Avnet
Encyclopedia
Avnet, Inc. is a technology Business-to-business
B2B distributor headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona
. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing magazine reports that Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500
company, may be the world's largest franchised distributor
of electronic components and subsystems. Avnet has 16 centers and locations in more than 34 countries.
, Europe
and Asia
.
Avnet provides technical services such as IC programming
, connector and cable assembly, and tape-and-reel and customized packaging.
Industry analysts say the key to Avnet's long-term success is its supply chain management
solutions, which include forecasting component demand, distribution management, Vendor Managed Inventory
(VMI) and Just in Time
delivery.
s of United States port cities. In the mid 1920's, when factory-made radios began to replace radio parts, Avnet adjusted his distribution pipeline and began selling parts to manufacturers and dealers. During the Great Depression, Avnet shifted the focus from retailing to wholesalers.
In the mid 1920's to the early 1930s, Avnet diversified by branching out into car radio kits and automobile assembly kits. In World War II Avnet made antennas for the U.S. armed forces. His son, Lester Avnet, joined the business at this time.
Avnet was incorporated
in 1955. In 1956 a second connector assembly plant was opened in 1956 near Los Angeles
for the aircraft industry. In 1959 the company went public on the American Stock Exchange
. In the mid 60's Avnet briefly owned several record labels including Liberty Records and Blue Note. Over the next ten years Avnet expanded with several acquisitions in the new fields of semiconductors, relays, and potentiometers.
The company relocated its corporate headquarters to Phoenix (from Great Neck, NY
) in 1998.
Charles Avnet's granddaughter, Cindi Avnet
, is the Director of Music Placement for the company MusicSupervisor.com.
Charles Avnet's grandson Jon Avnet
sold his shares in the family business to pursue a career in the movie industry, using those resources to produce the successful 1983 movie Risky Business
, which made Tom Cruise a star.
Competition
Supplier
IT exchange, Australia( 2011 ); Servodata HP Division, Czech Republic (2010); PT Datamation Purwana Utana and PT Mitra Bisinfo Utama, Indonesia (2010); Sunshine Joint Stock Company, Vietnam (2009); Vanda Group, China (2009); Avnet Technology Solutions Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Turkey (2009); Abacus Group Pic, Europe (2009); Nippon Denso Industry Co., Ltd., Japan (2008); Ontrack Solutions Pvt. Ltd., India (2008); Source Electronics Corporation, International (2008); Horizon Technology Group plc, UK, Ireland (2008); Azzurri Technology Ltd., Europe (2008); YEL Electronics Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong (2008); ChannelWorx, Australia (2007); Acal pic, Europe (2007); Betronik GmbH Division, Germany (2007); Magirus Enterprise Infrastructure Division, Europe (2007); Flint Distribution Ltd., United Kingdom (2007); Azure Technologies, Singapore (2007); Access Distribution, International (2006); ESCO Italiana, Italy (2006); Zeta Computer, Germany (2006); Printex Europe, Belgium, France, Italy (2006); Memec, International (2005); DNS Slovakia, Slovakia (2004); Gamma Optronik, Sweden (2002); Kent Electronics, North America (2001); Sunrise Technology Ltd., China (2001); RDT Technologies Ltd., Israel (2001); VEDA Electronics Distribution Group, Europe (2000); Savior Technology Group, Inc., North America (2000); SEI Nordstar, Netherlands (2000); Cosco Electronics/Jung Kwang, Korea (2000); PCD Italia S.r.I. and Matica S.p.A., Milan, Italy (1999); Marshall, El Monte, CA (1999); SEI Macro, Slough, Berkshire (1999); Integrand Solutions, Sydney, Australia (1999); Bridge International, São Paulo, Brazil (1999); JBA CSD, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey (1999); Gallium Electronics, Israel (1998); Max Electronics, India (1998); Optilas International SA, Pan-Europe (1998); Bytech Systems Ltd., UK (1998); CiNERGi Technology and Device Pte. Ltd., Singapore (1998); EXCEL-MAX Communications Pte. Ltd., Singapore (1997); ECR, Portland, OR (1997); KOPP Electronics Limited, South Africa (1996); Mercuries & Associates, Ltd., Taiwan (1995); Setron Schiffer-Elektronik GmbH & Co.KG, Germany (1995); VSI Electronics (New Zealand) Ltd. & VSI Electronics (Australia) Pty., Ltd., New Zealand, Australia (1995); Sertek, Inc., Newbury Park, CA, USA (1995); BFI-IBEXSA International, Inc., Pan-Europe (1995); CK Electronics, France (1995); WKK Semiconductors, Hong Kong (1995); Lyco Limited, Ireland (1995); Cable Assembly Operations of LaBarge, Flippin, AR (1994); Penstock, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (1994); DeMico, Italy (1994); Adelsey, Italy (1993); Hall-Mark, Dallas, TX (1993); E2000, Germany (1993); Nortec, Scandinavia (1992); FH Tec Components, France (1992); Access, United Kingdom (1991)
Business-to-business
Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...
