Distribution I Comment
“Future in Control” T
As IGT Industries appoints its first distribution partner, Neil Tyler talks to Terry Moss, the company’s sales and marketing manager, about the new agreement and what it means for the company
owards the end of July IGT Industries Ltd, one of the UK’s longest established Human Machine Interface
(HMI) solutions providers, and Acal BFi - a division of Acal plc - announced a strategic distribution agreement which saw Acal BFi become IGT Industries’ first ever distributor. The new agreement is a significant change in direction for the company and will provide design engineers with access to IGT’s custom made MMI/HMI control panels in the UK and across Europe, and it will also see specialist sales teams from Acal BFi providing additional technical expertise. IGT Industries have been at the fore-front of Man Machine Interface technology for
more than twenty years and have been responsible for many well-known technological innovations that are now in common use such as: various backlighting techniques, integral RFI screening and most recently the development of capacitive switching systems.
Last month I caught up with Terry Moss, IGT Industries’ Sales & Marketing Manager. Having joined the company from knitterswitch nearly a year ago I started by asking him what attracted him to IGT. “Having been involved with the HMI/MMI industry for many years primarily at a component level, I was attracted to IGT’s expertise in designing and
manufacturing more complex custom control panels. In addition, working for a UK based manufacturing company was very important to me having previously worked for foreign companies manufacturing abroad.
“IGT were looking for an experienced Sales & Marketing manager that could help the company formulate a more structured sales and marketing plan in order to create stronger ‘brand awareness’ and to help increase market penetration into our chosen market sectors. IGT also wants to increase export sales (primarily in Nordic and Northern Europe). I’ve had considerable previous sales experience in these regions (particularly with new brands). “
It's a challenging market. How is IGT responding and how has your appointment changed the company's approach? “Things are tough, no doubt about that. In tough times you have to play to your strengths; IGT has a fantastic reputation within its customer base as being a reliable, responsive and innovative supplier. What we need to do is shout this message to a wider market. Whilst most companies are cutting back on advertising and promotion IGT has embarked upon a new marketing campaign with the aim of introducing our considerable capabilities to a wider customer base.“
Which markets offer you the greatest potential going forward? “IGT products by their nature (man machine interface) can be used in many markets and applications; potentially any piece of electronic equipment that requires a human being to control it could be an application for an IGT HMI solution. Our current markets include, defence, medical, railway, security and industrial. Moving forward we see growth in marine
electronics, aviation (aircraft cabin signage and controls) and access control. We see growth in the defence/aerospace sector. To demonstrate our commitment to this market IGT was recently awarded an SC-21 Bronze award at this year’s Farnborough air show.”
How do you differentiate yourselves from your competitors? “IGT is almost unique in our capability to provide our customers with anything from a simple membrane up to a very complex control panel. Our more complex products could include multiple MMI solutions such as membranes, rubber keypads, touch screens, joysticks and glide pads. Experience shows that early involvement in new HMI requirements brings very real benefits to our customers design process. Our design engineers are available to visit customer facilities, become part of an integrated design team and utilize their vast experience to realise an optimum solution. IGT Industries have been market leaders in Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) solutions for 25 years and in that time have introduced many technological innovations
The need for distribution D
Alex Grout, Distribution Manager EMEA, Omron Electronic Components Europe bv explains to CIE why it is important that the electronic components industry uses distribution effectively
istributor’s share of the electronic component market in Europe has grown enormously in recent years.
According to ECSN estimates, in the UK distributors now serve 40% of the total market as opposed to around a quarter in 2002. The customer, as they say, is king, and whilst this change has been partly driven by manufacturers it wouldn’t have happened if customers didn’t want to buy from distributors and consolidate their spending with a limited number of key suppliers. When we asked our customer’s opinion, many appreciated the value that a good distributor adds and expressed a preference for dealing with Omron through an intermediary. Consequently, the proportion of our business that is transacted via distribution has risen to approximately 50%
26 September 2012
in EMEA over the last 10 years (excluding global accounts in Automotive and Home Appliance sectors). We have done this whilst reducing our distribution network and ensuring we maintain customer choice.
The value of distribution To accept the distributor as an integral part of the supply chain, customers have to see value generation. The most obvious area in which this value is generated is in logistics. While Omron can provide services such as consignment stock or special labelling to our larger customers, generally speaking, our distributors are better set up to do this and can be more cost effective, but more importantly they can offer their customers a unified service covering components from multiple manufacturers.
Components in Electronics
Another important area where distributors can value add is maintaining a sensible stock profile helping to smooth out peaks in demand and troughs in supply. We see that the distributors who have invested heavily in stock and the availability of common parts, have grown their share of our distribution network. As a manufacturer, our desire is to utilise the efficiencies of distributors purchasing teams, and minimise the number of changes to orders we receive. We want our distributors to do the right things with their inventory so that our mutual customers experience the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
Keeping close to our customers From the manufacturers’ point of view, a potential risk of assigning customers to distribution could be that you lose the customer focus. Whilst you can outsource the logistics and support, I don’t believe you should completely outsource the management of the relationship with our customers. That isn’t to devalue the contribution
Alex Grout, Distribution Manager EMEA, Omron Electronic Components Europe bv
that a good distribution FAE brings to the table. We expect our distributors to focus on Omron and offer a high level of
www.cieonline.co.uk
Terry Moss, Sales and Marketing Manager, IGT Industries Ltd
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