Sourcing ELECTRONICS


Evolving rolE of cataloguE distribution


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Withmedia platforms continuously evolving, catalogue distributors are facing the same challenges as themagazine publishing industry.What are they? By Jon Barrett


Sometime around 1985 I stepped out of college (having completed my product design qualification) and into my first engineering role. The company designed and manufactured factory automation machinery and I became an integral part of that process.


I can still remembermy job description.What surprisedme at


the time was that one aspect ofmy role was tomanage the technical library, including distributor catalogues. Onemust remember that at this time theWorldWideWeb as we know it now had not been invented. If an engineer wanted to source a component the tools of the trade comprised their own knowledge, their colleagues’ experience, supplier catalogues, a telephone and faxmachine. Quite frightening by today’s standards.


Naturally, what made the catalogue distributors so important


was their breadth of product and immediate availability. However, in addition to these core benefits, an electronics catalogue also fuelled serendipity: the propensity for making fortuitous discoveries while looking for something unrelated. I wonder how many product innovations were the result of designers and buyers stumbling across new components as they flicked through a catalogue looking for something else.


Then CD drives for computers were invented. Suddenly,


catalogues could be read on screen and could include interactive features such as three dimensional drawings and cost calculators. Just as this technology was starting to look interesting for purchasing departments it happened: theWorld WideWeb was announced.


Over the intervening years, I’ve watched as catalogue


distributors of electronic components have embraced what the internet has to offer and engineered new purchasing solutions as and when the technology allows.


Today’s catalogue distributor offers its customers a fascinating 26 | July 2010


juxtaposition. By continuing to offer buyers printed catalogues they are providing a relaxed, lean-back opportunity to browse for parts, while also guaranteeing that their customers’ eyes will fall on thousands of other components options as they read. The importance of this ‘serendipity point’ can not be over emphasised.


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often do, the power of the internet really comes into play, providing a seamless end-to-end purchasing channel that significantly reduces time-to-market and costs.


It doesn’t stop there. In fact the real innovations have only just


started.What comes next is community spirit, crowd sourcing, social media, call it what you want. Component catalogues aren’t printed or digital objects any more, they are ‘places’ to go when you want to meet likeminded people.When considering purchasing a component, who better to talk to than people who have already bought that component in the past.


Where next? I’mgenuinely not sure.What I thinkwill happen is


that the crowd sourcing capability of virtual purchasing communities will tell the catalogue distributorswhat to do nextwhen the time is right. In themeantime enjoywhat is already there.


www.electronics-sourcing.eu


Jon Barrett, editor ofElectronicsSourcing E


However, when buyers know exactly what they want, and they


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