Each year, DMF honors a special selection from our network of representatives for all the great work they do. The Brilliance Awards celebrate not just great performance, but a partner’s outstanding dedication to reflecting all that DMF stands for, from knowledge and partnership to loyalty and professionalism.

Join us in congratulating Pacific Lighting Sales as this year’s top representative.

W. Rodgers Hill, Founder and Principal of Hill Residential Systems, accepts their DMF Brilliance Award trophy from DMF’s Andy Wakefield, Senior Vice President

Diamond Award

The Diamond Award celebrates representatives without equal. Diamond Award winners excel at communicating with the whole DMF organization and are constantly learning more about our products and policies. Their excellence reflects amazing sales performances, especially across different business segments. Their passion and dedication makes them more than just partners, it makes them key members of the DMF Family.

Winner: Pacific Lighting Systems

Crystal Award

The Crystal Award recognizes Representatives, who achieve their agreed sales quota goals. Such commitment and achievement are essential to our DMF business success. Crystal Award winners help us invest consistently in our business, growing our products, people, and impact to the market. Their partnership excellence is recognized and greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to the recipients

Our manufacturer’s representatives are the cornerstone of our business and we are proud to bestow the very best of them these Brilliance Awards. Congratulations to the winners and thank you everyone for your effort and dedication.

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A leader in B2B consumer technology coverage, Dealerscope recently revealed its 40 Under 40 list for 2021, recognizing the industry’s most forward-thinking and progressive consumer technology professionals. Among the honorees was DMF’s very own Mike Libman.
In conjunction with the recognition, Dealerscope spoke with him on his role at DMF and how it fits into the consumer electronics industry.

40 Under 40 Honoree

Mike Libman
National Sales Director – Residential Systems
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Describe your current role.
I lead our Residential Systems Team for DMF Lighting. Our team works with dealers, buying groups, and reps across North America to empower dealers to provide quality lighting solutions to their clients.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
DMF has emerged as a leader in the space. I am most proud of our recognition as a CEDIA Best New Hardware Award Winner, a CEPro Bullet Brand, and to be relied on by our partners and customers as their go-to lighting solution.
What do you like best about your job?
Working with dealers to successfully adopt a new category, how much it impacts their business, and how much their clients love the end result.
What technology are you most excited about at the moment?
I continue to be excited about the opportunity to elevate lighting in people’s homes. LED transformed lighting from commodity to technology and it requires expertise to successfully implement. We have worked on some amazing projects and know that we have addressed only a fraction of the overall opportunity.
Who in the CE or technology industry do you look up to, and why?
Tom Doherty was the initial advocate of the fixture category for dealers and was a huge part of our entry into the space. He continues to be a mentor to me personally, and I am continually impressed by his influence and the adoption of his vision by the broader industry.
What career advice would you give to people just getting started in the CE or technology industry?
First, make sure you take care of the people who support you. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to do business with our dealer partners and work hard to provide value beyond our products.
Second, make sure you align yourself with a company you can be proud to work for. I have been very fortunate to work with DMF Lighting the last number of years. Thank you — to our engineering team who develops amazing products. To our sales team who has a long history in the industry and cares about their partners success. To our leadership, for their support, both professionally and personally.
What, in your opinion, is necessary for the CE/technology industry to thrive in the next five years?
This industry is at the tip of the spear and has the skill and talent to provide amazing experiences for their clients through technology. Education and collaboration are important as things continue to evolve and new categories are adopted.

Congratulations to Mike on this well-deserved honor!

View complete list of honorees at Dealerscope.
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We are proud to partner with ProSource to be featured at the brand-new, state-of-the-art Lighting Technology and Learning Center. Located in the Dallas Market Center, the space provides an opportunity for retail and design-build customers to learn about lighting applications and advancements in an immersive setting.

DMF’s latest innovations, including the award-winning DID Series lighting modules, OneFrame and SquareFrame recessed lighting systems, the DCC LED Cylinder, and DRD5 LED downlights, are the perfect pairing for the new Learning Center.

“DMF Lighting impressed us right out of the gate with their unique OneFrame system, and we are thrilled that they are a part of the LTLC Experience Center,” said David Warfel, Chief Evangelist, Light Can Help You.

