacturers and suppliers to develop the product.

Two partners were identified.The first thing we built was the Loader- a software system that works with the smart card and

signaling system. After this process we began to customise the user-interface, also known as on-screen display, according to

the specifications set out by Platco Digital. The user-interface was tested and bugs were fixed, as this will determine the

customer’s experience with OVHD.

The Elsat OVHD decoder is a pioneering and proud moment for Ellies, it was built from scratch within a very short space of

time; namely the process began in March 2013 deadline set for 15 October 2013. For a new product of this nature with a new

entrant to the market such as Platco Digital our expertise and resources were tested to the fullest. Nonetheless the deadline

was met, the Elsat OVHD is available in the market and is fully functional with software developments and upgrades to follow.



Entertainment Culture and Lifestyle Children and Education Religion

SABC 1

SABC 2

SABC 3

ASTV

Deen TV

eKurhuleni TV

eToonz+

Mindset TV

Da Vinci Learning

Spirit World Ministries

United Broadcastig Network

Insperation TV

eHD

eKasi+

eAfrica+

eMovies+

GlowTV

BiCarsTV

OpenView HD Channel category breakdown

Additional OVHD installation information

An additional decoder is required when linking two decoders. To link

decoders a standard COAX cable is required. No complicated conditional

access requirements when linking decoders. All decoders are activated

separately and only once. An additional decoder can be used to view channels in a different room. Two decoders can be

linked to one Satellite dish.

Ellies Trusted infrastructure

Elsat’s national footprint is represented countrywide and has OVHD for

sale & available. Our nation accredited installer base will get you up &

running as soon as you purchase the OVHD set. Dedicated service/repair

infrastructure and call centre for around the clock support offer Elsat OVHD decoder customers.

How do I get OpenView HD?

Pay Once, Enjoy Forever

1. PAY ONCE: Buy your OpenView HD equipment (decoder, dish with installation) from any leading retailer,

independent installer and wholesale supplier.

2. INSTALL AND ACTIVATE: Call an Ellies installer (details included on the box) and activate. OVHD Self Help Service:

*120*OVHD (6834)# on your mobile phone

3. ENJOY FOREVER: Sit back and enjoy the wonderful experience of multichannel satellite TV with no monthly fees or

contracts.

OpenView HD can be viewed on all TV sets, both in SD and HD, and you will get coverage and clear quality picture no

matter where you are.

Receives signal from the SES5 satellite (same position as Top TV).

Full Installation Decoder only



TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The Fridge Safe

How it works

Operational processes

1 x FEAFG16

THE PACKAGE CONTAINS

Specifications:

The Fridge Safe is an automated voltage protection device that

prevents damage to your fridge, freezer or cooler caused by

spikes and low voltage levels.

An unexpected change in power supply can lead to irreparable

damage to your fridge, freezer or cooler’s compressor motor.

disconnecting the power to your fridge, freezer or cooler.

and safely returns power to your fridge, freezer or cooler.

Safeguards your Fridge, Freezer or Cooler from

unexpected changes in voltage levels.

your fridge, freezer or cooler is receiving normal voltage (Normal working state).

Protects against spikes in main power.

(Protected when lit).

voltage drops below 185V (Safe mode).



Multichoice’s new and latest tech decoder, action packed with great

features, larger recording capacity and uber cool user menus!

THE BEST TV JUST GOT BETTER!

Dstv Explora HD PVR 2P

Average 220 hours of user recordings

Dstv Catch up: Series, Movies, Kids, Sport, Documentaries

and other

2 Episodes of series available through series stacking

20 BoxOffice Titles

Find ‘Other Airings’ of your show functionality

Has Dstv Central for ease of navigation

Playlist automatically organized & can be viewed in

movies, series and sport categories

Automatically schedules the repeat event for recording,

if recording is lost in conflict

Retains time-shift buffers with channel change and when

switching between BoxOffice, Dstv catch Up, recordings ect.

Cutomised and advanced search options available –

search by category, time or keyword

Dstv Catch Up: Series Sport

1 Episode per series

15 BoxOffice titles

No Function to fins other airings

No Dstv Central

Playlist can only be viewed as one list

No automatic scheduling of repeat event

Time-Shift buffer lost upon channel change

Only Basic search available

Average 50 hours of user recordings, 2 Dstv Catch up

Explora commonly asked questions

1. Can I use it with the old HD decoder on Xtraview?

Yes, you can link the new Dstv Explora with you existing PVR using XtraView. The Explora comes packaged with a switch to

allow easy connections to an existing complaint PVR installation (i.e the twin where signal is above +95% in terms of

quality and strength).

2. Are there extra monthly for the additional features?

There are no additional monthly charges. It remains subscription +R70 access free.

