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Fake News

Fake News

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When we’re fed lines as headlines.

Allegations of fake news have been an almost daily occurrence in the US over the past few years, and it has become a term used—in some circumstances—to merely deride those with opposing views. But the concept of fake news is not a new phenomenon. False stories have triggered persecution and revolution, and been the difference between defeat and victory, for centuries.
The Smithsonian provides a classic example. Thomas Hutchinson, the eighteenth century Governor of Massachusetts was exasperated by the constant stream of fake news appearing in the Boston Gazette. His issue was that because the people read little else, they could never be ‘undeceived’. He was right to be concerned too. In 1765, the false stories whipped the people of Massachusetts into such a frenzy that they burned down his mansion!

Back to the twenty-first century, and it is the algorithms of the internet giants that have spawned what is called the ‘post-truth’ era. Whenever we conduct a search, view a newsfeed or timeline, what we are presented with is only a fraction of what we could be seeing. If Google, Facebook and Twitter didn’t filter our feeds, we would be overwhelmed by data in an instant. So they use our previous searches, likes and dislikes to deliver content that they believe we are likely to want to consume. And therein lies the problem. Homogenising the information we receive can lead to the creation of a ‘filter bubble’, in which we become surrounded only by information that we want to see, and isolated from anything that might be at odds with our view of the world.

The problem comes when we develop a ‘confirmation bias’, where our desire for something to be true makes it more likely that we will believe it. This is what the fakers prey on. The false information they create is usually sensational and emotive, and as a result is more widely shared on social media than the far more boring truth. Research on Twitter usage has shown that a false story spreads much faster, and to a wider audience, than a genuine one. And that makes those who receive their news solely from social media or online feeds—most likely our children—highly susceptible to misinformation, mis-reporting and, worst of all, lies.
It is the impact of fake news that we should be concerned about. Though there are elements of society in which hatred, extremism, intolerance and bigotry are deep-seated, it is through the spread of fake news that these odious voices are amplified. An Oxford University study, for example, concludes that pages run by the extreme right share and circulate more fake news on Facebook than everyone else put together. And if we’re not careful, one day it just might be exposure to these kind of stories that influences our own children’s thoughts, decisions and actions.

Google and Facebook are responding in different ways to fake news. In its attempt to strengthen quality journalism, Google has launched GNI, a $300million initiative aimed at cleaning up false news. Facebook, on the other hand, is making changes to its complex algorithm that decides what to present each user in their newsfeed, but looking for a mathematical solution to what is likely an emotional problem seems like an uphill battle.

Several organisations have taken on the challenge of debunking some of the more notorious fake news stories, but the volume is such that they can barely scratch the surface. And in any case, even an awareness of the existence of these organisations would be unlikely to help our children. Studies by Stamford University have shown that children of all ages don’t even think to question a source when reading content or viewing images. In one test, more than 80% of students considered a ‘native advertisement’ to be a real news story, even though it carried the label ‘sponsored article’.

In the meantime, we as parents have a role to play in helping our children to identify fake news. Common Sense Media, a leading not for profit organisation dedicated to helping children navigate today’s media, suggests that as children of all ages mostly receive their news via feeds, they need to learn how to view these stories critically. This is something parents can help with, and they provide a list of tips. They suggest we discuss articles that we believe to be false, and coach our children on how we reached that conclusion.

An article called ‘The Fake News Game’, published in Psychology Today goes one step further and suggests one way to understand how fake news works is to use the techniques yourself. To reach this conclusion, researchers developed a game called Bad News—which you can play yourself—and studied whether it improved students’ ability to identify fake news.
The world in which our children operate is so different to the one most of us grew up in. We’ve been able to consume our news, safe in the knowledge that what we’re viewing, or reading, is fact—if perhaps a little coloured on occasion. We now need to find ways to give our children the same confidence in what they are presented with.

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The Goss on the Floss

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The Goss on ‘The Floss’
Here’s what you need to know about Fortnite

Fortnite. You could be forgiven for thinking that nothing else in the world existed. It’s fast becoming the only topic in the school yard, and even children who’ve never played it talk of little else.

