The pile of catalogues on engineers desks in Europe just got another tier. Mouser from Mansfield (that's Texas, not Notts) has arrived to challenge Farnell, Digi-Key and RS Components.
To compete against these juggernauts Mouser touts its USP which is to be known as the company with the most rapid introduction of the newest products. This is achieved, says Mouser, by trumping its rivals and publishing a quarterly catalogue. It will continue the habit in Europe, not least, says Mark Burr-Lonnon(pictured), Mouser's vice president of sales for EMEA, because it drives readers to the company's web site, where he says they will find over a million products and be able to find daily new product updates.
Mouser's European adventure began in Israel, and before any pedants write in about Israel's geographic location, their football teams play in the European Champions League which is good enough for me. As Burr-Lonnon indicates, Israel with its fine technology base is not the worst place to start. Next up is Germany where Mouser has tucked its team alongside sister company TTI. Burr-Lonnon will then target the other major European market arriving in the UK in the first quarter of 2009 and targeting a French operation by the third quarter. These will be sales support offices. There are no plans as yet to stock inventory in Europe. So Mouser will follow the Digi-Key model and ship from the US. Mouser's Mansfield, Texas HQ is just down the road from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport so Burr-Lonnon sees no great logistics hurdles. In fact he claims Mouser research showed it can deliver to European customers as fast as any of its rivals, even those based in Europe.
Investment is not a big headache at Mouser. The company is owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Group. Buffet to his credit plays for the long term with his acquisitions. Mouser is now on the hunt to sign up new suppliers. Rich in passive component and electro-mechanical components suppliers, Burr-Lonnon says the company is now strengthening its semiconductor line-up. It has added Cypress Semiconductor, Atmel, NXP and Infineon, along with other chip makers in the past 12 months.
It now has 366 suppliers and Burr-Lonnon expects about 10 more signings before year end.
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