Helped by a strong global economy and a positive industry outlook, Mouser is continuing to expand its global footprint and is well on course to becoming a $2billion business.
According to Mark Burr-Lonnon, Mouser’s Senior Vice President of Global Service & EMEA and APAC Business, “We are continuing to see increasing demand worldwide which is being aided by a buoyant economy. Growth is ahead in every region and if we take Europe, for example, this year we have seen year-on-year growth up in Germany by 65 percent, in Italy by 58 percent, Spain up 67percent and in the UK and France ahead by 50 percent.
“On a global basis OEM sales are up 38 percent, the small to medium EMS sector is ahead 47 percent and MRO up 29 percent.”
Burr-Lonnon talks of the company being in a ‘very robust and fortunate position’.
“We expect our growth to continue, at least for the foreseeable future.”
Mouser continues to invest in technology and with over 600,000 customers worldwide, is able to identify trends and shifts in demand.
“We have invested heavily in inventory and now have over 700 lines in stock,” Burr-Lonnon explains. “Our website and how we manage our inventory is crucial, but in the past few years we no longer look to match ourselves against our direct competitors but have started looking at the likes of Amazon, when it comes to levels of service and the way it operates and delivers to its customers.”
Mouser now has over 2,230 employees globally with nearly 1,800 at its world headquarters and distribution centre in Mansfield, Texas.
Construction is under way to expand the company’s 610,000 square-foot distribution centre with an additional 125,000 square feet being added.
In May 2018 Mouser’s opened its first support centre in Canada which means it now has 23 support centres around the world.
Office expansions include new offices in Mexico, Shanghai and Bangkok as well as new offices across Europe.
“Mouser expects to open additional offices later this year in the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil and Poland,” said Burr-Lonnon.
Mouser now has more than 300 employees in its support centres, and that number continues to grow.
To further support its global business, Mouser.com now hosts 63 regional websites and also operates in 17 languages and 27 currencies. The majority of Mouser’s sales come via the web, and the majority of the online customers come from across EMEA and APAC.
In terms of products, Mouser has seen 53 percent jump in semiconductor orders, while passives are up by 59 percent and connectors are ahead 25 percent, but while these are impressive and aided by the company’s approach to inventory management, Burr-Lennon acknowledges that the increased trade tensions between the US and China could start to have an impact on the industry.
“The threat of further sanctions is concerning,” he concedes. “The connector industry, for example, where connectors are manufactured in China and then imported into the US are open to the 25 percent tariff. There has been less impact on semiconductors, because while the wafers may be produced in China most of the backend work is down elsewhere.
“It’s a huge issue for some and a growing number of businesses are looking to open new offices in Mexico or take ownership of product elsewhere in Asia. It’s an issue for a lot of people and is adding complexity to the trading relationship as well as to the price of components.”
According to Burr-Lonnon, Mouser has managed to avoid raising prices, at least in the short term, due to effective inventory management and buying significant amounts of components before the tariffs were enacted.
“Among distributors various approaches are being taken to address this challenge. Pressure is certainly growing and there is a feeling that ‘enough is enough’ but,” he conclude,”we’ll have to see what impact the US government’s trade policies will have on the industry over time.”