3. Will the extra remote work with other PVRs?

No, the remote will not work with the older models; it is specifically designed for the Explora.

4. Can one trade in their PVR for the New Explora?

No, But you can link the DStv Explora to your existing PVR using XtraVeiw and it won’t cost you anything extra per month

(it remains your subscription plus R70 access fee). So you won’t lose the recording on your current PVR and you’ll get

access to another viewing and recording environment.

Alternatively, you could give it to a relative/Friend

s one list

epeat event

hannel change

mes packaged with a switch to

s above +95% in terms of



TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The TV Safe

Protects against high-voltage power problems

1 x FEATVG16

THE PACKAGE CONTAINS

Specifications:

The TV Safe is an automated voltage protection device that

prevents damage to your TV/audio equipment caused by

spikes and low voltage levels.

An unexpected change in power supply can lead to irreparable

damage to your TV/audio equipment.

your TV/audio equipment is receiving normal voltage(Normal working state).

Protects against spikes in main power.

(Protected when lit).

voltage exceeds 265V (Safe mode).

parameters by disconnecting power to your TV/audio

safe and reconnects power to your TV/audio equipment.

equipment.

Unexpected changes in voltage levels can damage your

TV or Home Theatre System.

Safety shutteredfor your protection.

Max connected load: 600W

Voltage:

TV/ audio equipment power:

Current:

Self consumption.

Over voltage trip point:

Suitable for all TV/ audio equipment.

230V, 50Hz

up to 600W

5A

2W

265V

How it works

Head Office Casual Day


Casual Day 2013

Head Office Ellies Engage


On the 18th October there was a Chimfunshi golf day held in Zambia to raise funds for the

abused and abandoned chimpanzees.

Ellies sponsored a hole and a 4-ball for the day.

On Saturday 2nd November Lynn was graded by a BKI grading panel to the rank of 4th Dan.

We welcome all our new family members!


East London

Eugene WardJoseph WaltersJustin van Niekerk Charly WynkwardtInvoicing ClerkAdmin AssistantInstallations Co-ordinator

Asekho MkhoniwaTanielle KirkhoffKhwezikazi Mpomposhe Amphiwe Grogro

Port Elizabeth

WarehouseCall Centre

MarkPumelaGillian

Gillian Kruger & Siphe Mhlanga

Human Resources

Lebogang Makwetlane

Compliance Officer

Amelia Billings

Training Centre

Dean Friedman

Commercial Department Commercial

Department

Commercial

Department

Debbie Reynolds Sarite Trinchero

Fergel

Head Office

Bloemfontein Toy Drive



Ellies Bloemfontein donated 75 gifts to Lesang Bana ba tle Honna Crèche in Parys

during the festive season. Employees personally contributed to putting a smile on the

faces of many children in the form of toys and financial contributions. The children

were overwhelmed with joy as they received these gifts during December.

Cape Town Brights Montage Park


Brights Montague Park:

The Brights family of hardware stores just keeps getting bigger and better. After months

in development, they opened their 7th Brights hardware store in Montague Gardens on 22

November 2013. Once again Ellies Cape Town has outdone themselves with another great

concept. Ellies developed a 50m2 retail display stand that looks right at home within this

store. The bright red and green colours work well in the store and attract customers from

anywhere in the 3500m2 store. The feedback from customers and Brights management

has been overwhelming and we are proud of this great design of the stand. Customers get

drawn in by the lighting bulkhead where they can test demo lighting as well as the testing

station where various Ellies products are on display and can be tested.

Daryl Harding

Cape Town Builders Express Store


The 28th of November marked the date

of the opening of the Builders Express

store in Worcester, town in the Western

Cape, located 120 km north-east of

Cape Town on the N1 highway north to

Johannesburg. Being the largest town

in the Western Cape's interior region,

there was a huge anticipation of both

customers and staff for this store to

open. After a few words from

Massmart management and

congratulations all around the doors

was opened to a long awaited line of

people. The Ellies Renewable stand is

very well placed at the entrance of the

store where loads of action took place

on the day. Our Ellies staff were

overwhelmed with all the interest in

renewable products and solar sys-

tems. I believe this store will serve as

a great destination for the solar clients

in the Western Cape Inlands. Pictures

on the right that were taken throughout

the day of this great event. Picture 11.

Faheem Bock, Heinrich Knoetze,

Steven Blassoples (BWH City) Pictures

13 – 20: We did a supplier challenge

with 2 other suppliers challenging our

new staff member Faheem Bock to a

paint holding competition. Plascon fell

out after about 2 minutes. With Faheem

and a representative of a garden

company facing it off. This gentlemen

started shaking after another 2

minutes. Faheem decided he will let

him win and put his 2 buckets down.

