A PD&D Exclusive Interview with Digi-Key Vice President of Marketing, Steve Tsukichi

"We know that design engineers do not just work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday." -Steve Tsukichi

PD&D: How do you work to improve time-to-market for design engineers? What has worked best in improving time-to-market in your experience?

Tsukichi: The obvious answer for Digi-Key is our extremely high percentage of in-stock ready-to-ship inventory; our same-day shipping service that allows a customer to order as late as 8 p.m. and still receive his or her order the next morning; and our award-winning website. However, there is much more that Digi-Key does to help design engineers deal with time-to-market issues.

The ability to obtain technical information in a fast and efficient way, and have it available when needed is critical to a design engineer. Digi-Key’s catalog, with its technical specifications and drawings, has long been referred to as a technical manual as well as a buying tool. In addition, Digi-Key’s website contains a wealth of technical information, including spec sheets, white papers, product training modules and technology portals, and it also allows the customer to place a prototype order 24/7.

PD&D: What emerging trends are you seeing in the market, and which do you expect to continue to grow?

Tsukichi: Certainly the Internet has been a significant new tool for design engineers. We expect this trend to continue as websites develop new and innovative ways to deliver the information engineers need to do their jobs. Social networks, such as blogs, MySpace and YouTube, are examples of this continuing trend.

PD&D: How do you work to offer greater cost reductions to design engineers throughout their development process? How does this affect time-to-market?

Tsukichi: Within the design cycle, the cost of components is one of the smaller pieces of the whole. Providing easy-to-find, up-to-date technical information and assistance exactly when engineers need it, in addition to a broad selection of ready-to-ship parts that can be delivered quickly, are functions that have a much larger impact on overall design cost.

Digi-Key is working hard to improve these services. For example, the company is constantly rolling out both large and small improvements to our website. These improvements are added in as they are ready rather than being accumulated for the purpose of making a big splash. This allows our customers to use the changes immediately and explains why you do not usually see massive changes to our website. Rather, our website evolves over time with improvements that seem gradual, but are really being executed as they are tested and become ready for production.

Another improvement we are making is the availability of our sales, customer service and quote services. We know that design engineers do not just work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition, design projects are often worked on in multiple locations around the world. This means that engineers need extended access to some key services. To that end, Digi-Key’s technical staff is available from 6 p.m. Sunday through 6 a.m. on Saturday, and our sales team, customer service representatives and quote services are now available 24/7/365 to enable customers to access those departments at any time of the day or night throughout the entire year.