Indian Market Contributed Towards a Growth of $2 Billion (US) Globally Over the Last Two Years

Our India operations have been an important contributor to our growth over the last two years — we’ve grown by more than $2 billion (US) globally noted Mark Burr-Lonnon, Senior Vice President of Global Service & EMEA and APAC Business for Mouser Electronics. In this exclusive Interview with Niloy from BISinfotech, Mark talks about how they’ve been helping customers to reduce time-to-market, expansion plans, and service-front strategies and vitally underlines the current pulse of the electronic components distribution market. Much more interesting insights in the edited excerpts below.

Moving ahead in 2023, what will be Mouser Electronics’ core value proposition to help customers reduce their time-to-market?

As a top 10 authorized global distributor for more than 1,200 manufacturer brands, we carry the widest selection of semiconductors and electronic components, with more than one million parts available to sell in inventory. Our primary commitments are towards new products and authorized assurance, with the fastest and easiest access to the widest selection of product lines from which to choose.

Our state-of-the-art warehouse typically can ship products, sealed and labelled, within 15 minutes of receiving an order. We can process up to 14 orders per minute, using our advanced automation technologies for storage, stacking, picking, and sealing of shipments. We have 138 Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs), the largest installation of any company globally.

Additionally, we have installed an Auto Store which deploys robots for picking parts. We are fully pledged to speeding time-to-market for our buyers, no matter how big or small, and we are currently expanding our Distribution Operations.

We have begun a multi-million dollar expansion at our Global Headquarters and Distribution Center in Texas, doubling our capabilities and enabling our inventory to increase over the next 24 months. This major expansion should be complete in 2024. The addition will encompass over one million sqft (93.000 m²) with the inclusion of three mezzanines. A bridge with a conveyor belt will connect the two distribution buildings together for seamless integration.

We also extend comprehensive support to the design engineer and buyer in helping to plan supply schedules, and regularly updating customers on expected delivery timetables. When customers register for stock notifications, they are informed of a part’s availability in real-time. We regularly collaborate with our manufacturer partners to furnish the newest technologies for the design engineer.

How is Mouser Electronics helping engineers and buyers with a high level of service throughout the design and buying process? Also, how is the electronic components giant enabling customers to innovate and build better solutions?

With our strong focus on the design engineer, we want to simplify the buying process for complex design requirements. Mouser offers numerous online tools and resources to streamline purchasing extensive part lists.

FORTE is our Intelligent BOM Tool. It maps customers’ requirements to the best available current alternatives. The tool can inform on relevance and outdated part numbers and help customers understand the confidence and risk of each part they want to order. FORTE also allows extensive customization and remembers users’ preferences and previous product orders. It will enable engineers and buyers to create the most appropriate BOM with absolute confidence.

Our website Mouser.com also offers order automation resources, a Price and Availability Assistant, and search tools and guides for buyers and engineers. Our Technical Resource Center hosts an ECAD Design Library, conversion calculators, and a vast collection of product data sheets, block diagrams and other technical content to help speed customers’ designs and assist with the product selection and design process.

Besides the wealth of information and tools to improve order accuracy, Mouser’s online Help Center is a hub for customer support resources and frequently asked questions, and we continue to expand our offerings to help engineers innovate and build better solutions.

Do you believe there is still supply chain instability? If so, what are Mouser Electronics’ strategies to keep the Inventory position upfront?

The supply chain has been stabilizing over the last year. Nevertheless, market challenges have always pushed us to do better. For us, inventory is the most important factor in ensuring regular supplies of critical components. Through the period of shortages, buyers could rely on us because we offer the widest selection of products from more than 1,200 manufacturer brands worldwide and can provide alternatives if needed.

Over the past two years, our inventory levels have grown, with over 1.8 billion (US) dollars of inventory on the shelves. We are in a strong position to cater to our customers with over one million parts available to sell. We have broadened our line card by adding more than 170 new manufacturers in the last two years. Our on-time delivery has also constantly improved over the same period. In 2022, we launched more than 53,000 new part numbers, with roughly 12,000 in the fourth quarter alone. We added 59 new manufacturers, including 24 embedded manufacturer brands in 2022, significantly expanding product choices for design engineers and purchasing professionals.

Our customers can rely on us to always deliver 100% certified, genuine products that can be fully traced to our manufacturer partners. Our unique business model and focus on supply assurance make us a one-stop shop for board-level components and associated development tools necessary for end-to-end project design.

What is the current pulse of the market and how is Mouser Electronics ramping up with the changing market behaviour?

Undoubtedly, we have seen logistics instabilities and recessive trends. But the supply chains are steadily improving, and we have noticed strong trends that are increasing demand. We anticipate steady growth in the key areas of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, robotics, and electric vehicles (EVs).

Demand for components across industrial, automotive, health applications, communications, and data-driven sectors will accelerate consumption and demand for semiconductors and electronic parts. While some industry forecasts have predicted a levelling out of the market after the steep growth in recent years. In 2022, Mouser’s revenue grew by 25% globally; 30% in EMEA; 18% in APAC; and the Americas by 25%. We expect about 5 to 10% revenue growth in 2023. Australia is a mature market driven by B2B demand and India presents a host of opportunities with its burgeoning demand in all sectors, from industry to agriculture to healthcare.

Our focus will therefore be to keep advancing our best-in-class customer service globally. We have in place more than 20 Customer Service Centers across EMEA and APAC regions, employing hundreds of staff members. We are expanding our customer service profile in India, with a new branch in Pune. This is in addition to our current staff strength of more than 850 team members located in Bangalore, India.

We will continue to augment our distribution operations and broaden our line card through product portfolio additions and ensure that we are able to reach out to our customer base of more than 650,000 customers worldwide with the widest selection of new products.

Where is the current demand shifting, in other words, the emerging sectors and applications that are becoming ‘Chip Hungry’?

Globally, indications are that the AI revolution and allied data technologies will bring remarkable changes to the way we work and live. Consumer electronics, wearables, computing applications and IoT will also drive much of the growth in demand. Industry research suggests that transportation, especially EV, along with communications, medical and smart agriculture will create strong demand growth for chips over the next decade. The global purchases of automobiles have been steadily rising since 2010. Electric vehicles are also more ‘chip-dependant’ and need more components for their control electronics. Aerospace and defence are two other sectors that will continue to drive demand.

Mouser Electronics has now expanded to Pune, Maharashtra. The city is known as the ‘Detroit of India’ with major automotive manufacturing units. What has made Mouser establish itself in Pune?

Pune has developed as a major industrial hub with many premier automotive, engineering, and electronics companies now operating from the region. Strong infrastructure, ample industrial resources and abundant skilled manpower has attracted some of the biggest companies to start operations here. This provides us with a tremendous opportunity to tap into the growth that has been happening here over the last two decades.

When we looked at the research, we found that we have had great success in serving customers in South India, but were looking to extend our service to other areas of India. We are putting in an adequate number of people, both for front-end, as well as for back-end operations at our new Pune office. We expect that customers from Western India are more likely to use Pune as a base, and also that our team can better serve their needs.

Lastly, what key strategies/announcements are expected from Mouser Electronics for the Indian market in 2023?

The launch of the office in Pune was a key factor in enhancing our operations in the region. We are very confident of our Customer Service team in Pune, which we believe will be able to augment our services. Our India operations have been an important contributor to our growth over the last two years — we’ve grown by more than $2 billion (US) globally. When a business grows at that rate, there are significant strains on the system, which we wouldn’t want to impact our customers. This has been possible with the assistance of the excellent team we have in India. We will continue to hire talent who can help our business grow, and we are also working on other improvements for our customers in India. Stay tuned!