Rodin's goal: 'A happy customer.'

Electronic News, Feb 16, 1998 by Ann Steffora

El Monte, Calif.--It sounds like a cliche but Rob Rodin is absolutely serious when he says that at Marshall Industries people and technology work in harmony to provide customer solutions.

That strategy has allowed Marshall Industries to grow from $130 million in 1983 when Mr. Rodin joined the company, to a projected $2 billion in 1998.

Last week, Marshall unveiled a $7.2 million investment in Serial System Ltd., a Singapore-based electronic component distributor. Serial System is one of the largest distributors of electronic component products in the Asia-Pacific region, and has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and China. This transaction also makes Serial System part of Marshall's Global Connection program, expanding Marshall's reach around the world.

This investment complements Marshall's 16 percent equity position in SEI (Sonepar Electronique International), a Paris-based electronics distributor with coverage in 24 countries, along with a number of alliances.

"We feel strongly that there are parochial requirements around the world, and the joint ventures help to address the needs in those areas, as well as fuel the entrepreneurial spirit in native markets," the Marshall president/CEO explains.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rodin appears to be taking in stride the new competitive situation which finds Marshall facing off against new distribution sources of Far East IC lines. In terms of competing with Arrow and Avnet since both now carry Japanese lines, which Marshall has traditionally done, Mr. Rodin says he doesn't think in terms of that. "I'm thinking about every customer and constantly striving to be more competitive because their (end)customer wants every thing free, perfect and now," he explains. A higher concern is solving issues such as managing a global supply chain, compressed product cycles and inventory, he adds.

How does this latest Serial System investment fit with Marshall's overall strategy?

Mr. Rodin says the proliferation of bandwidth, global and supply chain management requires Marshall to have relationships around the world.

"We have a design we call the 'Global Connection' which serves as the format for all joint ventures and partnerships that Marshall establishes around the world. The connection deals at one level with physical computer connectivity which includes a mainframe connection, electronic data interchange (EDI) and client/server links like the Internet, Intranet, Extranet, and Lotus Notes ---all of which are Year 2000 compliant. All companies Marshall has joint ventures with are equipped with the same technology backbone.

"As we build relationships, it is a common vision and strategy that everyone agrees on--from the logo of the company to the mission, which is to serve the business partners by adding value with a commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and mutual satisfaction," Mr. Rodin says.

Support In 36 Countries

"We feel it is significant to have the support of suppliers in 36 countries--that they agree on language, vision, strategy, data organization and IT relationships. The net effect is seamless communication and support for global supply chain customers.

How does Marshall bring its strategy together? With the help of a computer program called MACRO--Marshall's agreement to coordinate resources and organizations--which has been in place for 18 months. The MACRO system includes an Intranet, data warehouse and an inference engine and it links companies outside the system with customers, suppliers and contract assemblers. The system is capable of coordinating workflow, processing change orders and tracking backlog, among other functions.

Another key technology enabler is sales force automation tools, which Marshall has had in place for three years now. Each sales person is equipped with a laptop with Lotus Notes and has a connection back to the company mainframe.

Another piece to Marshall strategy, which Mr. Rodin sees as a differentiator is intimate customized delivery for each customer from each supplier because, each has its idiosyncratic needs. Mr. Rodin explains that because Marshall IT infrastructure is built in a relational fashion, solutions can be customized, i.e. engineers can pull data sheets off the web, use net seminar, negotiate purchase orders in another city, and have the product auto-replenished in another city.

From a management point of view, when examining traditional organizational structures, they tend to be two-dimensional and use 'Management by Objectives' to make their bosses happy. Marshall approaches things a little differently. "Our design is not to make the boss happy so much as to make the customer and supplier happy. We believe you can't do that without technology and people. If those two things don't work together, it can't happen. We decided to run the company 24 hours a day. Orders can be taken around the clock. The net effect is that a customer has a human answering their question any time day or night," Mr. Rodin says.

Mr. Rodin concludes, "if service is your business, you can't say something isn't my territory and that is the strategy that ends up being a differentiator."