“We’re working to build the electronics business,” he said, “but need to implement such things as batch traceability.” Two ‘hidden gems’ will help RS on its way, Ruth contended. “Design Spark and the private label business we have just refocused.”
Ruth cannot be accused of having low ambitions. “At the moment, 30% of our revenues are from electronics, but I believe we can get to the revenue levels of Digi-Key by adding the best franchises, more lines and more availability. We also need a better semiconductor presence in the US.” He added that, in his opinion, Mouser was currently the best performer in the high service sector
Alluding to cultural issues, Ruth pointed out that RS ‘needs to capture the minds of engineers and buyers’. “In the next couple of years, we need to excel at the basics.”
One of the immediate tasks is to improve its customer service. “They aren’t always finding what they want,” he admitted. “We need response times on the RS website to be less than 2s, we need to improve product management and we need to manage the range effectively.
“Distribution isn’t complicated,” he concluded.
