Avnet Supply Chain Services Extends Vendor Managed Inventory Offering to Suppliers; Services Leverage Avnet EM Global Footprint

Business Wire, Sept 17, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2002

Avnet Electronics Marketing's new Supply Chain Services business unit has expanded its vendor managed inventory (VMI) services offering to electronic component suppliers.

In announcing the expansion of its VMI program, Greg Frazier, executive vice president of Avnet Supply Chain Services said: "Component suppliers who operate globally are facing new challenges as the manufacturing of electronics shifts to a nomadic state. A supplier could transfer components to our logistics center near the point of manufacture, and let us handle global inventory balancing and planning for its customers.

"We could automatically deliver price and lead-time information, and consolidate the supplier's customer orders into a single global pipeline. We can perform these tasks in a more efficient and cost-effective manner."

Avnet EM has invested in state-of-the-art information technology, utilizing SAP's technology in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and has established global business relationships that now can be leveraged to the benefit of component suppliers.

"As original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their EMSI (contract manufacturers) providers expand their operations to reach the four corners of the globe, component suppliers are finding it increasingly difficult to provide the logistics and inventory support required," Frazier added.

"They must be able to get the right part to the right manufacturing facility at the right time, but now, that facility may not be known until the last minute -- and may be in any region of the globe. Many suppliers do not have the ability to provide this type of support to an array of customer just-in-time (JIT) models. Why should component suppliers invest in a redundant global infrastructure? Avnet EM has already paid those dues, and now will make those capabilities available to suppliers," said Frazier.

"We give the component supplier a proven warehousing and logistics solution that allows them to concentrate on design, engineering and sales."

Avnet Supply Chain Services offers these services to suppliers:

-- Information and order management.

-- Global inventory and logistics support.

-- Invoice/credit/collection and working capital management.

-- Export administration.

-- Global data consolidation and visibility.

-- Freight tracking.

Frazier continued, "We have deep domain expertise in global inventory and logistics support. Now suppliers can leverage Avnet Electronics Marketing's resources -- our information technology capabilities, our channel-to-market capabilities and our warehousing and financial process support."

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2002 sales of $8.9 billion, and one of the world's largest technology marketing and services companies.

Avnet Electronics Marketing distributes semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components from leading manufacturers. The company markets, inventories and adds value to these products and provides world-class, supply-chain management and engineering design services. Avnet EM serves customers in 63 countries. The company's Web site is located at www.avnet.com.