A lack of consistency from region to region can create a logistics nightmare, said Malcolm Penn, an analyst at Future Horizons, Kent, England. If a North American manufacturer wants to produce devices in the Far East, ideally distribution must have one common price and conditions, so suppliers and customers know exactly what to expect. However, distributors are getting better at supporting multinational customers, according to North. Many customers that design in the U.S. either build in Asia or Mexico, North said. Distribution has become very versatile, not only in the design center, but also in logistics with on-site warehouse capabilities and broad IT infrastructures.
Some distributors have a stronger and more far-reaching IT infrastructure than their customers.
Avnet Inc. last year rolled out 13 countries on SAP, an IT system that integrates worldwide operations and processes information in multiple languages and currencies. Midtier players are also getting into the act. Richard Electronics Inc.'s focus on RF and wireless recently took the distributor into Israel. All American Semiconductor, Jaco Electronics, and Nu Horizons Electronics are also crossing international boundaries. Similar to OEMs, suppliers search for low-cost manufacturing sites, but also look to leverage a region's engineering talent.