The European component distribution market has a new powerhouse.
Avnet Abacus, officially launched today, will focus on interconnect, passives, electromechanical components, power supplies and batteries. It effectively replaces the Avnet Time brand. Graham McBeth (pictured below), formerly managing director of the Abacus Group becomes president of Avnet Abacus, reporting to Patrick Zammit, president of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA. Michael Danylow, president of Avnet Time Europe has left the company.
The new company has emerged following the acquisition of Abacus Group by Avnet in January this year. McBeth says the model will be pan-European with a strong local focus.
Abacus has brought a strong interconnect, passives and electromechanical (IP&E) business into Avnet.
"IP&E represented 60 per cent of Abacus' business," says McBeth. "And while Avnet operated at the top of the distribution pyramid, Abacus was down the pyramid focusing on the SME sector. Our customer base was a big appeal for Avnet. We bring 12,500 customers and Avnet has 8,000. There will be overlap, but we will bringing new customers and business to the new company."
McBeth enthuses about what he describes as a "big opportunity." A European DTAM (Distributors Total Available Market) of 3.5m Euro, and that is taking into account the present downturn, is up for grabs. At present Avnet lags behind Arrow on a pan-European basis, but does have the number one slots in the' UK and Eire and France.
McBeth anticipates taking more from the enormous 1.6bn Euro share commandeered by the flotilla of IP&E niche specialists in Europe.
He will be bringing big engineering guns to bear on this target. "We will be a technology driven company packed with engineers," he stresses. The company boasts 56 product specialists in Europe backed by technically qualified field and internal sales personnel. "Customers need more help with finding the right parts for the board. Our aim is to help design in the right technology in a cost-effective solution."
He heads a strong team. Alan Jermyn becomes vice president of marketing for Avnet Abacus. He was most recently managing director of Abacus ECD. Nigel Ward, previously sales director of Abacus ECD joins the business as UK country sales manager, and will include the formezr Abacus semiconductor market as part of his responsibilities. McBeth says the model will be pan-European with a strong local focus, so regions and specific countries will have their own manager and team.
Inventory will mostly be consolidated to a specialist European IP&E Distribution Centre in Longeren, Belgium, backed by a smaller proximity warehouse in the UK. There will be 189 suppliers in the new company's portfolio.
Alan Jermyn (pictured left) sees a bigger role for distributors in the IP&E market.
"As manufacturers consolidate, the expectations for the distribution sector grow," he explains. "Inevitably there have been lay-offs in the manufacturing centre. It means we have the opportunity to provide further technical support to customers on the suppliers' behalf."
McBeth confirms this analysis. The European IP&E DTAM has edged up to close to 29 per cent. With the supplier consolidation as well as big opportunities in emerging markets such as renewable energy and lighting, McBeth reckons there are big benefits to be won from the potential DTAM growth.
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