Interview with Mike Nelson, Managing Director of Etek Europe

Publication date: 29 September 2011

Interview with Mike Nelson, Managing Director of Etek Europe

Q. Mike, with over 25 years’ experience, what changes and improvements have you seen in the electronics industry?

Mike: There have been a lot of subtle changes to the electronics industry over the last few decades.

One of the main points is that our customers do not have the same resources available to become experts in the equipment in many different areas of the process. For this reason, they then require strong suppliers with engineering expertise. Automated inspection systems in the form of SPI, AOI & X-ray, used to be “nice to have” pieces of equipment. Now, today in many factories, these systems are a standard part of any line.

Q. Etek Europe is widely noted as one of the largest distributors in Europe. What are the factors that made this possible?

Mike: There are several factors that have made this possible over the past few years. One of the main factors is our people. During these tough times, there have been some great opporutnies for Etek Europe to hire experienced sales & equipment engineers who all have many years’ experience in both equipment and processes. Etek Europe also invested heavily in our office team to support the “team on the road”. Service co-ordination, logistics, spare parts, operations, invoicing and marketing have all helped us to grow 200% in the past few years.

Q. Has the recent economic downturn changed the way Etek Europe operates?

Mike: Like most companies during these tough times, we have to watch our overheads. Our customers are always looking for a deal, so we have had to be creative in some areas, such as reduced margins, special offers, and the selling off of second user or ex-demo equipment.

Q. How does the first half of 2011 compare to that of 2010 for Etek Europe?

Mike: The first half of 2011 has been very interesting. We have seen a lot of investment from our customers in certain areas such as AOI, De-fluxing, fume extraction, SPI, and X-ray. Turnover wise, we are up 20% on last year, but our sales funnel is forecasting a very good Q3 & Q4.

Q. What are the issues that your customers face today and how do you help them to overcome them?

Mike: One of the recent issues we have seen is delivery times of our equipment. Our customers usually get the go ahead to invest in equipment at the last minute. Our supply partners, in most cases are now building systems to order, so this can sometimes give us a headache. Whenever possible, we have tried to always have a demo system available or have some new equipment in the pipeline.

Q. Etek Europe recently created 6 independent divisions within the Etek Group. How does this benefit your customers?

Mike: As our customer database if growing fast, it is difficult to let all our customers know the full product line that Etek Europe offers. For this reason, we have split into 6 separate divisions. Each division is overseen by a key member of the Etek Europe management team. This allows us to track trends and make sure that we are offering our customers the best choice of equipment and support.

Q. Can we expect to see additional divisions within the Etek Group in the future?

Mike: It is too early to tell you too much at the moment, but, we shall have a number of additional divisions joining the Etek Europe in the coming months.

Q. Etek Europe has a strong philosophy of clear communication and customer support. How do you continue to deliver this?

Mike: Communication is key, not only between Etek Europe and our customers, but also Etek Europe and our suppliers. We are constantly adding new methods of communications to enable our customers to keep in touch with us. Etek Europe is constantly sending our engineers for training on the latest products we support. This is key to offering our customers both support, not only on the latest equipment, but also on the latest processes.

Q. What sets Etek Europe apart from its competitors?

Mike: Etek Europe is always evolving. We are constanlty asking our customers for their feedback on our products and services, and this helps us plan to the future.

Q. Etek Europe specializes in both new and used equipment. What factors are considered when your customers purchase used equipment?

Mike: In an ideal world, we always want to sell new equipment to our customers, but nowadays this is not always possible. For this reason, we understand that certain customers with limted budgets simply cannot afford new. The other side of the coin is that we have many corporate customers who can upgrade to new equipment and often want to dispose of their second user systems. This is where Etek Europe steps in and matches these two parties up. On many occasions we have serviced the equipment which allows us to offer a warranty to our customers.

Q. Can you tell me about your Master Distributor strategy?

Mike: Etek Europe is the European master distributor for a number of our suppliers. What this offers these suppliers is one company to help manage all territories in Europe for them. Rather than our suppliers dealing with 25 diffent distributors for Europe, they can use Etek Europe as their eyes & ears.
Our European customers also prefer this strategy; this gives them one company to contact for equipment, spare parts & service throughout Europe. Our service team is trained to the same level as the equipment manaufactuer.

Q. What can we expect from Etek Europe for the rest of 2011?

Mike: Our new consumable & process equipment division will be launching in September. In early October, Etek GmbH will launch in Frankfurt, Germany allowing us to build a sales & service team to cover Austria, Germany & Switzerland. In November, Etek Europe shall exhibit for the first time at Productronica in Hall A2, booth 520, which is an impressive 14m x 8m booth. On this stand we shall have a range of equipment including AOI, De-fluxing cleaning systems, contamination testing, fume extraction, and inline X-ray.