Can you give us an introduction to x-Glo North America and the company's history and evolution?

x-Glo North America Inc. is based in Northern Ontario and is a subsidiary of the South African company: Global LED Lighting Solutions. x-Glo was founded in September 2019, with a focus on supplying lighting to underground mining and tunneling projects. Mining represents approximately 80% of our business, followed by tunneling.

One of our most recent developments is our partnership with FiComm Technologies to design and develop a Visual Alert Control System (VACS). Our VACS allows our clients to use the x-Glo LED strip lights integrated with their system to activate the strip lights to change colours, creating a visual alert in an emergency. It is also used for traffic management, giving employees a visual alert that heavy equipment is being operated in the area.

Can you elaborate more on x-Glo North America's recently deployed VACS system and its applications in underground mining?

The system is totally customizable by the end-user, so if a site wants to use a red chasing for fire and blue chasing for other emergencies, that would be possible, in addition the speed and direction of the system lights is also customizable by the end-user. When you combine the VACS with the x-Glo-56-24vDC-RGB-C, you can achieve a total distance of 60 meters on both sides of the VACS (120 meters total) with a VACS repeater placed every 20 meters. Using the x-Glo-L-28-24vDC-RGB-C, you can run three lengths of 80 meters on both sides for an overall length of 480 meters. VACS repeaters must be placed at the end and beginning of each run for the system to function properly.

It was designed for the mining industry and has tunneling applications as well as oil and gas depending on the certifications required.

How significant are the aftermarket sales for x-Glo, and what is the lifespan of the product?

We offer a five-year warranty from the date of manufacture on all x-Glo LED strips and LED Drivers. When a product is installed, the client must connect it to a power point which they plug into our power controller. No hardwiring is required. It works through plug and play, so if a driver fails, they can simply unplug it, replace the driver with a new one within minutes, plug it back in and restore the lights.

In a 100-meter section with x-Glo-60-36vDC power is needed every 20 meters. If you're lighting that same area with standard LED lighting, the technician would have to hardwire every light, they could be placed every five to 10 meters. During our first big project in Wyoming, our client installed a 320-meter run. The installation took just under three days to complete rather than two weeks had they used standard lightning.

Looking back at the last two years, what are some of the company's most significant milestones?

One of our most significant milestones was tapping into the tunneling market. In late 2019, we had the opportunity to supply pricing for a 6.4 kilometer tunneling project where we competed against standard lighting. We secured the contract in April 2020. Our success in this tender was due to our product's capability, ease of installation and convenience in storage relative to traditional lighting. We also secured an additional 4.9-kilometer tunnel project in Toronto this year for the same contractor.

What are x-Glo's focus and strategy in the near future?

Our focus for the next year is firmly towards the VACS, which we are launching officially at MINExpo. The two clients who already purchased the product can be classified as our test subjects, and they helped us work on some minor details to improve the system further.

Covid-19 impacted the workforce's sense of smell, so visual alerts are crucial when operating an underground mine and communicating emergencies. For example, if stench gas is released, the smell may be undetected leaving the worker unaware of the emergency. Therefore, in 2021 – 2022, we will also focus on enhancing the safety side of mining using visual alerts.