But what is Fortnite? And should your child even be playing it? Only you can answer the second question, but here’s some insight that I hope will help you to reach a decision.
First, let’s talk about what it is. Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free game produced by Epic Games. It’s so successful because it bridges the gap between Minecraft—a ‘sandbox’ game, so called because it’s about building a world and utilising resources that the player discovers—and the graphic shoot-fest that is Call of Duty. Its premise is that groups of up to 100 competitors parachute into an ever-shrinking island, gather weapons, ammunition and other resources, and fight it out with each other to be the last person standing.

Sounds violent, doesn’t it? But the cartoon-like graphics and distinct lack of gory detail make it more child friendly and that’s why it carries a Pan European Game Information (PEGI) recommended age of 12 and over. Don’t be fooled by the rating though. Fortnite is not a child’s game in the way that you might think of Minecraft. Epic does not collect ages when players sign up and cannot therefore release demographic data on those playing the game, but a few searches on the internet will show you that Fortnite is very much played by adults, in large numbers.
And that’s the first problem. It’s by no means one that is exclusive to Fortnite, and nor is it one that should induce blind panic—after all, the vast majority of adults are just there to play the game. But let’s be clear, the ability to chat with others at the very least exposes your child to conversations that may not be appropriate for their age. And with the sheer volume of players, there is a chance your child is going to come across some pretty unpleasant people at some stage. So it’s really important that your child is aware of the chat and default settings in the game. Voice conversations can be easily limited to a defined ‘party’—the squad of up to 4 friends that your child is playing with—but, according to UK’s leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, in-game text messages cannot be turned off and therefore represent a risk of stranger danger.

An under-prepared, naïve child could certainly find themselves out of their depth when playing Fortnite. Scan the web and you’ll find warnings about gamers trying to steal personal information—presumably to forge identities—hackers and bullying. Epic does allow users to report poor behaviour when they come across it, of course, but regardless of the effectiveness of that approach, a child would need to be informed and aware enough to recognise poor behaviour for what it was, before being able to report it.

Now let’s talk about addiction. There is no question that Fortnite is designed to be addictive, and your child will feel totally immersed in the world in which they’re playing. But once again, that’s not a problem unique to Fortnite, and if their use of the game is moderated, there’s nothing to suggest your child will become an addict.

Of course, we’ve all heard stories of children regularly playing Fortnite into the early hours of the morning, and that’s a real concern, but do we really need to look beyond parenting for that? The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) recommends situating computing devices somewhere where you can see the screen, and agreeing limits on screen time. But ultimately, if you have repeated concerns about your child playing online games when they should be asleep or doing homework, don’t forget the wireless router has a power switch! In most cases you can use your router to limit the amount of time spent playing games.

Each full game of Fortnite is relatively short, no more than 20 to 25 minutes, though it’s highly likely that your child will be ‘killed’ in the first few minutes. It’s worth knowing this because if you insist on them leaving the game half way through, they will probably feel aggrieved. Unlike other games, there’s no option to pause. To put it simply—you snooze, you lose. And be honest, if you’d invested time trying to achieve something and had to just throw it away to go to the shops or get dressed, you’d be pretty miffed about it too!

Finally, there’s the issue of spending. And the question is whether your child has access to your credit card or PayPal account. Because although the game is free to play, they will be tempted with all sorts of extras that they’ll be pestering you to fund. Outfits – or ‘skins’ as they are referred to in the game – look fantastic, and they’d need to be at a cost of up to $20. Whether or not your children are able to purchase these or not are down to you as a parent. To them, it’s probably no different to wanting to buy Lego or music. Because, as far as your child is concerned, they are in this game for the long haul.

But Fortnite is not all bad. If you can look past the concept of having to kill everyone to win, then it forces your child to be strategic, to communicate and to learn. It’s also a lot of fun to play, and you could do worse than try it with them. The dances—or emotes as they are referred to in the game—can be contagious. After all, who would have thought that teenage boys would so readily learn a dance like the ‘Floss’?

Fortnite is free to play and can be downloaded on virtually any device. So it may be difficult to stop your child from playing if they really want to. But what you can do, is make it safer.

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Plugged in to our customers

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Home:

The Power of Design
Engineered solutions that put you in control.

 
About us:
Plugged in to our customers
Our experienced team will deliver the right solution for your business.

We’ve been in operation now for nearly twenty years and much has changed since Leigh Booth established the company back in 1999. During that time, technology has advanced and continues to evolve. We stay in touch with the latest advances in this ever-changing market, so that we can be sure the independent advice we give you is truly expert and always takes the latest innovations into account.

