The Soft Pitch

I know everyone’s glued to news the economy and US elections, but here’s a couple pieces of Avnet news that might have slipped under the radar.

We celebrated the Grand Opening of the Avnet Global Solutions Center this week.  I talked about this earlier when the “big move” was made, bringing inventory and equipment together in Chandler, Arizona at a state-of-the art facility.  Much of it is automated, even the fork lifts that automatically move down the racks and positions the warehouse employee exactly where he/she needs to be to pick parts from the shelves to fill an integration order.  They don’t have to steer or adjust height, the fork lift is connected to the order system through a wireless interface sending part location information to the fork lift.  All the operator does is push on the “go” pedal.  With this system, the operator can’t go to the wrong location for a part – the fork lift won’t allow it.  Avnet’s Logistics team estimates about a 30% productivity improvement in picking parts as a result.  Innovation like that helps us to continue to become more efficient and improve accuracy.

Another piece of news is that Avnet CIO Steve Philips was appointed as the head of the board for the Arizona Technology Council. The council promotes the growth and professional development in Arizona’s technology sector, through networking and educational forums. 

Our 6th annual B2B 16″ softball event will attract 15 men’s and 11 local company co-ed teams to Tempe Sports Complex Saturday Nov 1st…I have been asked, so why do we do it? It is a great opportunity for hundreds of players to have fun, network and add some morale to their companies. It is also a great op to enhance our brand in the community as we support two charities, YMCA and PHX Sports Comission…and then as a good employer….people want to work for a leader that is supportive of the community and has fun.

The championships and celebrity game will be on TV December 6th…last year it was the 2nd most watched show on in the afternoon…people need to get out more.  Winners go to a Coyote game in a suite…sweet. 2nd place goes to my favorite restaurant in Scottsdale, Don & Charlies…owner Don Carson is 16″ softball guy from Chi-town.

The highlight this year will be local CEO’s lead by another Chicago boy who misses 16″ softball, Gene Holmquist, CEO of Ensynch versus XTRA Sports 910 radio team at noon…should be a good crowd for that epic struggle. Rumor has it Doug Parker CEO of US Air will be his big hitter. The medic will be busy.

Lots of other fun stuff for kids to do…so if you are in the area..stop by…we are right next to the Cardinals HQ on Hardy near North of Warner.

While Al was tending his wounds from the Cubs loss (so sorry Al), I was visiting a small town in Oregon – Ashland. Home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland has about 20,000 people … and the largest Shakespeare Festival in the country (it runs 10 months and draws thousands).  My daughter was on fall break and since she is a Shakespeare fan, off we went for four days.  We saw four plays and only one, Othello, was presented in the “traditional” Shakespeare style preserving language, costumes and setting.  All the others, including a hilarious production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that involved a hippie VW bus from the 60’s, were true in spirit but adapted for a fresh approach.  In fact, the production of A Comedy of Errors was so far from the original (think western town + musical), that it was barely recognizable as Shakespeare.

Speaking of barely recognizable (okay, so I know this is a big leap, but transitioning from watching Puck cavort across the stage to sitting in my windowless office is also a big leap), before I left, BusinessWeek published a cover story on how counterfeit components were finding their way into US military applications. When I saw the cover, I thought, “Wow – if they only knew what we were doing.”

What the BusinessWeek story left out was how we and others are working against counterfeiting. As a global distributor, we have the processes in place to prevent that very thing from happening.

We announced in July that we were one of the first distributors to be certified under China’s new “Reliable Electronic Component Suppliers” or (RECS) system. Then, this week our team in Asia announced “Avnet combats counterfeiting concerns for small-to-medium sized manufacturers in China.”  For those of you who follow supply-chain news and study how players in an industry collaborate to drive efficiency or in this case authenticity, you might be interested in how Avnet and others worked together on the Shenzhen International Components Center (ICC) “Transaction Hall” that was announced this week.  As part of this, Avnet launched a sales & service counter in the ICC that allows us to conduct transactions on the spot of small quantities guaranteed to be genuine components.

With all of the bad press about counterfeit parts, bad milk and tainted toys, isn’t it nice to know someone’s got the integrity to do the right thing and guarantee what we’re selling really is what we say we’re selling?

Oh and as far as that “barely recognizable Shakespeare thing”? The really interesting part is that the ideas Shakespeare wrote about 400 years ago still came through in the modern productions. Set in an urban, gang-torn city, Coriolanus still invited scrutiny of one man’s struggle to rationalize his personal beliefs with the political will of others. Personal integrity – it’s still at the heart of things.

Cubs lost again…again. I just got back from 3 days of being ill. Wall Street is or is that the sky is falling? Our stock is down. Avnet’s key third baseman broke his foot so he can’t play in the big softball tourney in a few weeks…another major appliance needs a repairman.

One good thing, Avnet just announced….

that it agrees to make an offer to acquire the Newbury, UK based Abacus Group plc. The Board of Abacus Group is recommending that its shareholders accept the offer from Avnet. The acquisition is subject to acceptance by Abacus shareholders and approval by the EU anti-trust authorities. We expect it to be completed early in 2009.

