Improve the competitiveness of electronic components supply chain

If you simply look at the supply chain, the presence of component distributors seems to increase unnecessary supply links and costs, and the original linear supply chain becomes a curve. However, if we really go into this industry and study it, we will find that this is not the case. The role of the component distributor in the supply chain is to extend and connect the device manufacturer's services and products to the client. The real needs of the entire machine manufacturer bring the component manufacturers to the front and close the originally broken chain. As distributors, the role played in this supply chain is mainly reflected in the following three areas: core products - value-added service capabilities, core technologies - technical support capabilities, and core capabilities - customer-mining capabilities. In order to achieve the above three requirements, as a distributor can be improved in the following areas:

Improving market sales capacity and making use of mobile and flexible advantages From the beginning of its emergence, distributors have the vitality to have market sales capabilities that are difficult for manufacturers to replace. Therefore, regardless of how the market will develop in the future, this will be the basis for the middlemen and the basis for survival. Distributors can only be invincible forever if they continue to use their sales and channel advantages. There are many ways to increase sales capacity, such as designing a reasonable work flow, strengthening employee skills training, expanding sales territory, and concentrating on capital advantages.

In terms of flexibility, distributors have the advantage that manufacturers cannot possibly have. Distributors directly face the market and only pay attention to some aspects of the market circulation. The company's scale is smaller than that of manufacturers, and its response to the market is faster and more flexible than that of manufacturers. In this regard, distributors still have much room for improvement.

To improve the supply capacity, multi-product line agency distributors represent a number of product lines. The most obvious benefit is that “the east is not bright in the west” and you can get rid of the dependence on a certain manufacturer. Secondly, due to the linkage effect, if distributors' product lines are complementary, they can improve the work efficiency of distributors. At the same time, in the negotiations with buyers, because of more agent product lines, it is easier to get the trust and favor of customers, and it is easy to occupy a favorable position in business negotiations. Finally, it is also good for buyers. Buyers are often willing to face fewer suppliers in order to solve the problem of coordination costs when purchasing, because this will save them time.

Strengthen technical strength and provide overall solutions Distributors are only a kind of channel resources. When such resources are no longer monopolistic, it is imperative that distributors improve their own competitive advantages and build their own core competitiveness. The simple "buying and selling", without any technical content, such business will become increasingly fierce in the future market competition, it will be more and more difficult to do. As an electronic device industry, manufacturers are concerned with the provision of an overall solution. In fact, distributors can fully follow suit, and such imitation is often recognized and supported by manufacturers. By strengthening the technical force of distributors and taking the path of combining “trade” and “design schemes”, distributors will have a competitive advantage that others cannot replicate, and at the same time, they can also increase operating profit and stabilize customers.

The survey found that 90% of distributors are providing various types of technical services, and 63% of distributors expect that technical support will become the most popular value-added service required by Chinese buyers in the next 12 months. To cope with this demand, various types of distributors began to vigorously strengthen their technical service capabilities, from the configuration of professional field engineers FAE to the establishment and investment of design centers, all increased from last year. According to the survey data, the proportion of FAE in the employees of distributor companies rose to 23.5%, and the average working experience was 4 years. Moreover, distributors have become more professional in the recruitment and training of FAE.

Not only is it invested in FAE resources, some distributors have even recruited a large number of professional R&D engineers to support the design of R&D programs to meet customer needs.

Making full use of the potential of the Internet Although surveys show that 55% of distributors have their own websites, there are very few distributors using the Internet to provide deeper services in the Chinese market. International distributors are no exception. Even if they are able to provide more advanced online services in the United States, there is not much difference between them and other distributors in China.

Currently, the services provided by distributors on the Internet are mainly basic services such as company and product promotion, information exchange, sample application forms, and Q&A. And the use of the Internet by distributors to conduct business with device suppliers is mainly an exchange of information. For example, after distributors register on the intranet of component suppliers, they can see some preliminary product data books and undisclosed product development. Plans and some confidential technical documents. Under normal circumstances, authorized distributors can see some unpublished information three months ahead of schedule, and no further information can be obtained. There are few online purchases.

Providing other value-added services In addition to providing services for the shortage of spare parts and excess inventory, distributors can also invest in more value-added services. For example, with the real-time grasp and analysis capabilities of the spot market, some distributors began to provide OEM/EMS companies with component market supply dynamics and price information analysis.

In terms of inventory services, distributors also launched some new service projects. Kitting service is also a value-added service provided by distributors. There are many small and medium-sized customers who are relatively weak in the procurement of resources and capabilities, and the procurement volume is not very large. The distributors will help them to complete the procurement of packages. According to the customer's AVL list, it negotiates with several suppliers to manage supplier resources and delivery cycle. From this perspective, distributors have gone beyond their own service areas and involved in the procurement of futures. Of course, such services provided by distributors are still limited to procurement of components with high versatility, such as non-mainstream devices and resistors and capacitors.