Arrow Electronics, Aspect Development, Avnet and CMP Media Form Joint Venture Offering the World's Most Comprehensive Business-to-Business E-Commerce Site for Electronic Engineers and Purchasers
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--
Site Will Also Access Marshall Industries' Online Catalog; Girish
Mhatre of CMP Appointed Chief Executive of ChipCenter LLC
www.chipcenter.com
Four of the world's largest suppliers of information and product services to the electronics-original-equipment-manufacturing (EOEM) industry today announced a joint venture to build the first comprehensive online service for electronic-component information and sourcing.
Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW), Aspect Development, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASDV), Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) and CMP Media Inc. (Nasdaq:CMPX) have teamed up to create an independent company called ChipCenter LLC that will pool their resources to serve the EOEM industry through a unique set of online services. Girish Mhatre, formerly vice president and group publisher at CMP Media, has been appointed chief executive officer of ChipCenter.
"ChipCenter will be a new kind of marketing channel that consolidates demand creation, interest fulfillment and e-commerce transactions in one seamless service," said Mhatre.
"Product vendors who advertise on the site will find shortened times to sale, a huge competitive advantage particularly in the current environment. Engineers and purchasing agents will be able to learn, find and buy at one convenient location."
ChipCenter will leverage the strengths of the four partners through: -0- *T
-- the broad line cards, established global-distribution networks
and expertise in servicing the OEM market of Arrow, Avnet, and
Marshall Industries.
-- the comprehensive component and supplier data content, expertise
in software publishing, advanced search technology and interface
design of Aspect; and
-- the extensive EOEM-industry relationships and branded content of
CMP. *T
"This first-of-its-kind alliance among four industry giants speaks to the critical role the Internet is playing in providing product information and streamlining commerce in the electronics manufacturing industry," said Mhatre. "ChipCenter will set the standard for service, content and product inventory available to EOEMs."
ChipCenter is an expansion of an online joint venture of CMP Media and Aspect Development that started two years ago as a pioneering, successful experiment in providing product and design information to electronics engineers.
ChipCenter, which is expected to be fully operational in the next three months, will provide more than one million global electronics engineers and purchasers with immediate information and commercial access to the inventory of the two largest franchised distributors in the world -- millions of components from hundreds of suppliers.
In addition to Arrow and Avnet, ChipCenter will provide access to inventories of other franchised distributors who are expected to sign up as fulfillment partners, the first one of which is Marshall Industries.
"ChipCenter represents a key step in our Internet strategy -- to help the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide learn about essential products and technologies, find the vendors who will sell these goods, and then actually to complete the purchasing cycle on line from reliable vendors," said CMP Media president and CEO Michael Leeds. "This innovative endeavor is particularly exciting because from day one it will be delivering all these essential services to more than one million electronics-industry professionals."
"Our goal is for ChipCenter to become the home site for the engineers and purchasing professionals of EOEMs," said Stephen P. Kaufman, Arrow chairman and CEO. "The learn-find-buy model, coupling technology updates, product information, application notes, user-to-user exchanges, and professional information with product fulfillment, will pull together in one place all the resources that engineers and purchasers need to speed up and improve their professional processes.
"One of the key principles of Arrow's online strategy is to provide customers with multiple entry points to the vast array of our products and services. By joining with Aspect, Avnet and CMP in ChipCenter, Arrow will help set the standard for business-to-business e-commerce and provide its customers with the choice, breadth, depth and reliability of services that they want," Kaufman added.
"ChipCenter will not only change the way individual engineers research and recommend new designs, but also dramatically shorten the time to market for new products," said Romesh Wadhwani, Aspect chairman and CEO. "Within minutes, engineers can research the latest components, obtain up-to-the-minute pricing and availability, determine which components are preferred by their organizations and place an order -- a process that can take weeks using traditional printed catalogs or individual Web sites."
"Partnering to form ChipCenter is an integral part of our e-business strategy of collaborating to give customers global access to our products and services through their channel of choice," said Roy Vallee, chief executive officer of Avnet, Inc.
"ChipCenter's strategy utilizes the power of Internet access combined with the core competencies of its joint venture partners complementing Marshall's own efforts in serving the EOEM community," said Robert Rodin, CEO of Marshall.
For more information on ChipCenter, go to www.chipcenter.com. Prior to launch, visitors can register to receive the latest ChipCenter news and developments, as well as enter drawings to win prizes.
Partner Information
Arrow Electronics, Inc.
Arrow Electronics is the world's largest distributor of electronic components and computer products, with 1998 sales of $8.3 billion. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Arrow serves as a supply-channel partner for more than 600 suppliers and 160,000 original-equipment manufacturers and commercial customers through more than 200 sales facilities and 26 distribution centers in 32 countries. Detailed information about Arrow can be found at arrow.com.
Aspect Development, Inc.
Aspect Development, Inc. is the leading worldwide provider of enterprise systems for Component & Supplier Management (CSM). Aspect CSM systems reduce product cost, operations expense and design cycle time by providing strategic decision support for procurement, product development and operations to manufacturers in the electronics, aerospace & defense, automotive, industrial, process and CPG markets.
Aspect CSM systems are being used by many of the world's largest manufacturers to optimize their inbound supply chain, to provide the information bridge between design and procurement, and to technology-enable and automate best practices such as strategic sourcing, preferred component and supplier management, design reuse, and rapid selection of the best components. For more information, visit aspectdv.com.
Avnet, Inc.
Avnet Inc. is a global Fortune 500 company, headquartered in Phoenix, with annual sales exceeding $5.9 billion. Avnet serves customers in 58 countries by marketing, inventorying and adding value to the products of the foremost electronic-components and computer-equipment manufacturers. For more information regarding any of Avnet's products and services, please contact: avnet.com
CMP Media Inc.
CMP Media Inc. is a leading high-tech media company that provides essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. With its portfolio of newspapers, magazines, custom publishing, Internet products, research, consulting and conferences, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. |