Abacus and its subsidiaries have an excellent reputation in their target markets – UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden – with very experienced teams and outstanding customer and supplier relationships. The move substantially strenghhens our IP&E and embedded systems businesses in EMEA. For other benefits see the press release….

Well I’m close to another deep Cubbie blue depression…Cubs are down 0-2 to Dodgers…the best team in NL is down 0-2 to the stinking Dodgers…my wife and I went to see our boys in blue in Chicago…what a great time to be there…if u have not experienced Wrigley, it’s fans and team… it is a must. The playoffs are electric…we so want to win…it’s only 100 years.

My life was planned in October to be at all their playoff games, flights booked etc…if we lose…what will I do all this month?

I flew back tp PHX on a very early flight for our monthly Avnet Executive Board meeting…I must have looked depressed walking in a few minutes late because my management friends and leaders did not hassle me…I brought them Cub pens…so I knew that might slow them down a bit.

So what is next? Well beyond the normal stuff to do…I could actually put more time in being a better chairperson for the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards Dinner on Nov 13th…I was really honored to be asked by the Az Tech Council…then I actually talked their committee including the big cheese Steve Zylstra into changing the times and venue location…the Dodge Theatre (excellent place in downtown PHX)…the event is at 5pm…then a strolling dinner for those who want to stay…Did I say 5pm? Steve is nutter than me to agree.

I hate those standard receptions and dinners where you have to stay until the 10 o’clock news at your table do not move…boring. I give our Governor high marks in supporting technology and this event is huge with ove 1200 attendees each event. I seriously hope the earlier venue attracts more attendance because people can go home earlier and have a more balanced family life.

I did not change one thing…they have a very cool after hours party. Theme is green…also timely…another reason not be stuck in rush hour traffic when we can be at awards program at 5.  More later. the press release follows…check out the finalists, and the students are awesome every year and the honored guest is a spectacular choice!

Our committee lead by Leigh Goldstein is doing a very good job, as well as the support by Dave Drennon and Sandra Watson from Dept of Commerce…now let’s get signed up, and join us for big night !!!

Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards Finalists Showcase Best and Brightest Innovators in Arizona’s Technology Sector

Internationally recognized architect, artist, and philosopher Paolo Soleri to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award” on November 13, 2008 at the Dodge Theatre

PHOENIX, Ariz., – September 22, 2008 — The Arizona Technology Council in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce and in conjunction with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, today announced the finalists for the 2008 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards (GCOI). Winners will receive Arizona’s highest honor for technology innovation on November 13, 2008, at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix.

This year’s event features a theme of “Shift to Green” highlighting green technologies and will honor internationally recognized architect, artist, and philosopher Paolo Soleri with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition for his contributions in addressing Arizona’s issues of sustainability and the environment. Tickets for the prestigious awards gala include the pre-award show cocktail reception, awards ceremony, strolling dinner and a VIP Backstage “Green Room” party can be purchased at http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

The finalists were selected by a committee independent of the Council and chaired by Alaina G. Levine, director of Special Projects at the University of Arizona, College of Science. One company within each category will be announced as the winner at the GCOI event. The finalists in their respective categories are:

Individual Award Finalists:

• William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year: Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare; Jeff Morhet, InNexus Biotechnology Inc.; Terree Parlett Wasley, ASU Technopolis
• Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year: Steve Irons, ImageTag, Inc.; Roy Vallee, Avnet, Inc.; Jeff Morhet, InNexus Biotechnology Inc.

Company Award Finalists:

• Pioneering Innovation: Telesphere; Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems; Microsoft Corporation
• Green Innovator of the Year (NEW): i-Linc; Trilogy by Shea Homes; Global Research Technologies LLC
• Innovator of the Year – Start-Up Company: Flypaper Studios, Inc.; FetchBack;

Ubidyne, Inc.

• Innovator of the Year – Small Company: Succeed Corporation; Kutta Technologies, Inc.; Infusionsoft
• Innovator of the Year – Large Company: Raytheon Missile Systems; IBM Corporation
• Innovator of the Year – Academia: Phoenix Mars Mission; Biodesign Institute; Center for Applied Nanobioscience

Young Innovator of the Year Award Winners:

The “Best of the Best” of the Arizona Engineering and Science Fairs (grades 9-12) for the year 2007. Each of these students will receive a $1000 scholarship to further enhance their education.

• Steven Fan, Tucson High Magnet School; Shemonti Hasan, Hamilton High School; Adrian Laurenzi, Tucson High Magnet School; Smitha Ramakrishna, Coronoa del Sol High School

Teacher of the Year Award Winner:

• Kenneth Zeigler, Eagle Point School

About the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation

The Governor’s Celebration of Innovation was established in 2003 by combining two technology award ceremonies: the High Tech Industry Cluster’s 17-year Innovator of the Year awards ceremony and the Arizona Software and Internet Association’s 10-year “Celebration of Innovation.” With the addition of the Governor’s support, the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation has become the premier technology community gathering of its kind in Arizona. For more information on GCOI, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

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FYI The Cubs will win 2 in LA because our pitchers are better, and then go back and win the first series on Tuesday night.