Molex has replicated its Dutch operation model globally

Founded in 1938, Molex is a leading one-source supplier of interconnect products. More than 33,000 employees design, develop, manufacture and distribute the company's portfolio of 100,000 products, from electronic, electrical and fiber optic interconnect solutions to switches and application tooling.

The company leverages extensive worldwide resources to meet customer needs on a local, regional and global level. Well-established sales, product development and manufacturing resources are located in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The engineering, development and manufacturing capabilities are organized into five product divisions which serve customers in a variety of industries, including the telecom, datacom, computer/ peripherals, automotive, premise wiring, industrial, consumer, medical and military markets.

In 1978 Molex opened a Dutch sales office in Eindhoven to cover the Benelux region. In 1994 when the European sales and logistics structures were re-organized the company established a European warehouse and service center (known internally as MIG). In April 2007 Molex expanded its MIG operation into a new state-of-the-art 3,100-square-meter facility with updated technology capabilities. Approximately 100 employees representing 20 nationalities work at the MIG facility and a nearby warehouse operated by Molex's logistics partner Bax employs another 30.

Over the last five years Molex has doubled its worldwide sales from $1.7 billion to $3.3 billion. In the fiscal year of 2008 the Eindhoven site serviced more than $500 million of Molex sales.

The centralized distribution system used by MIG offers several advantages over the European region's former multi-location distribution system. MIG receives product orders from sales offices throughout Europe and then places orders with Molex manufacturing sites worldwide (59 plants in 19 countries). MIG then receives the product from the plants, fills the orders, creates invoices and arranges shipment of orders to customers. The company ships 40,000 SKUs (part numbers) per quarter from Eindhoven.

According to Vice Chairman and CEO Martin Slark, "With all the imported products held in one location, inventory management is much more efficient, reducing lead times to customers. Centralization has helped control freight and clearance costs because there is just one point of entry for all imports and the volume makes it possible to negotiate better rates with forwarding companies."

The Netherlands' strong logistics environment, well-educated workforce and proximity to Schiphol airport and the Port of Rotterdam were major factors in locating one of Molex's five global distribution centers in Eindhoven. This operation "represents a model that we intend to replicate on a global basis," says Slark. "The establishment of the European Union gave us an opportunity to serve a broad area. We have learned how to operate efficiently and successfully and are now using this model to set up our operation in China."

"We service more countries from the Eindhoven location than any of our other global distribution centers. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the operation, the skill level of our employees and the outstanding logistics that are available,".