Crest of a wave

The design cycle moves at such a dizzying pace that, nowadays – and depending on the size of the customer – the sales engineer’s traditional ‘once a month’ phone call may miss a design in opportunity. Distributors are being forced to brave the breakers of rapid product evolution to provide greater levels of technical support through a variety of different channels in order to move with the ebb and flow of the customer’s requirements. Indeed, the role of the distributor has undergone a transformation from simply being a fulfilment orientated components provider. It’s now equally important – particularly in attracting leading franchises – that the distributor demonstrates an ability to create demand for components through design activities, something with which broadline distributors have always struggled.