We invest heavily in our team and have a genuine, honest, customer-first approach to our work – so our people stick around. As a result, we can boast an industry-leading staff retention rate, and that means we bring a wealth of experience to every project we take on. So when LJ Services appoints a project manager to be your main point of contact, not only can you be sure that they’ve worked on countless similar projects, you can have confidence that they’ll still be there when it’s successfully completed.

We have well-established and long-term partnerships with a number of leading electrical and control providers, which helps us to develop broad, future-proofed solutions that we tailor to your needs. We realise that your business is unique and has its own distinct set of problems that you are trying to solve. We also build our own bespoke switchboards and control panels, designing each board and layout to complement the project requirements, producing them quickly and testing them thoroughly. As a result, we have developed an excellent reputation for workmanship, design and performance.

Our diverse inhouse skills mean we can implement solutions all the way from Mech-Elec to hi-tech Building Management Systems. When you bring your project to us, we have the expertise to take responsibility for the work from start to finish. That means our projects carry less risk and can be turned around faster than those where a sub-contractor needs to be engaged.
 
Our team:
Leigh Booth
Managing Director
Leigh started the business in 1999. An electrician by trade, he quickly realised that what he enjoyed most was solving problems and building systems. Over the years, Leigh has made sure that LJ Services invests heavily in its people and, in particular, training, something he believes is vital when it comes to keeping up with the latest innovations in an ever-changing industry, and delivering the results customers are seeking.
Leigh says “The good news for our business is that whilst the advances and innovations keep coming, the structures that make them possible – LJ Services’ core business – remain largely unchanged.”
In his spare time, Leigh is a keen cricketer and opens the batting for his local team, still hoping for that elusive first century.

Greg Murphy
Senior Project Manager
Greg has been at LJ Services for 10 years. He’s a hands-on project manager who likes to deliver. He loves the relationship side of the work and leverages them to ensure he truly understands the customer’s need. He has an interest in wiring rules and makes sure that the entire LJ Services team is always kept up to date, so that the job is always done right.
An avid petrol head, Greg is refurbishing a ’56 Cadillac, a car he loves because of its history and fame. In his own words, he explains why: ”They were the pinnacle of design and technology. You never hear people singing songs about a Toyota, now do you?”

Kayne Heller
Project Manager
Kayne has worked at LJ Services for three years and comes from an industrial background. He enjoys the cut and thrust of life as a project manager because no two days are the same. He’s a process guy and meticulous in his approach to planning and delivering projects, always keeping his clients across issues and resolutions.
The biggest change he’s noticed in his many years in the industry, is the way teams communicate with each other. He still recalls the day his two-way radio was replaced by a Nokia 5110.
To unwind, Kayne enjoys life on the water – river or sea. He has a number of boats and likes nothing better than a day fishing.

Cameron Smiley
Systems Engineer
Cameron has been with LJ services for over 10 years and completed his apprenticeship under Leigh. An expert in BMS, he designs creative and future-proofed solutions that deliver the right benefits to our customers at the right cost. He’s very definitely our go-to guy for all things BMS.
He says he is drawn to the complexity of machinery, and the obvious synergies between the self-diagnostics, and data analytics capability of both BMS and Formula 1 – the Red Bull team in particular – probably go a long way to explaining his passion for the sport.

Anthony Lascala
Manufacturing
Anthony has been part of the LJ Services team for 11 years and is another who completed his apprenticeship at the company. In his role, he is responsible for the design and construction of switchboards and control panels, and for ensuring that the customised boards do exactly what they are meant to.
He’s a keen supporter of Melbourne Victory and plays a few soccer games himself, though these days he kicks more goals with his custom-built switchboards.

Our Services
Customised turnkey solutions. Because every site is different.

At LJ Services we ask questions. Lots of them. Because without knowing exactly what your business needs from a complete power solution, we can’t hope to deliver a project that meets all of your requirements. And the communication doesn’t stop there. We’ll collaborate with you through the entire design, product selection and installation phases because we want to make absolutely sure that what we deliver meets your business requirements now, and in the future.