Great sportsmanship and a very happy

guy when we handed him some Ellies

goodies for his effort. All in all the day

was a huge success.

11

Cape Town OVHD - Rollout


alk

ut

alkk

Braai Day


Braai Day at BWH September

Group Appliance Trade Show 10 September

Cape Town


A HUGE thank you to all our volunteers.

Mitchell eeding - 16 November 2013 Place

Things On WheelsCape Town

engage


Things On Wheels Mobile Feeding Vehicle was out on the roads of Cape Town on the 8th of December 2013. We were

greeted by loads of friendly and thankful faces as food parcels were handed out to the hungry and needy. Things on

Wheels get the kids off the street and arranged a soccer match at Black Pool Sports grounds in Salt River, Cape Town.

Thank you Camilla and Zane Salkow for assisting in the hand out of parcels and giving of your time for charity.

Food Parcel Handout - 8 December 2013 Cape Town

Things On WheelsCape Town

engage

Port Elizabeth What’s Happening?



With winter behind us and summer ahead, with OVHD launching and all the movement,

signs of life are everywhere.

We had an exciting winter, what with the Blanket Drive and Solar Geyser giveaway. Some

new faces amongst the staff, and a welcome back to a familiar one!

While we prepare for our busy period, let us quickly reflect on the past few months.

Sad goodbyes to Faizel, Morne and Alicia, We wish you all the

very best in your new ventures.

We also bid Wendy Farewell

Congrats to Melanie!

For her promotion to Call Centre

Supervisor! We know you will make a huge success of it.

KNOW YOUR DEPARTMENTPort Elizabeth Tell Me More...


This quarter we take a look at Radio Amateurs, what it means

and what it entails.

Amateur Radio is a great way to learn about communication

technologies and make friends all over the world. Getting

involved in this fascinating hobby is very easy and won't cost

an arm and a leg

Radio Amateurs, or "Hams" use

two-way radio communication to make

contact with other radio amateurs all over

the world. They are even able to use satel-

lites and on occasion speak with astronauts.

Radio Hams can do this from home or while

mobile in cars, boats or on foot.

Radio Hams have a full range or

communication modes at their disposal.

These include plain voice, Morse code,

numerous digital computer modes and even

We had challenges . . .

We celebrated Woman’s Day

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev uses the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment gear while

talking with students in Maine, USA.

Tell me more ...

Sports

graphical modes like television. As a

licensed amateur radio operator you will be

able to join in experiments using all these

modes.

Amateur radio can be enjoyed by young and

old, male and female, even the most

severely disabled can make friends around

the world from their own home. This hobby

knows no boundaries.

Port Elizabeth


Using even the simplest of radio setups

and antennas, amateurs communicate

with each other for fun, during

emergencies, and in contests. Through

HAMNET they may be called upon to

handle messages for police and other

public service organisations during all

kinds of emergencies.

How do I get my licence?

Because radio amateurs are permitted to

use a wide range of frequencies and

types of transmission, they must be

qualified operators. In South Africa like

most countries around the world,

Amateur Radio is regulated by the

Government Department of

Communication. Licensing is dealt with

by the

Independent Communications Authority

of South Africa (ICASA ).

South African regulations require you to

write a small exam, which is set to test

your understanding of the basic

principles of radio and the regulations

governing amateur radio operators. This

exam is simple enough for anyone with

high school education and an interest in

the hobby to pass.

In most cities and towns around the

country there are clubs that provide

classes for the RAE and facilitate the

writing of the test. The South African

Radio League has more details for

anyone who may be interested, visit

http://www.sarl.org.za/

PE people ask Sanet who is a Radio Ham.

Roving Reporter

We asked Nicole to tell us a little about

her visit to Avoca in Addo

In the beautiful citrus and rose growing area

of the Sundays River Valley, 25 minutes from

the Addo Elephant Park, Dave and Judy Smith

welcome you to their farm, Avoca, which

means ‘’The meeting of the waters’’. Ideal for

nature lovers and birdwatchers, scenic walks

through the citrus orchards and canoeing on

the river.

We stayed there for 2 nights, first night we

spent in the rustic mud huts. They are

beautiful huts made out of mud with thatched

roofs. We spent most of our time on the

communal deck overlooking the Sundays river

which was truly breathtaking. The second

night we spent in the River Side Log Cabins

which had two beds in a tree house setting

above the main bedroom which the kids

absolutely loved. They had their own ladder

which lead to these beds. The overall feel of

Avoca is a great family holiday destination

where the focus is on quality family time,

enjoying nature and what it has to offer. The

canoeing and hiking trails reveals such beauty

as well as the massive boma where hours

around a blazing fire makes for wonderful

happy lasting memories.

