09 October 2006
Shifting opinions
Distribution has changed significantly in the last 10 years. What does the future hold? By Graham Pitcher.
Distribution companies are becoming more important to the electronics sector. Yet in the space of a decade, many companies have changed significantly; and some have disappeared. So what does the distribution see for the future?
We asked how much the industry had changed in a decade. Martin Kent, ceo of Abacus, said: “Distribution has become a much more mature industry – it is still growing, but less fast, and competition is greater.” Mike Carlucci, md of Azzurri, noted: “Azzurri was established nine years ago and the changes have been staggering. The most significant change has been the exodus of manufacturing out of Europe.”
“There are two dynamics that stand out for me,” said Chris McAneny, marketing director for Arrow Northern Europe, “and they are contrasting. First, the positive impact of the telecom/internet boom. Second was the negative impact of global business transfer between 2000 and 2005. Distributors have had to learn from and adapt to both.”
So what changes can be expected in the next 10 years? Adam Fletcher is chair of distributors association Afdec. He said: “The volume and value of business transacted via franchised distributors will continue to grow over the next decade as component manufacturers outsource more operations and logistics functions. I expect that global franchised distributors will hold an even larger proportion of the component manufacturer’s finished goods inventory and will be shipping to the manufacturer’s direct customers and other franchised distributors as well as their own customers.”
Author
Graham Pitcher
Supporting Information
Downloads
7741\shifting_opinions.pdf
Websites
http://www.afdec.org.uk
http://www.arrowne.com
http://www.avnet.com
http://www.azzurri.com
Companies
AFDEC
Arrow Electronics UK Ltd
Avnet EMG GmbH
Azzurri Technology Ltd
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