Whether it’s a new build or a retrofit, each of our projects is assigned to a highly skilled and experienced project manager. As well as overseeing the entire installation, they are the single point of contact for you throughout the project lifecycle. They’ll provide you with frequent updates, respond to questions and work through any challenges with you. At LJ Services, we believe this level of access instils confidence and gives you peace of mind, allowing you to focus on the day-to-day challenges of your own business.

 
Electrical
Tailored electrical solutions

We offer a range of electrical services including:
• Light and power solutions for commercial and industrial sites
• Standby power systems
• Mechanical Electrical and control packages.

The breadth of our knowledge and expertise in these areas means that you only need one supplier – us – for these services, rather than a whole range of service providers that you have to manage individually.

We’ve a great deal of experience in standby power systems, ranging from work with essential services through to blood storage facilities, where the need to maintain a power supply is just about as critical as it comes.

And because all sites are different, we also manufacture bespoke switchboards and control panels inhouse to meet the design brief. We know how rigid our standards are, so you can be sure that what we install in your business is the best it can be.
To learn how our electrical services can benefit your business, get in touch.
 
Control Panels
Quality in control

We design our own control panels and assemble them in house. That means we can cater to a wide range of applications and budgets.
All our control panels are designed and built with individual isolators. We do this to minimise the risk to ongoing business operations of a complete outage and all the costs and spoilage that come with it.

We will work with you to determine the right control panel, and offer post-install support services as required, or – if you prefer – a formal maintenance agreement to provide ongoing service. Visit our maintenance page to find out more.

Finally, our team is trained to deliver the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost, and it goes without saying that everything is manufactured to Australian Standards.
If you’d like more information on how our custom-built control panels can help your business, get in touch.
 
Switchboards
Making the switch

When it comes to the design and performance of our switchboards, we have a reputation for excellence. Just like our control panels, they are tailored to meet the project requirements and then custom-built at our workshop in Collingwood. The ability to design and build quality switchboards is a key part of our business and helps to significantly reduce the risk to your project. Having inhouse control over the quality and timeliness of construction helps to ensure we always deliver exactly what we said we would, in a timeframe that we control.

In each switchboard we use high quality materials to ensure longevity and safety. All are fabricated in accordance with local compliance regulations, by qualified staff. Because we manufacture our own switchboards, we can customise and supply them individually to you, or as part of an overall building management solution.
If you’d like to know more about how our switchboards can help your business, get in touch.
 
Mechanical
Complete control

Across the business, our team has more than 150 years’ combined experience in the delivery of mechanical electrical services, expertise that we continue to grow through training and the partnerships we have established.

What we will deliver for you is an end-to-end mechanical solution which we will manage all the way through from design to powering up. And because of the wide range of services that we have to offer, we can deliver a complete solution that gives you ultimate control of your HVAC system.

Our service includes:
• CAD Design
• Electrical installation
• Electrical metering (where required)
• PLC Service and installation, and commissioning the site.
• Air-conditioning and refrigeration control systems (Mechanical Electrical)
• Ongoing maintenance if required
• Identifying energy efficiency opportunities.

If you want to know more, get in touch.

 
Power Solutions
The power of design

Outages and downtime cost your business money. We can install critical support equipment to keep your business up and running. Our past projects include the removal of redundant electrical assets, the integration of diesel back-up generators (UPS) and site power upgrades.

We have also:
• designed and implemented commercial power solutions for universities, shopping centres, telephone exchanges and local government
• completed work on data centres, defence force and secure sites
• gained extensive experience in providing end-to-end power solutions at greenfield sites.

Our teams are experienced in installing large-scale underground and multi-story power reticulation.
If you would like to know more about our Power Solutions, get in touch.

 
Building Management Solutions
Making the complex simple.

There are so many possibilities with Building Management Solutions, to the point where virtually any device that can be wired, can be incorporated into a solution. And the benefits are enormous.

Clearly, a system that can self-diagnose and tell you when and where maintenance is required makes servicing much more cost effective and adds to the longevity of your plant. But the level of control and information they can provide is astonishing. Highly customisable user interfaces give the ability to control a multitude of devices individually at the touch of a button, from anywhere in the world, The level of, and access to, data means you can report on trends and make comparisons over time, and even between zones and floors.

The only question is who to partner with for the install. At LJ Services, we believe our experience in implementing Building Management Systems and our partnerships with some of the world’s largest specialists in energy management and automation, make us an obvious choice.

