This is the result of the company’s continued investments in expanding the scope of its global inventory portfolio, and further developments of its e-commerce capabilities. The business planned to add 250,000 new SKUs through FY22 and has so far delivered 63% of that total, with the existing global portfolio now approaching one million products. Additional investments in e-Commerce capabilities, new product introductions and continued support for the online engineering community were also key drivers of growth.

In e-Commerce, Farnell continues to strengthen its offering, with more than 72% of transactional orders placed online through the quarter, which represents Farnell’s historically best quarter with 56% of Farnell sales taking place online. This marks the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of online sales growth.

Rob Rospedzihowski, President Sales, EMEA, said: “We are pleased with these latest results which, following equally impressive results in Q2, is especially encouraging as we continue to demonstrate strong performance in FY22 to date.

“Online continues to be a major focus area for our business and play a key role in both our growth and improved customer offering, as we commit to delivering a vastly enhanced web experience. The result of this is that we now see over 70% of our sales and orders being placed through e-Commerce avenues, while we continue to differentiate our product offering through launching new supplier lines and expanding in core and new segments.”

Farnell’s expansive inventory remains a key priority for the Avnet group and was a critical driver of Avnet’s adjusted operating margin reaching 4.7% in the quarter, as well as Avnet’s gross margin rising from 12.2% to 12.5%.

The EMEA region achieved record quarterly results despite Farnell ending all business interests in Russia alongside the ongoing challenges relating to market uncertainty and increased lead times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This success was particularly driven by an increase in demand from the industrial, security and transportation industries

Rospedzihowski, commented: “Our global demand indicators remain strong. And while challenges remain in terms of backorder fulfilment, our ongoing success is a direct result of the resilience and commitment our employees have demonstrated; our customers who remain a delight to service; and our suppliers who have remained steadfast and responsive as we collectively look to deliver further successful operating results throughout the calendar year ahead and beyond.”

Read Avnet’s Third Quarter Fiscal 2023 Financial Results in full, and find out how Farnell is supporting customer journeys here.

Avnet, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVT) announced results for its second quarter ending 1 January, 2022 with record revenues. These results were driven by strong performance from the Farnell business with sales increasing 35.3% YoY to $441 million. Farnell’s operating margin grew to 13.7% in Q2, reflecting the strength of performance globally, up from 10.9% in Q1 and 8.3% in the final quarter of FY21.

Farnell’s growth has been driven in large part by continued investments in expanding the global product portfolio. The business planned to add 250,000 new SKUs through FY22 and has so far delivered 55% of that total, with the existing global portfolio now approaching one million products. Additional investments in e-Commerce capabilities, new product introductions and continued support for the online engineering community were also key drivers of growth.

In e-Commerce, Farnell continues to strengthen its offering, with over 71% of transactional orders placed online through the quarter, rising above 85% in some European countries. Having already seen a 15% uplift in orders and a 30% increase in traffic, additional investments in the digital offering over the coming quarters will continue to drive increased traffic and customer acquisitions.

Rob Rospedzihowski, President Sales, EMEA, said: “We are really pleased with performance in FY22 to date and Q2 results were especially strong. The business is well positioned to weather macro-challenges and continue delivering the very best in High Service Distribution through the new calendar year.

“We have significantly invested in e-Commerce projects currently underway including the brand-new content management system and the investment in major headless commerce developments. These, in turn, will create a world-class experience for users, personalising and curating both content and product based upon the user’s own unique experience of the Farnell sites. The global digital platforms will become more flexible and efficient with better integration, all of which is being designed with customers in mind.”

Farnell’s breadth of inventory remains a key priority for the Avnet group and was a critical driver of Avnet adjusted operating margin hitting 3.7% in the quarter, as well as Avnet’s gross margin rising from 11.8% to 12.2%.

New additions to Farnell’s linecard include Omega, Torex Semiconductor, Excelsys, Delta Electronics and CTS Corporation, as well as expansions to existing lines from Omron, Amphenol, TE Connectivity and CUI Inc. Brand new products from leading brands such as Raspberry Pi, Broadcom, Nexperia and others have also been introduced.

In EMEA, sales performance was driven across all key market segments with the strongest performance in the DACH region. Vertical markets such as Electrical, Connectivity, and the Contract Manufacturing sector showed the greatest growth and this is expected to continue in the coming quarters.

In North America, overall Q2 Sales grew strongly with particularly good performance in IP&E and Semiconductor categories. Newark e-Commerce sales also crossed the $1 million per day mark in January and this is expected to continue in the coming quarters.

