Avnet

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Avnet, Inc.
Type Public (NYSE: AVT)
Founded 1921, New York City
Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona
Key people Roy Vallee, Chairman & CEO
Raymond Sadowski, CFO
Rick Hamada, COO
Industry Technology distributor
Revenue ▲US $15.7 Billion (2007)
Net income ▲US $413 Million (2007)
Employees Aprox. 11,800
Website www.avnet.com

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) 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.[1][2][2]

Contents

[edit] Operating Groups

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[edit] Avnet Electronics Marketing

[edit] Avnet Technology Solutions

[edit] Avnet Logistics

Avnet Logistics employs more than 1,600 people and occupies approximately 1,300,000 square feet (121,000 m²) of warehousing space in 16 global locations, principally in North America, Europe and Asia.[1]

Avnet provides technical services such as IC programming, connector and cable assembly, and tape-and-reel and customized packaging.[1]

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.[1]

[edit] 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 Rows 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 depression Avnet shifted the focus from relating to wholesalers.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5] Over the next ten years Avnet expanded with several acquisitions in the new fields of semiconductors, relays, and potentiometers.[3]

[edit] 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.[6]

Charles Avnet's granddaughter, Cindi Avnet, is the Director of Music Placement for the company MusicSupervisor.com and is starting a music management company in 2008. She also formed a philanthropy group that throws music related charities for various non-profit organizations.

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. [7][8][9]

[edit] Offices

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Avnet has locations in 34 countries. This list is incomplete.[10] [11]

  • Belgium [Center] [12]
  • San Antonio, [Center], 1,000-square-foot (93 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.[13][14][15][16][17]

[edit] Competition and clientèle

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Avnet has segments in several different industries. This list is incomplete.

Competition

Direct Competitors
Electronic Components Distribution
Manufacturing Services
Logistics Services
  • Electronics Industry Data Exchange Group (EIDX)
  • Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) such as UPS, Federal Express and DHL[1]

Clientele

  • Xilinx, One of Avnet Logistics' major clients, developer and manufacturer of computer hardware chips.[18]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Greenberg, Barry (April 1 2007). "Avnet Logistics: Teaming up". Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. 
  2. ^ a b About Us: Avnet Takes the World's Leading Technologies to Market. Avnet. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. "2007 Rank # 172"
  3. ^ a b Charles Avnet and the Golden Age of Radio. Avnet. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  4. ^ Avent's History --Family beginnings. Avnet. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  5. ^ Liberty Records. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  6. ^ "Avnet Employer Info on CareerBuilder: About Us" . CareerBuilder. 
  7. ^ "Recognizing Avnet, Inc's History at the Celebration of its 50th Year Since Incorporation" (22 July 2005). Avnet, Inc.. 
  8. ^ "Avnet to celebrate 50th anniversary" (July 21, 2005). Business Journal of Phoenix. 
  9. ^ Larson, Jane (July 23 2005). "Avnet takes a look back: At 50, electronic parts firm celebrates its history". The Arizona Republic.  Discusses the Avnet Technology Museum
  10. ^ 50 Years of Making History, Chapter 5. Avnet. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. "16 distribution, programming and value-added centers globally"
  11. ^ 50 Years of Making History, Chapter 6. Avnet. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. "Avnet boasts 16 distribution, programming and value-add centers globally"
  12. ^ Contact Us. Avent. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. [Europe]
  13. ^ Business Partner Innovation Centers. IBM. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. List of centers around the United States.
  14. ^ Business Partner Innovation Centers: Avnet Technology Solutions. IBM. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. San Antonio office. The Avnet Technology Solutions' Business Partner Innovation Center (BPIC) facility shows several solutions for a number of industries, including many software systems. In addition the center will show services software on IBM hardware computers such as IBM System x, System i, System p, IBM eServer Linux and IBM BladeCenter blade servers.
  15. ^ Largest San Antonio Area Computer Vendors And Dealers. (San Antonio, Texas). San Antonio Business Journal (July 06 2001). Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
    "Vendors and Dealers: Ranked by number of local employees
    1. Avent Computer Marketing 1 400 $970 6550 N. Loop 1604 E., 7824 247-1000, 377-3796 (DND) avnet.com"
  16. ^ "Avnet Technology Solutions Launches IBM Business Partner Innovation Center; Customer-centric Showcase Provides Opportunity to Test, Design and Evaluate Complete Hardware and Software Solutions" (July 18 2006). Business Wire.  "Avnet's Business Partner Innovation Center, which builds upon the success of its existing WebSphere Innovation Center, will showcase a wide range of IBM software and hardware platforms available to partners."
  17. ^ "Briefs:S.A. center showcases IBM products, services" (July 19 2006). San Antonio Express-News: 02E.  "Avnet Technology Solutions has 350 employees in a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m²)-building at 6550 Loop 1604 in San Antonio. It is an operating group of Avnet Inc."
  18. ^ Greenberg, "One of Avnet Logistics' major clients is Xilinx Inc...which has a long-established standard distributor partnership with Avnet but recently found itself in need of help to support a direct model."

[edit] External links

[edit] Company links

[edit] Other sites

Coordinates: 33°25′39″N, 111°58′47″W