We have a track record of delivering:
• Building Management Systems (BMS)
• Direct Digital Control (DDC)
• Energy Monitoring and Energy Management Solutions (EMS)
• Maintenance
• Service and support for Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning (HVAC)
• Power and Lighting Installations.

To find out more about how we can help you reap the rewards of an effective Building Management System, get in touch.
 
Integration
Bringing it all together
We will help you to make sense of the complex tangle of third party systems that run your building’s key functions.

Using leading-brand products, we will design creative protocol solutions to bring the control of your building to your fingertips. Where once you had to use many separate instruments, we will give you total control at the push of a button. We can deliver everything to you through a user-friendly interface.

Our past implementations have brought the following together:
• Lighting Control
• Stand-by Power Generation
• HVAC Equipment
• VSD’s
• Fire and Security Systems
• Water
• Gas
• Electrical Energy Metering
• Hydraulic Metering
• Grey water/rain water
• DAF units
• Any monitoring and control systems
Installing a Building Management System is also a good opportunity to consolidate systems together to free up space in control rooms that can easily become crowded.
Get in touch with us now to find out how we can help you bring it all together.
 
Building Automation
Unlocking the power of turnkey electrical solutions
We will use our expertise to turn your premises into an intelligent, self-sufficient and economical building. Our partnerships with Honeywell and Schneider mean that we can bring you the latest world-class functionality, as well as the peace of mind that comes with local support.

We follow this same path for the installation of all Building Management Systems:
1. Discuss the client’s needs
2. Recommend the right product for the application
3. Engineer the solution
4. Installation
5. Commissioning and Verification
6. Service and Maintenance,
As with our approach to all projects, our aim is to keep everything simple, something we deliver every time.
If you would like to know more about BMS, get in touch
 
Energy Management (EMS)
The power to save
We live with a volatile electricity market, and power prices are unpredictable. Having the right data and tools to manage energy effectively can be the difference between your business turning a profit or making a loss.

We can offer scalable energy solutions in single buildings or across multiple sites and, because we have the skills and experience to do it, we incorporate the ability to manage energy consumption into all our solutions. We do this by installing:
• Electrical and Hydraulic Metering
• Variable Speed Drives
• Lighting Control
• Data Collection
• Analytics

The dynamic monitoring Energy Management Systems we use mean we can remotely collect and analyse real-time data, to allow you to make informed and immediate decisions on how best to manage your energy consumption by using trends over time and consumption comparisons. This data enables you to charge tenants more accurately, and data anomalies can even help you detect water leaks.
To learn more about the benefits efficient energy management can bring to your business, get in touch.

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The benefits of hiring a professional to clean and restore your roof.

The benefits of hiring a professional to clean and restore your roof.

Hiring a professional to work on your roof isn’t just something that should be done by those with a fear of heights. The benefits of roof cleaning and maintenance go way beyond removing leaves from gutters. Get the right work done regularly and you could protect the life of your roof. Choose not to, and you could void the warranty on your roof or provide insurance companies with a ready-made excuse for not paying a claim.

Roof under warranty? Check the fine print.
Most roofs have long – sometimes lifetime – warranties. But you really should check the fine print. When you do, you’ll find that in many cases, in order to ensure the warranty remains valid, you must keep your roof well maintained. That includes keeping on top of things like fungus, mould, lichen and algae. Compared to the potential long-term cost of a voided warranty, the cost of roof cleaning is very small.

Are you really insured?
When it rains, sometimes it pours – through your roof. But don’t just assume your insurance company will pay for any damage. Poor workmanship, clogged-up gutters and a general lack of maintenance could all be reasons for your insurance company to decline your claim. Give your roof regular care and attention and you won’t give them the chance.

Avoid costly mistakes
Roof cleaning isn’t just about putting on some non-slip shoes and standing on top of the world looking fearless. It’s also about making sure you choose the right chemicals. Select the wrong ones for your roof type, and you could be making a costly mistake that might damage your roof. There’s a good reason why roof cleaning is a service offered by professionals. So why take the risk?

Look after it. It won’t last forever.
Paying for roof cleaning, maintenance and repairs is much cheaper than making a meaty investment in a new roof. Keep your roof clean and well maintained, and your roof should last longer. Conversely if you never do anything to your roof, you just might wake up one day to a nasty surprise. Remember, replacing a roof is an expensive business.

