Embedded Distribution
Meeting the demand
Meeting the embedded distribution demands of 2007-8
Written by Ashley Shone, Product Manager, Wordsworth Technology the embedded distribution market is changing dramatically, partly owed to new product innovation and technology developments. More and more companies are developing multimedia, POS and digital signage products based upon ‘off the shelf’ embedded boards and operating systems.
As a result, the market size has expanded and diversified, driving increased sales.This presents enormous possibilities to buyers, leading to reduced costs and enabling a fast turnaround from product into application. These same possibilities represent challenges, from hardware, software and commercial perspectives, to an embedded distributor that has to deliver these cost and timeliness benefits while simultaneously meeting far greater demands for customisation.
Online and email ordering in addition to telephone and traditional methods, rapid information exchange, readily available advice, access to product details - with and without personally contacting an expert - these are all desirable from a buyer’s perspective.
The way Wordsworth Technology sells embedded products has changed dramatically over the last 12-18 months, an experience we know is common across the whole electronics distribution market. The industrial market is finally moving away from thick product catalogues, although these may remain in use for some product lines and a few customers, markets and regions for a few years yet.
Similarly, the line cards of previous years are gradually giving way as trends of eCommerce, similar to that of the consumer market, start emerging. One possible ‘casualty’ of these trends may be a loss of the personal contact that buyers have enjoyed with their distributors and suppliers. No changes can take place, though, at the cost of a degraded buyer-seller relationship; dissatisfied customers will look elsewhere for their supplies. A recent project is a good example of how an embedded supplier like Wordsworth can advance the development of a product and decrease its time to market. SEOS needed a specialised embedded board and OS. Instead of developing this itself, as it may have done in the past, the company came to Wordsworth for a full solution to its product specification.
This demonstrates that some companies will increasingly choose suppliers that remove their need to develop the board or component alone. Embedded distributors that offer a full service and can act as if part of the customer’s or innovator’s development team to augment its expertise will still have an important role.
In a market place as specialised as embedded, e-methods are unlikely ever to displace the need for a ‘personal’ element; however, as more and more engineers seek a fast, easy, reliable service from start to finish, online-enabled distribution is one channel to achieve this.
The suppliers that can offer a complete and effective E-Solution will doubtless be the most successful. As noted earlier, market and sales growth is one of the drivers. By way of example, Wordsworth sales have jumped by 50% in less than 12 months and a similar rate of growth is predicted for the next 12. Yet while selling product faster than ever, it is being sold at ever keener prices.
The business model, and therefore the sales channel, must evolve to meet this. Customers want easier, faster and sometimes 24/7 purchasing, not just for lower priced, standard products but also for semi-custom and customised variants. In these circumstances, personal customer to supplier contact becomes unprofitable and unjustified for both supplier and buyer. Satisfying this demand will be the key to online embedded distribution.
Wordsworth Technology aims to be at the forefront of these changes, offering a full range of services that include design and engineering of ‘chassis’ and custom operating systems through to advice on the correct hardware choice. To answer this demand, Wordsworth is currently re-developing its website into a new eCommerce solution allowing customers not only to purchase but fully configure their systems online.
Wordsworth believes this service will be a leader in the industrial market, partly because of this customisation/configurability opportunity and partly for its increased level of customer support.
The personal element will be a vital component in this, providing online access to customer support and product expertise, including, for example, ‘live’ chat, online order progression, RMA requests and tracking.
What embedded distributors should be aiming for is to become a one-stop shop. For example, Wordsworth will soon increase its product ranges, firstly by adding ruggedised notebooks and other standard products marketed by sister company, Steatite. These will be available via both usual and online ordering services.
To deal with this new business model Wordsworth will also develop its team. Currently, there are specialised product and support staff dedicated
to particular product types and less knowledgeable customer and order processing staff. This will evolve into a model where all staff is capable of dealing with all products and customers across the entire range. The largest and highest value customers will still demand, and be given, personal contact with application and industry experts.
All these changes need to develop gradually as staff training and website development (and testing) allow so that the customer benefits are immediate and visible. The potential downsides to a headlong rush into online distribution are loss of perceived quality of service and product, evidenced by errors in delivery and unavailability of appropriate, expert advice and information when needed.
It will be vital for embedded distributors to evolve into efficient, online distributors without degrading their current service levels and customer satisfaction and with the objective of improving it while keeping under control their cost of supply.
Press Contact: James Munger - Group Marketing Manager - Marketing@steatite.co.uk
| For our Latest News Follow Us on: |  |
- |
 |
Google+ | - |
 |
- |
 |
We are here to help and to make it as easy as possible for you to contact us, whatever your questions.
Why not contact Wordsworth for a free on-site meeting to discuss your requirements in more detail?
Call us on 01527 512400 or Email us at sales@wordsworth.co.uk.
We will always aim to provide you with a prompt response to any questions you may have.
