供货商与经销商之间的营运模式该改变了

从1980年代以来，供货商与经销商之间一直采用同样的业务营运模式──经销商成功地让一家供货商的组件获得某项终端产品采用，从而取得利润报酬。业界重新审视这种营运模式的想法已经出现很多次了，但渠道动态持续发生改变使其一再地被忽略。 经销商一直扮演着设计辅助的角色，一方面协助客户更快上市新产品，同时也让供货商能够取得工程师计划观点的第一手资料。藉由协助客户设计过程，经销商能够将代理品牌的组件产品销售给客户。虽然强调最佳解决方案，但也是经销商的最佳机会。一旦设计确定了，经销商便正式向供货商登录设计订单。这个过程的目的在于保护经销商，特别是免于另一家经销商或业务代表也在经营同一家客户。 但问题是终端产品的设计与生产之间常常缺乏关连性。在一款设计确定及其BOM决定后，实际的生产地点却可能改变，例如从美国达拉斯移至中国。而在中国的采购部门可能无法找到供应来源、可 能出现不同的定价或甚至涉及另一家与最初经销商不同的公司。由于经销商最主要的报酬来自于订单出货，在此过程中出现任何差错都会影响到公司收益。对于供应商而言，这也可能导致销售损失等问题。 经销商已经开发出一套可追踪组件的系统了，但仍存在一些挑战。一般来说，最易于追踪的 组件都是一些在生产时无法被取代的专有组件。但这仅代表一小部份的组件组合与BOM，如果经销商将大部份的注意力投注在这些组件上，可能就会忽略掉其它大部份的组件。而供货商也常常觉得经销商不足以代表其品牌。 最近在美国芝加哥举行的ECIA主管会议上，安富利公司 (Avent)供应链管理资深副总裁Alex Iuorio告诉与会者，在上百家供货商中，经销商可专注于在40家供货商的设计登记；而其中只有少数几项能让经销商获利。TE connectivity全球客户总监Paul Doherty表示，该公司的许多产品并非专有，但对于设计却同样重要。IP&E与TE的市场在BOM就占了80%，而这也是经销业务的重要部 份。 供货商与经销商合作伙伴之间试图从设计作业、价格保护、更高利润以及佣金分配等方面平均分摊前期费用。但每种方案都各有 其优缺点。同时，经销商强调解决方案，而非特定组件或品牌的作法，也使得供货商在终端客户的能见度逐渐被模糊掉了。这已经是长久以来的老问题了，却常常不 定时地再次发生。 德州仪器(TI)经销经理John Simari重申解决这些问题的迫切性。从1980年代以来，供货商与经销商之间的关系及其重要因素不曾改善过，但当今的渠道却已经完全改观了。 Simari表示，供货商与经销商双方间必须发展出一个更好的互动方式，而这完全取决于供货商与经销商双方共同去探索。 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Susan Hong 参考英文原文：Design Registration: Same Problem, Different Day，by Barbara Jorgensen, EBN Community Editor

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{pagination} Design Registration: Same Problem, Different Day Barbara Jorgensen Downturns have a way of highlighting things that aren't working very well, and design registration is one of them. The practice, in which distributors are rewarded for designing a supplier's component into an end product, has operated the same way since the 1980s. The idea of revising it has come up numerous times, but channel dynamics have put it back at the top of the fix-it list. Distribution has taken on the role of design assistance both to help customers get to market faster and to get a firsthand view of an engineer's plans. By assisting in the design, a distributor can sell the components on its linecard to the customer. The emphasis is on the best solution, but it's also a good opportunity for the distributor. Once a design is secured, the distributor registers the win with the supplier. This process is meant to protect the distributor if another distributor or rep calls on the same customer. The problem is a disconnect between the design and the production of the end product. After a design is secured and the BOM is determined, production may move from, say, Dallas to China. The procurement division in China may not be able to source the components. It may show different pricing, or it may have a relationship with a company other than the original distributor. Since the distributor's compensation depends on delivering that order, any disruption in the process threatens revenue. It's also a problem for the supplier, which also loses on the sale. Distributors have developed systems to track components, but challenges remain. The easiest parts to track are proprietary parts that can't be substituted at production. But this represents only a small segment of the component offerings and the bill of material, and distributors may focus most of their attention on these parts to the detriment of others. Suppliers feel their brands are not adequately represented by distributors. During the recent ECIA Executive Conference in Chicago, Alex Iuorio, senior vice president for supplier management at Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), told attendees that the distributor can focus its design registration on about 40 of its hundreds of suppliers. Of those, only a few have programs that guarantee a profit for the distributor. Supplier executives, including Paul Doherty, global account director for TE Connectivity, say many of their products aren't proprietary but are equally important to a design. IP&E, TE's market, comprises 80 percent of a BOM. It is a big part of the channel's business. The partners have experimented with flat up-front fees for design work, price protection, higher profit margins, and split commissions to compensate distributors for design work. Each has its pros and cons. In the meantime, distributors' emphasis on solutions, rather than a specific component or brand, has obscured supplier visibility at the end customer. It's an old struggle that has emerged time and time again. John Simari, a distribution manager for Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) and a longtime advocate of channel practices, reiterated the urgency many in the industry feel. This important component of the supplier-distributor relationship hasn't evolved since the 1980s, but the channel has. There has to be a better way, Simari says, and it is up to suppliers and distributors to find it.