Electronics Weekly puts its questions to an industry figure: Danny Miller is managing director of distributor Future Electronics (EMEA)

How would you describe the role of the component distributor in the UK electronics market of 2007?
Every Western European country has been affected by the shift of electronics manufacturing to low-cost countries in the Far East and Eastern Europe, but this move has affected the UK more than any other. Where UK manufacturing has survived - and much of it has - it is because it has acted quickly and radically to improve the productivity of its operations and to add more value through technology. Successful manufacturers are choosing component distributors who have reacted to these market movements and have sharpened their operations in two specific ways. First, by offering the skills and resources needed to support an ultra-efficient supply chain, often with a global reach. Second, by demonstrating the ability to support the integrated and complex demands of modern technology - UK manufacturers want distributors who do not just provide technical support for single components or single suppliers, but who understand the whole application. A technical distributor today should be helping customers get to market quicker with better products.

Can broadline distributors provide the level of design-in and technical support offered by some smaller specialist distributors?
Yes, although it depends on whether the broadliner chooses to invest in providing technical service - and that's chiefly an investment in people and training. When it comes to technical support, broadliners have an advantage. Smaller specialist distributors can provide deep expertise on specific suppliers, but often lack the ability to support the whole board, or be able to offer alternative suppliers of key product categories. A broadline distributor, on the other hand, can provide a wider selection of alternative products for any given application, which gives better surety of supply to customers. That said, there are broadline distributors in the UK who provide little or no technical support. For its part, Future has a large team of FAEs in the UK, and a year-round programme of FAE training in Europe that is very well supported by our suppliers.

How is the Internet changing how semiconductor distributors operate?
The Internet is affecting all aspects of our business, from component specification and selection, to global inventory management through to online ordering, acknowledgement and payment. As a global company with a single global IT platform, we view the Internet as a tremendous tool to differentiate our offering from other broadline distributors'.

Is the UK market for new design starts growing, shrinking or static at present?
This is an interesting question - we believe the UK market for design starts is growing. The Cambridge area, for instance, is considered to be a leading R&D hub in Europe. The difference compared to ten years ago is that a higher proportion of the design activity today will be manufactured by contract manufacturers overseas. As business migrates offshore, distributors are being more selective about which customers they support - they have to weigh up the likely return on investment before taking the up-front cost of technical and other kinds of support. At Future we regard this as an opportunity, as we believe that we have excellent systems for capturing and transferring designs to overseas manufacturing locations.

Name one technology/market which is exciting at present and name one which has yet to really achieve its true potential.
My answer to both is the solid-state lighting market, which is both exciting and far from achieving its true potential. The solid-state lighting market was already expanding rapidly in the past few years, and the new strength of the environmental agenda will only accelerate the obsolescence of the hugely inefficient incandescent light bulb. Our FLS (Future Lighting Solutions) business is our fastest-growing business unit in Europe, and although the UK is trailing other markets in high-power LED use, we see this changing rapidly with many new and innovative applications now coming to market.