Alpha Wire's bigger network

Electronics Times, March 13, 2000

US cable and cable solution specialist Alpha Wire plans to broaden its distribution network and introduce more products simultaneously through its direct sales force and its distributors.

The company already achieves about 80% of its European sales through distribution. It is about to launch an industrial range that will be capable of transmitting mains and data within the same cable, going to market with these products through the distribution network as well as its own salesmen handling large OEMs.

Harry Quinn, general manager of Alpha in the UK, also said that the company was looking for more international agreements to develop a European network currently based mostly on specialists.

The plan would mirror Alpha's set-up in the US where nationwide broadline and catalogue distributors sit alongside specialists.

Quinn maintained that his company would not be downgrading its commitment to specialist distributors as its network changes.

"With a line-up of 30,000 different types of cables and cable solutions for the industrial electronics sector, we need the kind of experience and market intelligence a specialist distributor can offer," he said.

Existing UK distributors include Active Electronics, Scotia, Genalog, Northern Components and Abacus Polar.

Northern Components - page XX