While Arrow Electronics is known as the worldwide leader in electronic components and computer products distribution, we are much more than a provider of parts and products. Our mission is to represent our chosen suppliers by assisting our customers in the design, manufacture, and use of electronic products from concept through production…globally…profitably. From standard inventory bonding programs–to in-plant stores–to programming parts–to complex e-commerce supply chain solutions, Arrow provides services and programs that increase design and production efficiency at more than 200,000 customers worldwide. Each day, our 12,000 employees work closely with our valued suppliers to understand the new technologies that make it possible for our customers to develop and to manufacture their products. From the mammogram machine that makes early detection of breast cancer possible–to the navigation systems used in ships and automobiles–to the infrastructure that drives the Internet, Arrow helps bring to market so many of the products that are essential to the world in which we live.

Arrow sales and technical teams around the world work with our customers to shorten their design cycles and to speed their time to market. They work side by side with engineers at the customer to solve design challenges and to recommend components that will deliver the performance that the product requires. Engineers have come to depend on arrow.com and its component search and Internet tools for researching technologies and designing in key components. In a recent survey by the industry’s leading engineering journal, they identified arrow.com as their first choice and favorite web site.

Comprehensive management of our customers’ supply chains to speed their procurement and manufacturing processes has become our core competency. Inventory and material management services, in-plant stores, and just-in-time programs are just some of the supply chain management solutions that Arrow offers to provide ultimate procurement efficiency for our customers. Many companies today claim to offer e-commerce supply chain solutions, but they have little more to offer than software. Arrow Electronics leads the industry in e-commerce supply chain solutions, backed by a global infrastructure that includes 23 distribution centers, housing nearly $3 billion in inventory.

Today, close to a thousand customer sites, generating over a third of Arrow Americas Components’ sales, are electronically connected to Arrow through our e-compass system, our suite of forecasting and scheduling tools. With this connection, manufacturers can transmit forecasts, pipeline materials, maintain and change inventory requirements, and evaluate forecasting accuracy. More than 40,000 customers in Europe and the Americas use the arrow.com PRO-Series suite of tools to order components, to track scheduled orders, and to make changes in delivery dates and quantities. Since its inception in 1999, PRO-Series has led the B2B e-commerce industry with its real-time, on-line ordering and inventory tracking capabilities. On every significant list of best-in-class B2B e-commerce companies, Arrow has been recognized as an e-commerce leader that delivers superior solutions and service to its customers.

Arrow continues to support customers as they move from the procurement and materials planning phase to production and assembly. Original equipment and contract manufacturers use Arrow’s physical value-added programs to reduce their manufacturing costs and to increase the speed of production. Arrow has programming centers in eight strategic locations around the globe. In North America alone, we programmed more than 400,000 components daily in 2000. Our cable assembly and electromechanical value-added programs helped nearly 10,000 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) complete production on their products. For our industrial and commercial computer products customers, we completed more than 200,000 systems products integrations. Our mid-range computing configuration services bring the power of the best manufacturers of data management systems to the worldwide web.

In companies, homes, hospitals, schools, and factories around the world, our customers’ products bring information, technology, convenience, and hope. At Arrow, we are proud to play an essential role in the development and manufacture of these products.