About O’Boyles
We’re a specialist roofing company based in Melbourne. We’ve been installing, repairing and replacing roofs in Melbourne since 1989.
 

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From civil to civilian. Expert plumbers for all situations.

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Earthwise Plumbing Solutions
From civil to civilian. Expert plumbers for all situations.

Introduction
Earthwise Plumbing Solutions has been providing high-quality plumbing services for more than a decade. We pride ourselves on our ability to solve current and future problems for a wide range of customers, from minor residential leaks all the way through to the construction and maintenance of major civil pipelines. And no matter how large or small the job, our focus is on making sure every one of our customers is satisfied with the end result.


Residential:
A fast, quality service, delivered by experts.

Emergencies:
When you wake up to a house full of water or the stench of a blocked sewer, you know it’s time to call a plumber. And when you do, make sure it’s Earthwise. We understand the impact these kind of events can have on your family and we’ll send out an experienced plumber as soon as possible to put things right for good.

New Homes, Renovations and Maintenance
At Earthwise we specialise in seamless water and waste management. So whether you’re looking to catch and store water or wash your waste away, give us a call. We will implement simple, cost-effective solutions that are designed to last.

CCTV Drain Inspections
Our expert plumbers use the latest CCTV to check your pipes for damage. Using it means that not only can we easily locate the source of a leak, we can pick up issues before they become major problems and cause expensive surprises down the track.

We offer the following services:
• Sewer and Stormwater Blockages
• CCTV
• Jett
• Burst Pipe
• Renos
• New Homes
• Maintenance
• Water Tanks

Want to hear more about the quality solutions we have implemented for residential customers? Get in touch.
 
Commercial
Are you pumping too much money into maintenance?
Maintaining or upgrading the drainage, pumps, roofing or fire services for your business can be costly and time consuming. At Earthwise we are committed to partnership and see our role as keeping your commercial space functioning so that you can go about your business. We specialise in:
• Drainage

Want to know more about our maintenance partnerships? Get in touch.

Industrial
Keeping your business flowing
A sewer or water-line break can bring your business to its knees. Every hour your plant is down or performing poorly has a negative impact on your bottom line. At Earthwise, we understand that the clock is ticking every time your equipment fails. That’s why we’ll send our expert plumbers to fix your problem quickly, and prevent it happening again. We specialise in:
• Oil Tanks
• Oil Separators
• Pumps/Pump Line
• Environmental Drainage
• Water Treatment Plants
• Maintenance
• Hydro Excavation

Want to know more about the work we have done to keep industrial sites running? Get in touch.
 

Civil
Our success is in the pipeline
The Earthwise civil plumbing team has a great deal of experience in the construction and maintenance of large-scale civil plumbing solutions that manage the city’s water and waste. We specialise in:
• Stormwater/Sewer Pit
• Drainage
• Environmental Drainage
• Excavations
• Retention Systems
• Hydro Excavation

Want to learn more about the major projects we have been involved in? Get in touch.

Case Study

Leading edge and low cost. An innovation in maintained conditioning.

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What LJ Services designed and delivered to maintain temperatures at the largest commercial kitchen in the southern hemisphere, was undoubtedly cutting edge. The mix of hardware, software, engineering and installation services that we designed were combined to ensure the delivery of maintained conditioning within the facility’s various climate zones.

The solution was designed by LJ Services to be:

  • Reliable – we designed our solution to minimise risk and integrate effectively with the existing HACCP monitoring process that ensures the identification and control of hazards in food production, manufacturing and handling. Because we delivered the ability to precisely maintain temperatures across all areas of the site, the client could make up to 600,000 meals a month without worrying whether the food would spoil.
  • Easy to use – the way we designed the solution means the client can monitor and adjust the temperature in every zone of the 11,000sqm building, at the touch of a button, wherever they are in the world.
  • Low Cost – our design gave the client a fully integrated, effective and efficient way to control temperature that could reduce energy costs by up to 30% in the future.
  • On time, on budget and exactly what was asked for – at LJ Services, when we respond to a tender, we mean what we say and are proud of our track record.
  • Implemented within Federal Airspace – LJ services has experience of working within high security areas and we were familiar with the rigorous procedures and permits required to get the job done.

