COVER STORY
Inventory, people and innovation will bring success in 2023
By Steve Rawlins, CEO, Anglia Components plc Importance of inventory
The global economic slowdown has led to reduced demand for consumer electronics, smartphones and PCs. This will have an impact on lead times for industrial components, but truthfully, the position won’t improve in the short to medium term. Customers whose design is six months away from being released on the market still need to be placing production orders for the bill of materials as soon as possible.
W 2022 review
2022 was a good year for the canny. Customers, and distributors, that planned their inventory, had strong teams in logistics, design, manufacturing and sales, and continued to innovate did well. Anglia celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2022 and it was a good year for a celebration. Its foresight in building up inventory ahead of the stormy weather really paid off for its customers. As a result, Anglia had a good year, and broke its record for highest ever monthly sales.
One of the big pluses is that it has proved its resilience in one of the most difficult markets any of us have experienced. Its UK inventory, its privately owned status, and its close personal relationships with its customers stood it in good stead.
10 December/January 2023
ith the consumer slowdown, lead times in the supply chain should ease later in 2023. However, success can’t be taken for granted. Anglia invested in inventory, in its people and used
the challenges in the world supply chain situation, the economy and the market as a spur to innovation. It did this in partnership with its customers, so that together, they will emerge stronger and better businesses.
Of course, the investment risk when placing firm orders for components to fulfil demand that is hard to forecast is considerable. Distributors like Anglia have a major role to play in helping to manage that risk. By combining the customer’s understanding of their end market with Anglia’s considerable expertise of the electronic component industry, the ever-shifting supply chain can be successfully navigated. This expertise is instantly accessible to customers through Anglia Live, as well as through dialogue with their individual Field Application Engineers (FAEs) and Key Account Managers (KAMs). It is also backed by Anglia’s exceptionally strong inventory position. As a privately owned business, Anglia maintains high levels of inventory as a proportion to the size of its business, currently over 22 billion components from more than 1.3 million product lines. Where key customers including start-ups have particular needs then its holdings of critical devices can be increased. Over the last couple of years, as COVID bit and supply chain uncertainty was rife, Anglia ramped up its inventory further. Its team constantly monitors and adjusts this inventory position to allow us to support customers who partner with us. Anglia didn’t let a single customer on its 80/20 inventory management system down over the year. As a result, customers are trusting us more than ever, and look on us as a safe pair of hands.
Importance of people
The second key ingredient for success in 2023, for Anglia and its customers, will be its people. Due to the commitment and dedication of its team, Anglia was able to grow during years which have brought not only the COVID pandemic, but also specific challenges in the semiconductor industry in which it operates. COVID has been a watershed in the expectations employees have of their employers. Work-life balance has always been important, but in an ever-tighter labour market, it has become essential that employers recognise this to attract the best and brightest.
Components in Electronics
Anglia employs nearly 150 people in its sales, technical support, operations and warehouse teams, of whom over 100 are based in Wisbech. Anglia has always been a caring employer, investing heavily in keeping its employees safe during the pandemic, with measures to increase social distancing including Perspex screens for those whose roles couldn’t be carried out from home. It has carefully considered how to not only recognise their achievement in growing the business in exceptional times, but also how to support them better in the future. The result is a series of measures to improve their work life balance. Time off is being increased: the business is now closing at 1pm on Friday and Anglia is increasing holiday allowances. Other new benefits now extended include a comprehensive health plan, with a range of benefits to assist with health and well-being needs for the employee and dependent children. Anglia is also offering company life insurance, additional flexible leave for important family events and the opportunity to access pay early in times of financial need.
Recognising that, even though publicity around the pandemic has subsided, the risk of infection from this and other conditions is still there, Anglia has left many of the measures taken to protect staff in place. These include silver ion door handles on all doors, door opening foot pulls, sanitising gel handles, sanitising keyboards and hand sanitisers at all entrances. Anglia also continues to provide air purifier machines which operate during the day, and they also release ozone at night.
Importance of innovation
Innovation will be a third ingredient for success in 2023. Whilst it’s something that everyone claims to do, not everyone does it successfully. The key is to look at what your customers need from you and make the changes, big or small, that will strengthen your relationship with them and help them.
Very few people, even in January 2020, saw the pandemic coming – but past innovations put Anglia and its customers in the best possible position to weather this and subsequent storms together. The Anglia Live e-commerce website was launched in 2013, the first to offer a comprehensive parametric search engine, live inventory, live pricing and online ordering for same day despatch with free of charge shipping. It has been continuously improved since and was a lifesaver for design engineers and purchasing teams seeking to navigate the
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