Port Elizabeth Charity Drive


We once again Partnered with WESSA to deliver 1000 blankets to schools and Eco

Churches. We also donated blankets to The Association for the Physically Disabled,

Thandu’sana Baby Haven, to La Trobe Primary, Cradock, Knights of the Round Table,

Khanya Domestic Workers, Animal Welfare to name a few…

We would also like to welcome our Red and Green Stand Promoters. Welcome aboard!!!

Ricardo ConradieAngelo AppelsMonique Snyman Lizette Botha

Game Greenacres

Tatum-Leigh JacobsAnele AllaVirgil Deysel Phakamile Booi

Pick n Pay Hyper

Crysta BothaSakeena PotgieterSibongile Bebe Yolanda Nesi

Stand In Promoter Stand In Promoter

Lynn DamonsEmily SnellingTimothy Pathern Shane De Boer

Casual Day


Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth - Slipper Day

Casual Day

Well done to Michelle and the Admin Department for winning!

Things On WheelsPort Elizabeth


Things On Wheels with Shoprite Mobile soup kitchen and Ellies Engage set out to feed the hungry in Mitchell’s Plain.

Mid July this year Ellies Port Elizabeth hosted its first solar training course for all the Ellies

branches. A new solar kit was launched and presented to us in partnership with Telecom

Techniques, a local company with years of experience in PV and design. We sat around a table

after the training course coming up with ideas on how we could promote PV, a week later the

idea of a solar powered golf cart came to light. After months of deliberation an old 36V golf

cart was found in East London and the process of refurbishing it began. The cart was stripped,

rusted parts were sand blasted and powder coated and then the body was sprayed green to

represent our Ellies Renewable brand.

Once the cart was completed and branded it was fitted with two SonX 110W 18V modules

which are mounted to the roof. The modules power three SonX 12V 150AH Deep cycle

batteries using a Morningstar 12-48V 45A Regulator TS-45. We then added a Victron battery

monitor to the dashboard.

The golf cart will be used for promotions in and around East London on the weekends and will

gain great exposure on our local golf courses where it will be put to good use. The cart has

proved to be a great conversation opener for our Ellies renewable products and hopefully we

can sell a few kits to many keen energy conscious golfers.

Nic Sanan

Ellies East London

East London Solar powered Golf cart project


Before After

to good use. The cart has

products and hopefully we

East London East London Display



Ellies East London out and about putting our new display material to the test

Drives OVHD sales

INSTALLER EVENING JUNE 2013

East London Installer Evening



East London Long Term Service



East London Long Term Service

Congratulations to (From left to right) – Harry Tyson - 10 Years with Ellies,

Nic Sanan – 11 Years, and Stuart Blue – 10 Years with Ellies East London. I

would like to take this opportunity to thank you guys for your passion and

loyal service to East London branch. You all play an integral part in the

success of this branch. Here’s to another 10 years!


Megatron Federal acquires Botjheng Water

is water and wastewater bulk infrastructure construction. Its strength lies within its diverse and varied range of water

Water and Waste Water Process

Engineering

Screening

Grit and Greaseemoval

Settling(Primary and Secondary)

Flotation

Chemocal dosing

iological filteristributors and

Syphons

Tertiary Treatment

Sludge Treatment(deatering, digestion,drying, contact stablisation)

Sludge LiquorTreatment

isinfection( V, Ozone, Chlorine)

Package Plants

otating ologicalContratcor

Odor Control

ICA / SCA ASystems

Treatment

Water Treatment

Screening

Chemical osing(disinfection, ozonation, V, pH a ustment and coagulation)

Flocculation

Clarification(Flotation, flat bottomed clarifiers, hopper bottomed clarfiers and lamellas)

Softening clarfication

Continuous ackwash Fliters

Pesticide, Taste and Odor control

Nitrate emoval by Ion Exchange

Sludge Treatment(thickening and dewatering)

everse Osmosis

Nanofiltration

Cryptosporidium emoval and Inactivation

ICA / SCA A Systems

Slow Sand Filtration (various mediums)

Package Plants

Water Systems Operation and

Management

Operations and maintenance management services on the back of Turnkey Systems or Products and Services contracts

Comprehensive operations and maintenance services on all water related infrastructure

Consulting services and execution of Water Asset anagement Contracts

Execution of anagement Contracts

After Sales Support

Spares and services of sewage and water treatment equipment

aintenance and refurbishment of sewage and water treatment plants

Additional Capabilities

Pr ect and Structured finance

esalination

Institutional and Water Services elivery odeling

ellies 1st quarter newsletter 2014

Documents

quarterhappy new year

ellies newsletter

drive sales

whos new

new products

year cabinet

challenging year

toy drive