“We love the modularity and clean engineering of their products and chose their trimless fixtures because of their easy installation. We have been huge fans of the DRD4 adjustable LED module in our design practice and are even more excited about the integrator-only upgrade, the DID4.”

The Learning Center was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 23, 2021, at the start of the popular Lightovation trade show. Dave Workman, president and CEO of ProSource, presided at the opening festivities.

Eventually, the Learning Center will be available for hands-on, live Level 2 curriculum of the ProSource Lighting Technology Certification program, which was launched earlier this year through ProSource University.

DID Series

The all-new, award-winning DID Series improves on every major metric by which quality lighting is judged and delivers unmatched performance and adaptability. The DID Series was designed specifically to enhance the appearance and installation of home integration projects and is exclusively available through custom integration dealers. 

DCC Cylinder

By combining a suite of customizable features with our highest performing LED modules yet, the DCC provides brilliant illumination and beautiful design versatile enough for whatever your project needs. The DCC centers around a modular LED lighting system, so it’s easy to specify, install and maintain.

DRD5S

The DRD5S redefines what’s possible for a surface mount downlight. Packed with technical breakthroughs, the ultra-thin DRD5S matches the elegance of a high-end recessed downlight. In addition, it’s more versatile because it can fit more applications, even those with limited plenum space. 

About ProSource

ProSource is a cooperative, member-governed, not-for-profit buying group representing more than 550 specialty retailers and custom integrators. With annual sales of more than $6 billion, ProSource is the largest specialty and consumer-electronics merchandising group in the United States, which allows it to negotiate stronger programs with manufacturers, help independent dealers stay relevant to consumers, and keep the specialty A/V channel competitive. Learn more about ProSource.

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designing lighting is focused on the Business of Lighting Design™ and provides business information to the lighting design community. In addition to the website, designing lighting publishes bi-monthly online magazines featuring original content, interviews within the community and highlights successful and award-winning lighting designs.

In the April 2021 issue, Benya’s Art & Science section featured a fascinating article on the history of the downlight, covering everything from their origin to their latest features.

The Incredible Evolving Downlight

By Jim Benya

The downlight as we know it was invented in 1939 by Rambusch Lighting. Famous for ecclesiastical lighting of churches and cathedrals, Rambusch knew that illumination of hymnals and prayer books was typically poor because chandeliers were hanging far overhead of the congregation. A recessed luminaire with a narrow beam effectively lighted the “tasks” an invention that changed church lighting forever. But modernism and its demand for un-ornamental design gave us the “can light” (aka the “pot light” in Canada) that probably lights more interior space than any other lighting fixture type to date.

Residential downlights played a huge role in the acceptance and growth of the industry. Offering different apertures of varying diameter and shape, as well as interchangeable trims ranging from open baffles to shower lenses and wall washers, allowed for the customization of lighting for each room and function. As the market grew there were dozens of companies and an increasing number of options, including low voltage and compact fluorescent light sources.

Unfortunately, fires resulting from overheated downlights became a problem, and the National Electrical Code responded with a series of strict UL listing requirements. Thermal protection, insulation detectors and insulation contact (IC) housings became standard. As downlights became popular for hotels and apartment buildings, the need for fire-rated downlights entered the codes and marketplace. Selecting a residential downlight housing quickly became complex and further complicated by compact fluorescent lamps and the huge variety of variations. Once popular because of low cost, residential downlights were rapidly becoming expensive.

Well, everything changed when a 7.5-watt LED luminaire could generate as much light as a 60-watt incandescent luminaire. Manufacturers and lighting designers began to question everything about downlights to regain their popularity and cost effectiveness. Thanks to LEDs, downlights have become affordable, and the new section in the 2020 National Electrical Code resolved the complications that accumulated over 50 years of legacy light bulbs. Four of the more noteworthy innovations and adaptations include:

Low wattage downlights that clip into the ceiling – With common cans, the electrician nails the can light’s hanger bars in place, wires the 120-volt branch circuit to the junction box, and returns after the drywall work to find the can and cut out the hole before installing the guts and trim. Moving a downlight means a lot of drywall work as well as electrical work. With clip-in fixtures, the wiring is put in before the drywall, then the electrician cuts a hole, grabs the wire, connects it to the luminaire, and pushes the luminaire into the hole. Spring loaded “mousetrap” clips hold the luminaire in place. Moving a luminaire is easy and involves a minimum of drywall and electrical work. Significant labor cost savings are the key.

