XP Power, Avnet Abacus progress channel agreement
Last autumn XP Power made a strategic decision on its EMEA distribution network. It recognised the need to enter into an agreement with a broadline specialist distributor.
“We had too many customers and it was difficult to service them all,” says Steve Elliott, Executive Vice President, Europe for XP Power. “We needed to identify an opportunity that would help customers through the design cycle of their products. We were lacking in that space for all our customers.”
With that in mind XP searched for a distributor that could bring a focus to demand creation, and support customers through the design process.
In October last year XP announced Avnet Abacus as its new EMEA distributor. As Elliott recalls a lot of hard work was undertaken before and after the unveiling.
Following extensive discussions XP directed 40 per cent of its customer base over to Avnet Abacus as its preferred distributor.
It is a three-way win. XP could now focus on its remaining OEM customer base, customers moved into the channel would now be better supported, and Avnet Abacus gained some new customers.
Inventory was profiled and Avnet Abacus placed the resultant stocking order.
And XP identified that 95 per cent of Avnet Abacus’s 8,000-strong customer base in Europe were not buying XP products.
“Avnet Abacus also adds benefits to our logistics and supply chain in the channel,” observes Steve Elliott. “And it has the expertise to support some of our more technical products.”
He expects to tap into potential of the distributor’s 170-strong sales engineering team and its specific power field applications engineers.
“Avnet Abacus will improve our presence in important markets including transportation, factory automation and smart cities infrastructure,” Elliott adds.
He is pleased with progress so far.
“Following the partnership launch on 4 October 2023 at six European offices, (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, and Denmark), transferring previous customers into the Avnet Abacus network has been a seamless process from a customer perspective. We are actively conducting thorough technical and commercial training for the entire Avnet Abacus team to ensure they are proficient in promoting XP Power products to their extensive customer base, many of whom are not currently using our products,” comments Elliott.
“Performance to date has been excellent, resulting in the addition of many new customers interested in engaging with us on exciting, new projects in the industrial and medical markets space.”
At the launch Gavin Griggs, CEO, XP Power commented, “This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality power solutions to customers across various industries. By joining forces, we aim to streamline and enhance the availability of our products to a wider audience of design engineers and manufacturers. Avnet Abacus’ extensive distribution network and deep understanding of EMEA markets, coupled with its technical proficiency and exceptional customer support, will drive increased value and satisfaction for our customers.”
“We are delighted to have signed this strategic partnership with XP Power”, responded Rudy Van Parijs, President at Avnet Abacus. “XP Power has a strong legacy of providing reliable and efficient power solutions and this distribution agreement further strengthens our ability to meet the diverse needs of customers, especially those looking for robustness and absolute dependability of a power source for their mission-critical systems. We are quickly ramping up stock availability of XP Power’s diverse portfolio of power converters to provide our customers with fast access to these leading-edge products.”
Power couple: Gavin Griggs (left), CEO, XP Power and Rudy Van Parijs, Avent Abacus President shake hands on the deal.