In APAC, strong sales performance was driven predominantly by market segments such as Industrial Automation, Medical and EMS. There are excellent growth opportunities in electric vehicles, renewables and automobile markets in coming quarters.

Rob Rospedzihowski, President Sales, EMEA, said: “Our performance is a testament to our incredible employees across the globe. They have shown great resilience and commitment to the business, to our customers and to our suppliers over the last year and we are focused on delivering further successful operating results for our customers in the quarters to come.”

“We’re also looking ahead with great excitement as we recruit a VP of Customer Relations, take our new state-of-the-art UK distribution centre into full operation and roll-out agile working practices across the global business to ensure adaptability for any challenges to come.”

Read Avnet’s Second Quarter Fiscal 2022 Financial Results in full, and find out how Farnell is supporting customer journeys here.

Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, has today announced the results of its Women in Engineering 2021 survey. Results showed positive support for women in engineering from all genders and a great similarity between the opinions of men and women about the need to address gender equality. While women remain underrepresented in the engineering/electronics industry, the latest research from Farnell highlighted that people believe the most important thing to achieve is the equal treatment of all genders.

This year’s survey of more than 370 people globally showed that all genders have similar views about the benefits women bring to the engineering industry and believe that inequality needs to be addressed. A key step to addressing inequality is introduce more women into leadership positions where they can act as role models and mentors to other women in the industry. While women clearly experience sexism in engineering, and all genders were united in their belief that this should not happen, respondents of other genders were more in favour of implementing stronger and more strictly enforced equality policies to prevent sexism in the workplace.

Although research showed strong agreement on many issues, there were some key differences uncovered. Research revealed that women were more likely to cite good pay as a benefit of working in engineering, however, they believe that the gender pay gap is still an issue. Women were also less worried about the need to travel for work than other genders think. Only 15% of women surveyed suggested reduced travel would be helpful, in comparison to 25% of all other respondents believing this to be important for women.

Farnell, in partnership with element14.com, an Avnet community, released the results from the Women in Engineering 2021 survey to coincide with International Women in Engineering Day and help shed light on women’s experiences and career paths as well as the wider challenges and opportunities in the engineering/electronics industry. The survey was open to all genders and ran for three months between March and May 2021. Most respondents were aged between 25 to 54 and just over half cited they had more than 10 years’ experience in the industry.

Rob Rospedzihowski, President Sales for Farnell EMEA said, “The industry has come a long way but we can always do a better job, and the job is never finished. This centres on equality and fairness for all. Women have told us that they don’t want to be part of a quota – they want to be recognised for what they do and given the opportunity to show what they can do. This is a hugely important message to get out. It’s about recognising each person in your team and your business as an individual. On Women in Engineering day I encourage this conversation. Ask yourselves, your colleagues and your teams ‘’What can we do better?’ because it’s through these conversations that we can make change happen.”

Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14 says: “This important research has enabled us to  gain valuable insights directly from members of our industry, allowing us to better understand what is working well for women in the workplace and what could be improved. The survey identified some clear challenges for our industry, however, the results also offered a positive outlook for the future with both sexes presenting united views on topical issues such as the need to enforce stronger equality policies. We look forward to sharing some of the amazing success stories from women who are already achieving great things in our industry. Women should have confidence in themselves and their abilities to continue inspiring others and to drive positive change in engineering.”

The survey unearthed many anecdotal success stories showcasing how women are contributing to the electronics industry, including:

• “During my time as an intern…I have worked on/taken charge of projects for some bigger companies. Some of those projects were worth more than $1 million. This was all done while attending school full time and working full-time.”
• “My proudest achievement is taking a failing electronics manufacturing business unit and completely turning it around. My second would be stepping into a leadership role and setting a record for highest employee engagement and satisfaction in the manufacturing organisation.”
• “Taking over a project that was failing which included the creation of a new API with a third party and turning it around to the point where the company I was working for in the past won an award for its successful delivery.”
• “Writing an oscilloscope display program to display the results of data gathered from tests on a monitor back when oscilloscopes were only analogue and did not have any way to accept any sort of external data source.”

There was an overwhelming response from all genders encouraging women to be more confident, trust in their abilities and take on the challenge of working in engineering. Some of the top drivers leading women to enjoy a career in engineering included the opportunity to work on diverse projects (23%), getting a preview of what’s coming next in technology and seeing that come to life (15%), flexibility and work/life balance (12%).