Low voltage downlights – LEDs are inherently low voltage light sources. Encouraged by UL 2018 and Articles 411 and 725 of the National Electrical Code, a new generation of downlights allows for a Class 2 driver connection to 120-volt power on a flexible whip, that in turn can power up to 60 watts of downlights using plug-in class 2 flexible wiring. This could include dedicated above ceiling drivers or PoE-wired applications. These take advantage of clip in downlights to make the labor savings even more impressive.

Fire-rated downlights – Especially in multi-family structures where ceilings are required to be fire rated, contractors were required to either build a sealed drywall box around a recessed downlight or to cover it with a UL listed fire protection blanket until recently. The added costs for either can be as much as $150 per downlight in labor and material. More than half of these costs are saved by new generation of downlights, including compact LED sources that fit into fire-rated junction boxes and fire-rated versions of conventional can lights. With up to 10 downlights in a mid-market 2-bedroom apartment, these savings become important and preserve the appeal of downlighting in these project types. These lights can be used in hotel guest rooms for that same reason.

More than half of these costs are saved by a new generation of downlights, including compact LED sources that fit into fire-rated junction boxes

Multiples are better than ever – The smaller size of LED options have resulted in a completely new generation of luminaires that feature multiple sources connected to one power source. These include conventional “multiples” with several individually aimable heads and new types of wall washers and small linear downlights on a residential scale. Like the other innovations, these often use mousetrap clips for simple cut-in installation and low voltage class 2 wiring, making these appealing for a wide range of projects and budgets.

Perhaps most intriguing of these innovations is their small size. For instance, a 2-3/8” x 1-5/8” square downlight with two micro downlights can produce up to 400 lumens using 5 watts, and with several of them connected to a single class 2 driver, can be installed for the labor cost of a single conventional 6” can. Not only more sophisticated in appearance and performance, but it is also a whole new design look that is affordable in a larger percentage of projects.

I’m still learning how to use these innovations, and every day I receive an email announcement of a new product of this type from companies all over the world. In downlighting, this is our future because it is a better tool for smaller environments, energy efficient, resource efficient, and a dramatic improvement in the downlight on which so much lighting design depends.

View the entire article at designing lighting.

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Each year, DMF honors a special selection from our network of representatives for all the great work they do. The Brilliance Awards celebrate not just great performance, but a partner’s outstanding dedication to reflecting all that DMF stands for, from knowledge and partnership to loyalty and professionalism.

Here are this year’s winners.

W. Rodgers Hill, Founder and Principal of Hill Residential Systems, accepts their DMF Brilliance Award trophy from DMF’s Andy Wakefield, Senior Vice President

Diamond Award

The Diamond Award celebrates representatives without equal. Diamond Award winners excel at communicating with the whole DMF organization and are constantly learning more about our products and policies. Their excellence reflects amazing sales performances, especially across different business segments. Their passion and dedication makes them more than just partners, it makes them key members of the DMF Family.

Winner: Hill Residential Systems

Prism Award

The Prism Award goes to the Representative that achieved great success in their first year with DMF. These remarkable reps go beyond the day to day to successfully integrate themselves into the DMF ecosystem, quickly and effectively building relationships and knowledge. Prism Award winners demonstrate their hard work and potential for growth. They have a bright future together with DMF.

Winner: Pacific Lighting Systems

Crystal Award

The Crystal Award recognizes Representatives, who achieve their agreed sales quota goals. Such commitment and achievement are essential to our DMF business success. Crystal Award winners help us invest consistently in our business, growing our products, people, and impact to the market. Their partnership excellence is recognized and greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to the recipients

Our manufacturer’s representatives are the cornerstone of our business and we are proud to bestow the very best of them these Brilliance Awards. Congratulations to the winners and thank you everyone for your effort and dedication.

– – – – – – – –

Connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to stay up to date with everything that’s happening at DMF Lighting.