Following Light+Building 2012, more than ten members will be exhibiting Zhaga-compliant LED products at Lightfair International

 “Our specifications substantially change the LED lighting market by reducing the risks of developing LED lighting products”, Menno Treffers, Secretary General at Zhaga, gets to the heart of the matter – the future belongs to the interchangeability of LED light sources from different manufacturers. This was recently experienced by the 200,000 visitors who attended Light+Building. “The reactions to Zhaga were consistently positive. The majority of European light manufacturers were particularly excited to witness the initial implementations of the six Zhaga specifications that currently exist. Designers and distributors, on the other hand, wanted initial information on the initiative”, said Annetta Kelso, Marketing Manager at Philips – one of over 30 Zhaga members who exhibited Zhaga-compliant LED products for the first time at the trade fair. This is a good starting point for the second leg of the information tour, which will take Zhaga to the Lightfair International trade fair in Las Vegas from 9 to 11 May 2012. The site, which comes to some 170,000 square metres, will be a hive of industry interaction – including over ten Zhaga companies.

Menno Treffers - Zhaga Secretary General
 

Clear benefits for the industry and consumers
Annetta Kelso lists the key benefits: “Finally, luminaire manufacturers can now concentrate exclusively on the design and qualitative aspects of the LED luminaire. You can pursue long-term plans with a wide range of LED light sources in the secure knowledge that there will always be multiple supply sources.” The customer profits from this on the bottom line. Component manufacturers are also supporting the consortium: „Zhaga helps us to drive standardization on lighting components such as LED holders, so luminaire makers do no longer need to redesign their luminaire when changing the LED.”, says Matthijs Peters, Industry Manager Lighting with Zhaga member Molex. “This reduces cost and risks, especially for smaller companies who therefore struggled to enter the LED market before.”

Even the industry organisations support the efforts of Zhaga to make the LED market more future-proof. According to Juergen Sturm, Secretary General of the European Lamp Companies Federation: “The LED market is highly fragmented and rapidly changing. Zhaga's LED interface specifications meet the strong demand for clear guidelines and standardization. We fully support Zhaga as their initiative will be the key to a rapid, wide and sustainable dissemination of LED technology with all its benefits for manufacturers, consumers and the environment.”