View from the Channel 01732 759725 32 Recent supply chain problems highlight the need for resellers to keep talking to vendors, says D-Link’s Neil Patel “We couldn’t send them abroad because Spain wouldn’t accept the crisps and Germany wouldn’t let in the shortbread. There's no such thing as an easy delivery anymore. Everything has become so cumbersome. “People still have the mindset that they can order something and it will just come in. But our warehouse is located in Holland and something that used to take five days to arrive can now take two and a half weeks due to a lack of clearance or a lack of capacity.” Brexit is not the only complication. Supply chain disruption linked to the pandemic and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine is another difficulty that D-Link, like other vendors, has had to contend with over the last 18 months. “Logistics is a big challenge, with component shortages and component vendors and manufacturers going ‘Look, I can give you such and such a product, but you will have to wait for it’. One vendor quoted me a 100-week lead time and then added: ‘It's 100 weeks, but if you pay 25% more, I can get it to you in 40 weeks’.” Other dubious practices include supplies spoofing (or stock bait) where suppliers entice visitors to their site by advertising quantities of a particular product that they don’t actually have in the hope that they will be able to sell them an alternative; and advertised prices bearing no relation to the true cost of a product that are just there to draw traffic to a site. Patel adds that these problems are compounded by a lack of planning on the part of resellers and end user customers. “Much as we live in a global world, with access to global information, at the end of the day everyone lives in their own bubble and doesn't consider how things can impact them. A partner, not from the UK, recently turned around and said ‘I want these Nuclias devices delivered next week’. And it's like ‘Whoa, we didn’t know you needed it because you haven't told us that you needed it’. People expect stuff to be delivered immediately but if they don't engage with suppliers early enough, they won't get allocation, they won't get what they need and they won't get it at the price they want. Partners and even end user customers are still under the impression that they can just pick the phone up and go ‘Oh, I can see it on XYZ, let me just order that and wait for it to be delivered’. Patel points out that supplies shortages are easing now, but even so he believes events of the last 18 months have produced a long-lasting, fundamental shift in supply chain capabilities. “I think we’re going back to the situation six, nine, probably closer to 20 years ago when we didn't have seamless logistics or that expectation that something you order this afternoon will be on your doorstep the following day. To make sure you get what you need, you have to plan, schedule a delivery date and agree a price. This is the situation we now have in the UK and elsewhere.” This, he says, applies equally to customers wanting industrial routers for large, long-term smart infrastructure and smart city projects – a growing area of focus for D-Link – and smaller resellers at the SMB, small public sector level (e.g. schools) where D-Link has traditionally been strongest, who tend to operate on an ad hoc basis and rely on a conveyor belt of projects for revenue and cash flow. “D-Link’s whole ethos is to be approachable, to be always available, so if you need somebody to come with you to see a customer, we have somebody who will do that; if you need help planning a network, we’ve got people to help you do that. That level of approachability gives us Rising demand for network and connectivity products driven by new technologies and new working practices helped D-Link to achieve a double-digit increase in UK sales in 2022. However, sales could have been even higher had it not been for well publicised IT industry supply chain problems caused by a multitude of factors, from Brexit and Chinese Covid policies to the war in Ukraine. Neil Patel, Director of European Marketing and Business Development at D-Link, got a flavour of what was in store this time last year when he attempted to send EMEA team members a Christmas hamper full of delicacies from across the region, including crisps from England and Scottish shortbread – only to be thwarted by Brexit-related bureaucracy. Keep talking Neil Patel
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