| ??? 07/21/08 15:07 Read: times |
#156908 - It's not as much better in the U.S. as you think! Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Ap Charles said:
Lynn Reed said:
I have been working on problems with international sales, and have a few questions about the ideas presented by AP Charles: 1. What is wrong with distribution? Ap Charles did not like Arrow. Is the price too high? Are the parts not in stock? Are the minimum volumes too high? All of the above? >What is wrong with distribution? You can't change the attitude of the local people. People in the U.S, Canada, Europe are well-behaved and are known for their prompt customer support. I'm not convinced that it's any better in the U.S. than what you describe. I've traveled widely throughout the world and find that people in the U.S. are the least-well-behaved people I've ever encountered. That, in itself, is not an indictment, but since U.S. society is the least homogeneous I've encountered, it's no wonder that behaviors are widely divergent and unpredictable, not to mention difficult-to-comprehend. After providing the PI and once your check is with Arrowasia you are then at their mercy. Arrowasia in particular requires one to plead them for their products. Moreover, they mostly try to source obsolete/EOL products from companies which don't have websites in English or have non-updated sites. They very cleverly provide the EOL datasheets and convince customer with no problems for the future.
The Arrowasia customer support is like a hell which keeps forwarding work to other people. It looks like they neither have any management policy for the product they represent nor do they care about customers' time. That's a common syndrome here in the U.S, too. If your problem is easy to solve, i.e. if it can be handled within 5 minutes or less, it is handled. If not ... well ... it is pawned off on someone else, who pawns it off on someone else, particularly if it represents an order costing less than $100K, and ultimately is "lost." I would vote for buying products directly from the Manufacturers/Distributors online, the "gotcha" is that Arrowasia is the distributor. no problems till date with RS components and Farnell, though the prices are on the higher side also Digikey and Mouser look impressive. I would avoid middlemen like Arrow, etc.
If someone look at our email/phone bill records with Arrowasia , how they took 3 months to source OEM modules to us, you will never like to deal with them. I would stop here though my list is endless :). -Ap I don't know how it is in Asia, but the problem here in the U.S. is that salespeople employed by distributors often are compensated on a commission basis. If they have a big customer, one that uses 10k units per order, then the small order, of perhaps, 100 units per month, is insignificant, even though the big customer may only order from them once every five years, as he's smart enough to have "other options" and places orders on the basis of considerations other than price alone. The sales agents at distributors here in the U.S, such as Arrow or Avnet, don't care a bit whether your company goes out of business waiting for components. They're apparently compensated on components ordered, not on components delivered. If you combine the cost of components, delay, aspirin, prune-juice, and psychotherapy, you may find that ordering through the mail, even with increased shipping costs, is less costly than using the distributor network. You'll have to figure out how to deal with your customs people, of course. I suspect that will be a hurdle for you, too. RE |
