N.F. Smith & Associates (Smith) is an independent distributor of electronic components headquartered in Houston, Texas that sources product and develops supply chain solutions for customers in the semiconductor and electronic components industry. The company is the largest independent distributor of electronic components and ranks 11th among all global distributors.
Video N.F. Smith & Associates
History
In 1984, brothers Robert and Leland Ackerley founded Smith & Associates, which is the largest independent distributor of electronic components, offering sourcing and supply chain solutions to customers worldwide in the semiconductor and electronic components industry.
The 1990s saw dramatic growth for the company. In 1992, Smith's annual sales were $30 million; by 1998, they had topped $470 million due to the company's growing customer base and the expansion of its business into new regions, industries, and service offerings. In 1997, the company moved into a then-new 60,000 sq. ft. headquarters building in Houston, followed by opening its first major international office in Hong Kong in the same year. Smith established a European presence with the opening of its Amsterdam office in 1999.
In 2000, the company acquired a 15,000 sq. ft. warehouse to expand its ability to handle OEM and CEM consignment and excess inventories. Smith opened offices in Seoul, Silicon Valley, and Guadalajara in 2000, followed by office openings in New York in 2003 and Shanghai in 2004. By 2004, global sales exceeded $500 million, a first for any independent electronic component distributor. In 2008, the company expanded its Asian presence by opening an office in Shenzhen, China.
In 2010, the company unveiled an enhanced, in-house anti-counterfeit laboratory to address growing concerns surrounding counterfeiting and quality issues in the global electronics supply chain. It also launched its SmithSecure(TM) quality framework in concert with the dedicated laboratory expansion.
The company expanded its footprint by opening offices in Taipei, Singapore, and Denver in 2011, Austin in 2013, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Munich, and Beijing in 2017. Smith currently has sixteen offices worldwide.
Maps N.F. Smith & Associates
Products and sourcing
Smith & Associates offers sourcing of active, passive, and electromechanical IC components, as well as computer products and peripherals such as HDDs, processors, memory modules, and video cards. Serving customers in a broad range of industries including consumer electronics, enterprise electronics, server hardware, automotive, telecommunications, medical, oil and gas, energy, and aeronautics and defense, the company sources both obsolete and in-production parts to bridge gaps or disruptions in clients' supply chains and to support uninterrupted production. Smith is ranked as the largest independent distributor of electronic components, and maintains a network of thousands of suppliers worldwide to support its product sourcing.
Services
Over time, the company has expanded on the shortage sourcing that characterized its earliest business model in order to diversify and offer additional supply chain management options for customers "that address the challenges of inventory sourcing, quality, ownership, management, and disposal." The company places emphasis on its ability to individually tailor solutions for specific OEM and EMS customers who face global sourcing challenges. Services offered include options such as customizing inventory programs through VMI or EOL models, shortage planning, procuring product compliant with global environmental regulations such as RoHS and WEEE, dispositioning, and managing excess inventory in line with international sustainability standards, arranging reverse logistics, and participating in PPV (Purchase Price Variance) arrangements.
Quality
Smith's quality procedures operate under the principle that "effective vendor screening and management not only serve to maintain reliable flow of quality product, but also provide a first line of defense against counterfeit components." This screening ensures that "all...suppliers are formally selected and continually evaluated" based on quality metrics specified in Smith's customized Vendor Rating System (VRS). The company's VRS assigns each supplier a rating and incorporates ongoing evaluations and evidence of qualification. Additional steps in the vendor management process include completion of a vendor application, vendor audits, and management approvals.
Once the company sources components from its approved sources, they are put though a formal visual inspection by degreed quality engineers, IPC-certified technicians, and other inspectors to examine parts from the outer packaging inward. Parts that pass visual inspection may move on to the next level of inspection.
Smith & Associates was one of the first independent distributors to build an in-house, sophisticated, electronic component testing laboratory. The company uses their in-house lab resources to confirm product quality, origin, and conformity. Smith places emphasis on continuously upgrading equipment and expanding capabilities to reflect current developments in quality testing and anti-counterfeiting. The company's testing resources include decapsulation, chemical testing, x-ray testing, x-ray fluorescence, microscopic inspection, solderability testing, counterfeit IC testing, C-SAM acoustic microscopic inspection, and functionality testing for a range of components. The company's anti-counterfeit laboratory, located at its Houston headquarters, is accredited under ISO/IEC 17025, as is its Hong Kong laboratory.
