2009/2010 - The Industry Review and Preview - Alan Jermyn, Avnet Abacus

Top industry executives set aside their holiday shopping when the Disti Blog questions landed on their desks so we can all learn about their views on just how bad it was in 2009 and whether there are any portents for fairer climes in 2010. I'll keep these on top of the posts right through the holiday until the New Year so you can dip in and out if you don't fancy reading them all in one go.

 

Alan Jermyn, Vice President Marketing, Avnet Abacus

 

 

 

 

 

Review 2009 for us. As awful as it looked or not as bad as painted?

People’s perceptions are different, but extremely difficult is the phrase I would use – especially for the first six months of the year. Almost everyone has been affected, and has streamlined their businesses accordingly, though there has been relatively little consolidation. As the market recovers and company valuations rise, however, we may see some of the many owner managed distribution businesses in Europe seek an exit.

 

How do you view prospects for 2010? Do you foresee any hurdles to the potential growth next year e.g. a double dip recession, lengthening lead times?

Inevitably, when resources are streamlined, there can be an impact on service and support levels. Suppliers now have less resource available to support customers and distributors in the region – so both customers and suppliers are relying on distributors to fill the gap. Some distributors have had to cut their own teams and stocks back to a point where they are unable to do this – which will be a hurdle to their growth. Well structured and financially strong organisations are in a position to capitalise. 

 

What will make 2010 exciting for your company?

Avnet Abacus has one of the strongest support teams in Europe for passive, interconnect, emech and power products, and is thus in a very strong position to develop relationships with new customers that were previously serviced direct, and to capture share in the market as a whole. Our technical team available to work with customers across Europe sits at 55 people working from 45 sales offices across 19 countries, and is backed by office based product managers who can provide additional support. This operation can not only respond to customers design challenges and issues, but proactively take new products and technologies to the customer, creating a market for innovations in the same way as a direct sales force would have done. 

 

What would make life easier in 2010?

Without a doubt a sustained and joined up program to maintain Europe’s technology manufacturing and R&D base. Worldwide concern for the environment and carbon emissions creates new markets and encourages manufacturing closer to the point of use. Europe is a world leader in thinking about energy conservation and renewable technologies, as well as in recycling of materials and components, creating new opportunities to develop manufacturing as well as service businesses.