Chip-Tech

  “We can do it” says Rob Glenn, president of the Long Island , N.Y. – based Chip-Tech, Ltd.  “And if we can’t, we’ll find a way.  Saying no is not our job.”

   This is what greets account specialist trainees on their first day and it seems to be a basic tenet in the structure of Chip-Tech, which began servicing manufacturing facilities in Reynosa eight years ago. 

   Says Vice President Neal Stevens, “We try to separate ourselves from the competition by never letting that human factor be eclipsed by technology.  We continually introduce new systems, technology and software, but the phones are still answered by people, people who solve supply problems for manufacturers. “

  Since its inception in 1989, this electronic component distribution company has built a working platform from which it can compete with the largest distributors in the electronics industry.  And compete it does, having been selected by Johnson Controls as systems products supplier of the year for 2001.

   “Sure, selling is part of the task at hand,” Steven adds, “but it is more that that.  We work hard to put together a program that will make the customer want to do business with us.”  The effort has paid off.  Customer’s purchasing, engineering and production departments have come to equate Chip-Tech with quality, reliability and dependability.

   As a result of that thinking each account is analyzed to determine the best approach to the supply problem.  Does the account require custom bar coding?  Which form of consolidated billing is best to help contain the customer’s paper handling cots?

   Is an In-Plant Store the best solution?  In one instance Chip-Tech is tracking 800 different components for delivery to the line within 15 minutes.  What about the ability to supply allocated items?  Inventory management that can reduce the customer’s on shelf liability.  Working with a customer’s engineering department to locate lower cost alternative components.  Standardized delivery plant to avoid incoming freight charges to the customer. 

   The infrastructure needed to support these efforts is large.  Hundreds of man-hours have been invested in building the systems and controls needed to operate accurately and efficiently.  This effort has been a matter of continual growth and reinvestment.  As the project evolved and took shape, Chip-Tech sought and gained ISO 9002 certification. 

   Monitoring all aspects of the Texas and Mexico operations from Chip-Tech’s Long Island , N.Y. facility virtually in real time – was again no easy feat, but was accomplished and is fully operational.  And the plan hasn’t lost the essence of the Chip-Tech philosophy; key personnel visit the region regularly. Management thinking is clearly heads up and hands on.

   Looking forward Chip-Tech is currently opening a local Texas sales office to bring closer even their support effort for the Reynosa marketplace.  The new office located on South 33rd Street in the Foreign Trade Zone in McAllen , Texas , will be outfitted with a sample room and library for the localengineers.  The overall facility has a large conference area in which engineeringseminars, amongst other will be hosted.

   Chip-Tech is taking aim at even more maquiladoras in Reynosa and Matamoros with an eye towards the west as Juarez and Tijuana are in this company’s growth plan.