Electronics ecosphere

Newark element14 serves design engineers, hobbyists

A79-year-old electronics distributor that started out as a radio-parts shop today finds itself at the epicenter of an e-commerce and engineering design revolution.

The former Newark Electronics, now called Newark element14, has kept its ecommerce edge sharp to make ordering easy for both of its customer constituencies: design engineers and a growing group of hobbyists who tinker with professional electronics.

In the last three years the Ravenswood company’s sales have jumped 14 percent, to $562.5 million in 2012. E-commerce sales have grown 17.1 percent. Here’s why:

Newark element14 started an online engineering community four years ago called element14. The name denotes silicon, the 14th element and the building block of semiconductors.

The “knode” at element14.com/knode gives professional design engineers the information, products and technical support they need to go from concept through prototyping.

“We use the community as a ‘listening post’ to see what our customers are talking about,” says Phil Robins, vice president of marketing and customer strategy.

Newark’s acquisition in 1996 by 74-yearold British electronics distributor Premier Farnell paved the way for Newark element14 to become one of two U.S. distributors of Raspberry Pi, a wildly popular credit card-sized Linux computer that costs $25 to $35. Hobbyists and engineers use it for everything from automating home appliances to creating industrial sensors to powering home beer-brewing kits. Since it started distributing Raspberry Pi in February 2012, Newark has sold 600,000 of the devices.

The Raspberry Pi phenomenon started in early 2011, when Premier Farnell planned the Pi’s commercial launch with the computer’s British inventor, former University of Cambridge professor Eben Upton. Now it’s propelling Newark as a hub for electronics geeks.

“We have the entire engineering ecosphere — the knode, a strong transactional website, same-day shipping and a multichannel sales approach that includes a sales staff out in the field,” Robins says.

Newark element14, which employs 400 at the Ravenswood headquarters, maintains an e-commerce inventory that reflects its 2,500page catalog. (The founding Poncher brothers named their company Newark because in the 1930s, the New Jersey city was home to the country’s tallest radio transmitter.)

The company has plenty of competition, primarily from Digi-Key, Allied and Mouser electronics. And even as ecommerce booms, Robins says Newark element14 has kept its edge by retaining its print catalog and the national sales force. The company also provides phone and online chat support 24 hours a day on weekdays.

“Design engineers are under so much pressure in the time they must get products to market,” Robins says. “They’re doing more with less.”

Forrester senior analyst Andy Hoar says companies that sell to other businesses are moving their customers online at an increasing rate to cut costs and seize new revenue.

Hoar will be the keynote speaker at an April 18 business-to-business e-commerce strategy session for manufacturers and distributors in Downers Grove, sponsored by platform provider Insite Software.

“We are at an inflection point,” Hoar says.