B2B distributor headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing magazine reports that Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company, may be the world's largest franchised distributor
Distributor
A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order. The first reliable battery operated ignition was developed by Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. and introduced in the...
of electronic components and subsystems. Avnet has 16 centers and locations in more than 34 countries.
Avnet Electronics Marketing
Avnet Electronics Marketing is a technology industry based marketing, distribution and services company. It primarily sells electronic components from various manufacturers and provides engineering design-chain services.Avnet Technology Solutions
Avnet Technology Solutions handles complete systems and products. They primarily provide services for other companies who wish to purchase all of their technology and training from a single source.Avnet Logistics
Avnet Logistics employs more than 1,600 people and occupies approximately 1300000 square feet (120,774 m²) of warehousing space in 16 global locations, principally in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Avnet provides technical services such as IC programming
IC programming
I.C programming is the process of transferring a computer program into an integrated computer circuit. Older types of IC including PPOMs and EPROMs and some early programmable logic was typically programmed through parallel busses that used many of the device's pins and basically required...
, connector and cable assembly, and tape-and-reel and customized packaging.
Industry analysts say the key to Avnet's long-term success is its supply chain management
Supply chain management
Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...
solutions, which include forecasting component demand, distribution management, Vendor Managed Inventory
Vendor Managed Inventory
Vendor-managed inventory is a family of business models in which the buyer of a product provides certain information to a supplier of that product and the supplier takes full responsibility for maintaining an agreed inventory of the material, usually at the buyer's consumption location .A...
(VMI) and Just in Time
Just In Time
Just in time is a production strategy that strives to improve a business return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. Just-in-time production method is also called the Toyota Production System...
delivery.
History
In 1921, Charles Avnet, a 33 year old Russian immigrant, began buying surplus radio parts and selling them to the public on the Radio RowRadio Row
Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after mid century.-New York:...
s of United States port cities. In the mid 1920's, when factory-made radios began to replace radio parts, Avnet adjusted his distribution pipeline and began selling parts to manufacturers and dealers. During the Great Depression, Avnet shifted the focus from retailing to wholesalers.
In the mid 1920's to the early 1930s, Avnet diversified by branching out into car radio kits and automobile assembly kits. In World War II Avnet made antennas for the U.S. armed forces. His son, Lester Avnet, joined the business at this time.
Avnet was incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
in 1955. In 1956 a second connector assembly plant was opened in 1956 near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for the aircraft industry. In 1959 the company went public on the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
. In the mid 60's Avnet briefly owned several record labels including Liberty Records and Blue Note. Over the next ten years Avnet expanded with several acquisitions in the new fields of semiconductors, relays, and potentiometers.
The company relocated its corporate headquarters to Phoenix (from Great Neck, NY
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
) in 1998.
Origin of company name
The name Avnet is a family name that traces back to the company's founder Charles Avnet. His two sons (Lester and Robert) continued to run the family business business until 1970.Charles Avnet's granddaughter, Cindi Avnet
Cindi Avnet
Cindi Avnet is the granddaughter of Charles Avnet, founder of Avnet, Inc. The company, which her grandfather started and which her father later took over with her uncle,-Biography:...
, is the Director of Music Placement for the company MusicSupervisor.com.
Charles Avnet's grandson Jon Avnet
Jon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
sold his shares in the family business to pursue a career in the movie industry, using those resources to produce the successful 1983 movie Risky Business
Risky Business
Risky Business is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The hit film launched Cruise to stardom.-Plot:...
, which made Tom Cruise a star.
Offices
Avnet has locations in 34 countries. This list is incomplete.- PhoenixPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
(headquarters), [Center]
- BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
[Center] - San Antonio, [Center], 1000 square feet (92.9 m²) IBM Business Partner Innovation Center opened July 19, 2006. It's Avnet's only IBM Business Partner Innovation Center in North America, IBM has over 50 centers in the United States. The center will bring companies to San Antonio to see the latest in IBM technology and to test hardware and software. The center is the largest computer vendors/dealer in San Antonio.
Competition and clientele
Avnet has segments in several different industries. This list is incomplete.Competition
- Direct Competitors
-
- Arrow ElectronicsArrow ElectronicsArrow Electronics is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Inverness, Colorado. The company specializes in distribution and value added services relating to electronic components and computer products.-History:...
- Future Electronics
- Arrow Electronics
-
- Electronic Components Distribution
-
- Digi-KeyDigi-KeyDigi-Key is the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America and a broad-line distributor of board level components. It ranks as the 8th largest electronic component distributor in the world. Ronald Stordahl founded the company in 1972 and its name was derived from the digital...
- FarnellFarnellFarnell is a surname, thought to originate from "Fern Hill". It is most common to the English county of Yorkshire.It may refer to:* Anthony Farnell , English boxer.* James Farnell , Australian politician....
