Bus Plugs Blog – Expert Safety and Usage Information

Bus Plug Square D PKA36200

If you read the recent information on Facebook beating Myspace by managing in “white space,” rather than in a formal business management environment, you have a good idea how MIDWEST makes many decisions to improve its web site for our customers. We make so called guesses based on conversations and suggestions from our customers.  They tell us what they like. And in doing so, they are the white space between all the seasoned directives we get from the marketing professionals. The ‘world wide web’ is still exciting uncharted territory.  There are not many years of prior art.

In response to customer white space chatter, MIDWEST set up a web site specifically directed at those looking for buyers of bus plugs. Hence, the domain name www.busplugsbuyer.com. You see here the results of white space management. This specific target site makes it easier for those that have bus plugs to sell to find us in general. Of course, they could find MIDWEST specifically if they already knew we existed. But, for those that don’t know who MIDWEST is, they might make a general search for buyers of bus plugs. Then go from the general to the more specific. Specifically, whether a GE General Electric bus plugs, Square D bus plugs, Cutler Hammer bus plugs, ITE Bus Plugs, or Federal Pacific bus plugs, it doesn’t make a difference.  According to our customers, they would first search for a bus plug buyer and then go from there. This is all very simple from the seller’s point of view.

MIDWEST’s Switchgear Shop received an unusual request for blue Square D bus plugs and black General Electric bus plugs. Plus, we were asked if we could paint ITE and Cutler Hammer bus plugs other colors and if we could put a unique label on each bus plug. Of course the answer was yes, but this was different. We have reconditioned Westinghouse bus plugs and Cutler Hammer Bus Plugs that were already painted black and we had to repaint them gray.  We had some Square D bus plugs and General Electric Bus Plugs that were a 1950’s kitchen cream color and looked like they had been repainted every ten years. But this was the first time that a customer requested a specific color, other than the manufacturer’s original color, which is usually gray.

They had a lot of 30 amp and 60 amp bus plugs. Quite a few 100 amp bus plugs and a couple 200 amp bus plugs and one large 400 amp bus plug. But what was really unusual was their reason for the color coding and labeling. It appears that, in some states, bus duct and bus plugs that are used only on a specific manufacturing machine or production process, are exempt from state tax. If they buy replacement bus plugs or have service on the existing bus plugs, the replacements and service is non taxable.  If the bus plugs or bus duct are used on something other than a specific manufacturing machine or process, service and equipment is taxable. They wanted the bus plugs for a specific process to be all the same color. They also wanted the bus plugs to be painted the same color as the bus duct and to be labeled for the specific manufacturing machine or process.  We are not state tax experts, but, as they explained it, it seemed to make sense.