Content area
Full text
Miami- Raltron Electronics Corp. aims to be more than a company that mainly writes and fills orders for its high-end quartz-crystal and frequency-control products, company executives say.
Their goal: to be more action- than reaction-oriented. To achieve that, the company is honing its product-marketing skills to satisfy soaring demand and succeed amid heated competition.
Indeed, the business climate is changing on many fronts- particularly the contract electronics manufacturing camp, said Alexandre Wolloch, founder and president of Raltron, Miami.
"Two to three years ago, some 25% of our business was with subcontractors," he said. "That's ramping up toward nearly 50%."
Contract manufacturers are expanding worldwide as companies such as Motorola Inc. outsource more of their manufacturing. As CEMs gain more customers, they're picking up additional purchasing clout.
Ever cost-conscious, the CEMs are using their growing purchasing power to cut costs by specifying common equivalent components that can go into several customers' systems.
Raltron has a stake in protecting its hard-won design-ins at engineering companies. But Raltron also benefits from the rise of contractors' influence, Wolloch said.
"They can promote you as a supplier to new customers," he said, adding that, in reality, that hasn't been the case up to now. "However, as subcontractors get more powerful and put in place component-engineering departments, they can muscle customers into using their suppliers. Things are moving fast."
Raltron has reacted by adjusting its sales strategies and locations to get closer to CEMs. Consequently, though Raltron is a relatively small company, with more than 500 employees worldwide, including 340 in Miami, it has representatives around the world, including Japan and Israel.
Wolloch is eyeing Brazil next, where several CEMs have set up factories.
Raltron set up a subcontract sales team in-house to stay on top of CEM developments.
The get-close, more proactive strategy is paying off.
Raltron's sales rose to $72 million in 1999 from $63 million in 1998. So far this year, Raltron has nearly matched its 1999 sales and is on the path to $120 million annually-nearly double its 1998 tally.
"Raltron has been more concerned about growth than maximizing the bottom line," Wolloch said.
The privately held company's earnings have been reinvested into expansion.
Raltron has come a long way since setting up shop in the...