- Mouser
- Digi-Key
-
- Manufacturing Services
-
- Electronics manufacturing servicesElectronics manufacturing servicesElectronic manufacturing services is a term used for companies that design, test, manufacture, distribute, and provide return/repair services for electronic components and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers...
providers, such as FlextronicsFlextronicsFlextronics International Ltd. is an electronics manufacturing services provider that offers services to original equipment manufacturers . It also provides supporting supply chain services, including packaging and transportation throughout the world, as well as design and after-sales...
and SolectronSolectronSolectron Corporation was a global electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers . It pioneered the electronics manufacturing services industry in 1977 and was a leader in the field...
- Electronics manufacturing services
-
- Logistics Services
-
- Electronics Industry Data Exchange Group (EIDX)
- Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) such as UPSUnited Parcel ServiceUnited Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...
, Federal Express and DHLDHLDHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
-
Supplier
- Intel
- XilinxXilinxXilinx, Inc. is a supplier of programmable logic devices. It is known for inventing the field programmable gate array and as the first semiconductor company with a fabless manufacturing model....
, One of Avnet Logistics' major clients, developer and manufacturer of computer hardware chips. - Texas InstrumentsTexas InstrumentsTexas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
- Seoul SemiconductorSeoul SemiconductorSeoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd is a Korean company manufacturing LED devices. The company is listed on KOSDAQ.In November 2006 Seoul Semiconductors announced it would be the first company to start selling in quantities LED light sources that can be plugged directly into 110 V or 230 V AC...
A leading manufacturer of LEDLEdLEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
components
Acquisitions
Since Roy Vallee assumed the CEO post in 1998, the company has made more than 40 acquisitions. They are listed below:IT exchange, Australia( 2011 ); Servodata HP Division, Czech Republic (2010); PT Datamation Purwana Utana and PT Mitra Bisinfo Utama, Indonesia (2010); Sunshine Joint Stock Company, Vietnam (2009); Vanda Group, China (2009); Avnet Technology Solutions Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Turkey (2009); Abacus Group Pic, Europe (2009); Nippon Denso Industry Co., Ltd., Japan (2008); Ontrack Solutions Pvt. Ltd., India (2008); Source Electronics Corporation, International (2008); Horizon Technology Group plc, UK, Ireland (2008); Azzurri Technology Ltd., Europe (2008); YEL Electronics Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong (2008); ChannelWorx, Australia (2007); Acal pic, Europe (2007); Betronik GmbH Division, Germany (2007); Magirus Enterprise Infrastructure Division, Europe (2007); Flint Distribution Ltd., United Kingdom (2007); Azure Technologies, Singapore (2007); Access Distribution, International (2006); ESCO Italiana, Italy (2006); Zeta Computer, Germany (2006); Printex Europe, Belgium, France, Italy (2006); Memec, International (2005); DNS Slovakia, Slovakia (2004); Gamma Optronik, Sweden (2002); Kent Electronics, North America (2001); Sunrise Technology Ltd., China (2001); RDT Technologies Ltd., Israel (2001); VEDA Electronics Distribution Group, Europe (2000); Savior Technology Group, Inc., North America (2000); SEI Nordstar, Netherlands (2000); Cosco Electronics/Jung Kwang, Korea (2000); PCD Italia S.r.I. and Matica S.p.A., Milan, Italy (1999); Marshall, El Monte, CA (1999); SEI Macro, Slough, Berkshire (1999); Integrand Solutions, Sydney, Australia (1999); Bridge International, São Paulo, Brazil (1999); JBA CSD, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey (1999); Gallium Electronics, Israel (1998); Max Electronics, India (1998); Optilas International SA, Pan-Europe (1998); Bytech Systems Ltd., UK (1998); CiNERGi Technology and Device Pte. Ltd., Singapore (1998); EXCEL-MAX Communications Pte. Ltd., Singapore (1997); ECR, Portland, OR (1997); KOPP Electronics Limited, South Africa (1996); Mercuries & Associates, Ltd., Taiwan (1995); Setron Schiffer-Elektronik GmbH & Co.KG, Germany (1995); VSI Electronics (New Zealand) Ltd. & VSI Electronics (Australia) Pty., Ltd., New Zealand, Australia (1995); Sertek, Inc., Newbury Park, CA, USA (1995); BFI-IBEXSA International, Inc., Pan-Europe (1995); CK Electronics, France (1995); WKK Semiconductors, Hong Kong (1995); Lyco Limited, Ireland (1995); Cable Assembly Operations of LaBarge, Flippin, AR (1994); Penstock, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (1994); DeMico, Italy (1994); Adelsey, Italy (1993); Hall-Mark, Dallas, TX (1993); E2000, Germany (1993); Nortec, Scandinavia (1992); FH Tec Components, France (1992); Access, United Kingdom (1991)