This was an extremely well implemented solution and  LJ Services are rightly proud of the full remote visibility of temperatures across every zone that we gave the client. We also delivered over and above the initial brief by connecting the solution to the electrical metering devices. This was seen as a value-add opportunity because the connection opened up the system to future data analytics capability.

Products: 

EcoStruXureTM by Schneider Electric. At the time of implementation, the product was called SmartStruXureTM.

About the client:

Alpha Flight Services has over 1700 employees and 30 airline customers, with a nationwide network of 11 kitchens. In 2017, the company provided more than 18 million meals and serviced more than 200,000 flights.

On this project, LJ Services partnered with Specific Refrigeration and Mechanical Services to deliver a turnkey solution. Specific engineered the 70% mechanical design, whilst LJ Services developed the design specifications and implemented building management software to integrate seamlessly with third party equipment and platforms.

Background:

To respond to significant growth, the client approached Specific Refrigeration to install complex zoned conditioning across a purpose-built facility that incorporated high, medium and low temperature areas for the preparation, storage and despatch of more than 20,000 meals per day. In order to service that demand, the site needed a reliable and sturdy mechanical refrigeration system.

The site was to become the largest commercial kitchen in the southern hemisphere, and the 11,000 sqm building featured four custom blast chillers, a presentation kitchen, bakery, 100-seat cafeteria and a waste treatment plant. The client’s requirements for controlling varying temperatures across such a large site were complex, and the solution needed to provide real-time monitoring and the ability to control temperatures in multiple rooms, remotely.

At this site, the refrigerant charge was to be limited by secondary glycol loops utilised for the chiller and air conditioning systems. The chiller, freezer, blast chilling and air conditioning components of the plant would be connected to a common, closed-circuit fluid-condenser water system. Redundancy would be provided throughout, together with VSDs to all fans and pumps. This would allow for precise, commissioned control of all systems.

LJ Services were asked to couple this with a new building management system to provide effective temperature control throughout the various climate zones in the facility. Temperature maintenance was key to ensuring the site met the strict standards and regulations around food and beverage preparation, and it needed to be reliable to minimise the potential for food spoilage.

The Challenges:

As well as a short turnaround time to fall in line with the builders’ expedited schedule, this project came with a number of challenges. The building was located within the grounds of Melbourne Airport and was therefore subject to the overarching standards and permit systems that apply to all buildings within the precinct. These permits had to be obtained prior to the commencement of the work and the airport had to be kept informed and updated at all times.

This was a design and construct project which meant that the brief evolved throughout the duration of the work. The entire site was under construction and that meant our design team had to work closely with the building project team and often had to come up with new solutions as the construction developed – new equipment would sometimes turn up and require immediate installation – and there was tight control over which areas we could access, meaning that occasionally some of the parts of the building we needed to enter, had yet to be built.

All in all, four different systems and freezers needed to be implemented in line with the HACCP standards around food preparation. In addition, an interface with the Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) unit to monitor the waste components and minimise the risk of an operational shutdown of the plant, was required.

The solution

LJ Services met with the key stakeholders on the project to seek feedback and ensure their engagement. The mechanical design of the solution was fully engineered by Specific Refrigeration, and we coupled it with a Schneider Electric SmartStruXureTM product to ensure what we delivered was easy to use, reliable, low maintenance and had low running costs.

LJ Services has an established relationship with Schneider Electric, and in this case it meant we could provide access to high-end solutions and local support. That, and a long list of satisfied clients, made us the perfect partner for this project.

We chose SmartStruXure because of its ability to seamlessly integrate with third party equipment and platforms, enabling the client to monitor, measure and optimize the temperatures in every zone of the building, remotely. The fact that were designed – and were able to implement – the solution on an open-source platform meant that the system was accessible to multiple Schneider certified EcoXperts worldwide, and therefore created the opportunity for the client to select from a huge global choice of product providers in the future.

This new facility means that Alpha Flight Services can now make up to 600,000 meals a month.

 

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Don’t wave from the wrong platform

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Hi [First Name]

If you need to search the web do you reach for your laptop, or your phone? Latest statistics show that more than 60% of internet usage in Australia is by mobile device. That’s important for you to know because websites are displayed differently on mobile phones and tablets to the way they appear on laptops or desktops. If your website doesn’t respond to the difference, then all that time and money you spent designing your site, were wasted.