Additionally, the company is certified to ISO 9001, ANSI-ESD S.20-20, CCAP-101, and AS9120, and is a member of ISA, C-TPAT, and ERAI.
Sustainability
Since 2011, Smith & Associates has been "committed to work toward becoming a climate neutral, zero waste-to-landfill distributor." The company's CycleIT(TM) asset disposition program is the product of this initiative, providing asset disposition services that "[ensure] that e-waste and scrap material is re-purposed rather than sent to landfills" using EPA-compliant, certified third party recycling.
Smith began placing a heavy corporate emphasis on sustainability in 2008, when an ISO 14001 audit revealed deficiencies in the company's environmental program. The company used these results as a catalyst to undertake improvements, including switching out lighting, using only 100% recycled packaging for shipments, and focusing on reducing energy consumption.
In 2011, Smith completed a sustainable renovation of its headquarters building, including a 140 kW solar installation and the installation of a cool roof and efficient HVAC system. In addition, the company instituted internal programs for recycling, resource reduction, and sustainability training. On April 8, 2012, Smith was named Overall Winner: Greatest Implementation of Green Building Innovations in the City of Houston's 2011 Green Office Challenge, the nation's largest Green Office Challenge for 2011. Smith has recognized sustainability as a core corporate value, and continues to promote these efforts internally. Smith's headquarters have been certified to ISO 14001 since 2005, and the company has been designated an E-Stewards enterprise.
Sister Companies
In addition to business-to-business sales, Smith also has a consumer site,SmithBuy.com. Other sister companies include global business consultancy PREDICTif Solutions, and solar sales and solutions company ONTILITY.
Media Coverage
- June 2017, SourceToday: "Q&A: Lee Ackerley"
- June 2017, Electronics Sourcing: UK & Ireland: "Buyers have options with component obsolescence"
- January 27, 2017, Houston Chronicle: "Houston company opens office in 'Silicon Valley of Europe'"
- May 2, 2016, Global Purchasing: "Another Slow-Growth Year, Say Top Distributors"
- March 23, 2015, Evertiq: "Smith & Associates Opens Sales Office in Bangalore"
- March 16, 2015, Electronics Purchasing Strategies/ESPNews: "Smith & Associates Opens in Bangalore"
- February 10, 2015, EBN: "Smith & Associates Far East Limited Inspectors Earn CCCI-102 Certification, Bolster Smith's Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts"
- January 23, 2015, EBN: "Smith & Associates Closes 30th Anniversary Year with Record Sales"
- January 23, 2015, Evertiq: "Smith & Associates closes the year with record sales"
- January 23, 2015, Global Purchasing: "Components Distributors Deliver Solid Results"
- January 22, 2015, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "Smith & Associates Closes Record Year"
- December 29, 2014, Houston Chronicle: "Older office building outfitted with modern efficiency"
- December 19, 2014, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "In Distribution, 'Leverage' is a Relative Term"
- December 8, 2014, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "Evolving Distribution Models Defy Classification"
- October 7, 2014, South China Morning Post USA Country Report: "Smith bullish about continued growth in Asia"
- June 10, 2014, ECN: "With decreasing prices and increasing efficiency, are LEDs finally poised to gain universal acceptance?"
- June 2, 2014, Global Purchasing: "Supply Chain Collaboration Yields Counterfeit Mitigation"
- May 23, 2014, Houston Business Journal: "Local electronic components distributor leases space in NW Houston"
- May 21, 2014, The Broker Forum: "Member of the Week"
- May 19, 2014, Houston Business Journal: "Secrets to success: Apple co-founder, local company founders reflect on decades in business"
- May 16, 2014, Houston Business Journal BizBlog: "Steve Wozniak's crystal ball: Apple co-founder talks the cloud, artificial intelligence and wearable tech"
- May 15, 2014, Houston Business Journal: "What I learned from lunch with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple"
- May 15, 2014, EBN Online: "Steve Wozniak, Apple Co-founder, Addresses Smith & Associates 30th Anniversary Event"
- May 15, 2014, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "'Woz' Shares Experiences at Smith Fete"
- May 15, 2014, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "Doing Business in Korea, Part 2"
- May 5, 2014, Electronics Purchasing Strategies: "Doing Business in Korea, Part 1"
- April 10, 2014, National Geographic City Solutions blog: "Houston Drives EV Green Changes with Perseverance and Partnerships"
References
External links
Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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