Bridging the gap

24 January 2011 | By Lauren Vanderkar

When global distributor Arrow Electronics formed a group dedicated to the manufacture of LEDs, it was up to European lighting director Stephane Rosa to develop the brand across Europe. Here he talks about Arrow Lighting, supply chains and changing expectations

Why did Arrow, a successful provider of electronic components, decide to build a lighting team?

The lighting market more than any other is proof of the change rippling through the distribution sector. As a global distributor, Arrow needed to position itself as a comprehensive solution provider, offering consulting and guidance alongside the components themselves. It started building a dedicated European lighting team a little over four years ago, offering specific technical knowledge to the market.

We want to continue supporting our classic distribution customers, but also give guidance to lighting designers, street light developers, local authorities - none of whom have experience in the distribution sector.

And your focus going forward?

We were given this fantastic gift; the gift of solid state lighting. We had to ask, what are we going to do with this gift? It’s such a tremendous opportunity, but the lighting market is completely different to the electrical market. Suddenly we were dealing with customers who aren’t at all familiar with technology. So we’ve positioned ourselves to bridge the gap between these two groups - electrical and lighting.

As an example, we were providing LEDs for a shopping centre in Turkey. We told the client we could provide the parts in six weeks, and they were amazed it would take that long. Customers are used to lead times for electrical goods, but that isn’t the case in lighting - in the past you simply bought a light bulb and fitted it. Now that LED has come to the forefront, the technology behind lighting is far more complex.

We tell a client how long it takes to build something semi-conductor based, and they’re always surprised because they’re not used to such complex technology in their products. There is a set of expectations among our lighting customers that we have to live up to. Again it’s about bridging the gap.

How do you go about meeting the expectations of an industry that is so different to anything Arrow has dealt with in the past?

We have to learn to speak their language. We’ve invested in a huge amount of inventory to get our lead times down to two weeks. And we help educate those clients who want to learn more about the technology and processes involved, which is possible with our specialists who have a range of expertise at every stage of the supply chain.

Our brand is positioned as a ‘one-stop shop’ for complete lighting solutions - from connectors to reflectors - because we provide the central point between suppliers, customers, LEDs and luminaires. We want to help clients differentiate between one supply chain and another, so that they can spot different values and quality levels rather than assuming all LEDs will last 50,000 hours.

So you want your clients to know what they’re buying into?

Yes, but equally we want them to be comfortable with our services. We understand that not every one of our lighting customers wants or needs to know the technology behind a product - after all, they’ve never had to before.

So the other aim is to build Arrow Lighting up as a reliable brand with experts who know exactly what they’re doing and will manufacture and provide high quality LEDs, regardless of the customer’s own technical knowledge. We realise the importance of making things appear simple, while at the same time being well versed in the complexities of, for example, heat dispersion.

How will you convince the lighting market of the Arrow brand’s reliability?

Coming from an electrical background, we already have a vast knowledge of LEDs that we can impart to our lighting customers or use to help them feel comfortable with our services. Arrow Lighting is a team that acts Europe-wide with a local presence.

“Customers are used to lead times for electrical goods, but that isn’t the case in lighting - in the past you simply bought a bulb and fitted it.”

Our customers have the security of a specialist living in their area who speaks their language and can make regular visits, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s also an entire group of people around the country and around Europe with yet more specialist know-how, whether they are optics specialist or experts in heat syncing. All our staff share knowledge with each other and then pass it on to the customer at a local level.

But it’s not just us doing the teaching. Some of our lighting customers have been dealing with luminaires for the past 70 years, so we’re learning from them as much as they learn from us. It’s more of an exchange than an education.

What do you take from your customers’ experience?

They have access to a world we’re trying to tap into. I’m six months into the job, so I’m still learning how to speak their language. For example, lighting customers don’t think six weeks is a good lead time, so don’t say that it is. And I talk to people now that I wouldn’t have thought to engage with before, at fairs like the Arc Show that I wouldn’t have attended before either.

It’s a whole new world where the line between lighting customers and electrical users has been completely blurred by the rise of solid state technology. We have to keep an eye out for the vast number of opportunities this has created in areas we would never have considered before.

With rising costs, there are still plenty of people who don’t see the value of spending more on LED.

Again this is down to an understanding of the supply chain for LEDs. If you’re going to integrate lighting into a concrete flooring, you want quality light that lasts a long time. Our LEDs from industry leaders like Cree and Osram are going to give you that, whereas other LEDs or cheaper light sources might fail, forcing you to dig up the concrete and replace them at a far higher cost.

With every new technology you have early adopters, and you have people who are reluctant to pay more than they’re used to. But the awareness of LED technology is strong thanks to big brands like Audi, which incorporated the first all-LED headlight, and legislation banning the incandescent lamp, forcing companies to consider LED as a low-energy alternative. The price of LEDs is falling, which also helps.

But it can be hard to explain the long-term benefits of investment against the initial cost of the product. That’s where having a strong brand becomes important - the more people get to know Arrow as a reliable provider, the more they will trust in our products as sound investment opportunities.