What’s more, if your site is not responsive to mobile devices, it negatively affects your Google search ranking. In order to protect its reputation, Google won’t present your site to its customers if it knows they won’t be able to view it properly. So there’s even more chance you’ll lose out on potential new customers.

FACT: If your content can’t be properly viewed on mobile devices then you aren’t even giving 60% of your prospects a chance to form a first impression of your business.

Make sure you take this into account when building or designing a new website. After all, you wouldn’t want to waste your time and money having to run and manage two sites instead of one.

You’d be surprised how easy it is to make your website responsive. At xxxxx we can help you get it right. We are a digital marketing agency that helps our customers create, connect and prosper. So if you’d like some advice or more information on how to ensure everyone can see your site as you intended it to look, give us a call. We’re happy to help. the

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If it’s not on the menu, how do you know you can order it?

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Hi [First Name]

The structure of your website plays an important role in funnelling customers to your business and towards the action you want them to take. Simple structures make it easy for customers to find the products and information they are looking for. Make it complicated, and you risk losing them to a competitor.

FACT: The easier your site is to navigate, the more chance a customer will continue to engage, and therefore the higher the chance of them buying your products and services.

Structure is important to Google too. When deciding how to rank your site, it looks for your most valuable content. If Google can’t find it, or there is too much conflicting information on a page then it actually works against you. If your pages cover multiple topics, the worst case scenario is that you end up competing against yourself for search rankings!

When thinking about your site, use images where you can. Remember, a picture paints a thousand words. It can inspire or convince a customer to try your product or service. And if you do choose to use words, keep them relevant and easy to read. Don’t bore your customers with endless detailed paragraphs. Remember they are time poor, just like you!

Finally, it’s important to keep your website clean and uncluttered. Delete or archive any old content and make sure you check that no links to that content remain. It’s frustrating for customers to think they’ve found what they needed, only to find that the information is out of date or no longer exists.

You’d be surprised how effective the right structure can be in bringing prospects right to where you want them. At xxxx we can help you get it right. We are a digital marketing agency that helps our customers create, connect and prosper. So if you’d like some advice or more information on how to nail the structure of your site, give us a call. We’re happy to help.

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Help them over the line.

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Hi [First Name]

Congratulations. By now we hope you’ve designed your site well enough to create a great first impression, and you’ve structured your site so simply that customers are clicking around like flamenco dancers. Now how do you get them to actually buy your product or service?

Make sure you have the right offer on your site to encourage customers to take the plunge and choose your business. It’s important that you emphasise the value of that offer in language the customer will understand. If they don’t see the value in what you’re offering, then why should they click any further?

FACT: If the perceived value is greater than the price tag, in most circumstances customers will buy.

You can increase that value by using statistics too. If you have evidence to show how customers will benefit from your service, or that you’re the best at what you do, then you should be sharing it with them. It adds to the chance that prospects will take the plunge and choose you.

Don’t underestimate the power of testimonials either. They work because they help you to establish credibility and can be a convincing way of promoting your product or service.

FACT: If you use them correctly, testimonials will help you turn more prospects into customers.

Sometimes people need a push to help them over the line. At xxxxx we can help you give them that all important nudge. We are a digital marketing agency that helps our customers create, connect and prosper. So if you’d like some advice or more information on how to improve the conversion rate of your website, give us a call. We’re happy to help.

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There is no such thing as a second impression.

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Hi [First Name]

When you meet someone new, you form a first impression from the way they are dressed, smile or shake hands. In that split second you decide whether to trust or even to hire someone. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that your customers do exactly the same thing when they first visit your website.

But what might be news to you is the speed at which they form that impression. According to Google research they do so, literally, in the blink of an eye. And from other studies, we know that nearly all first impressions are formed solely based on the design of a website.

FACT: Getting the design right helps keep people on your website for longer and therefore increases the chance that they will buy your products or services.

The look and feel of your website also has the added bonus of increasing the extent to which prospective customers trust you. Put simply, if it doesn’t look professional, they will go somewhere else.

You’d be surprised how easy it is to create the right first impression. At xxxxxx we can help you get it right. We are a digital marketing agency that helps our customers create, connect and prosper. So if you’d like some advice or more information on how the design of your site can increase the likelihood of customers buying from you, give us a call. We’re happy to help.

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