Heilind Electronics Europe

WELL-CONNECTED FOR THE

FUTURE

Since its establishment seven years ago, Heilind Electronics Europe has gone from strength to strength: the company has just opened its new distribution centre in Poland, a strategic investment designed to further expand its business footprint in central and eastern Europe. Romana Moares reports.

Heilind Electronics Europe is part of the Heilind Group, the world’s leading specialist distributor of connectors and electromechanical components, which has grown to over 40 locations worldwide since its estab lishment in 1974. Following expansion into South America and Asia, the group entered Europe in 2015 by acquiring the MPS group of companies.

Since then, Heilind has continued to expand its influence across Europe to increase its customer base and help maintain rapid stock availability. “Heilind has been growing steadily, with over 1000 new customers generated so far and head count in Europe increasing from 119 in 2021 to an estimated 162 this year. That was despite the challenges of the last two years, which were severely affected by

the global pandemic,” said Stefan Barrig, Sales Director Heilind Electronics Europe. He pointed out that supply chain disrup tions have been handled well, and the company has worked with its business partners case-by-case to make sure access to sufficient levels of stock are secured to accommodate manufacturers’ require ments. As a result of good commu nications and solid partnerships with suppliers, this has been achieved, putting Heilind in a competitive position.

Meeting the need

The broad inventory of interconnect, electromechanical and sensor products from leading manufacturers around the world is a clear competitive advantage. The company stocks the widest selection of connectors, relays, sensors,

switches, thermal management and circuit protection products, terminal blocks, antennas, wires and cables, wiring acces sories, insulation and identification products in the industry.

On a global scale, Heilind has been recog nised as the #1 Electronics Distributor in customer service seven times by Bishop & Associates, having earned its ranking over the competitors based on the breadth of its product offering, on-time delivery, sales and technical support, and ease of doing business.

Dominik Grzesiak, Manager Product Department at Heilind Electronics Europe, explained that the wide portfolio of

prod ucts has been expanded on a regular basis, reflecting both market developments and customer require ments: “Over the last two years, the number of our customers in Europe has grown, demonstrating that awareness of the Heilind brand is increasing.”

“The customer-centric approach is one of our key strengths,” continued Mr Barrig. “We have a great sales team and we do not have a minimum order value; we are very flexible when meeting cus tomers’ requirements.”

“We also know exactly what we are selling,” added Mr Grzesiak. “Some competitors don’t focus so much on

the tech nical aspects and application engineering. We are specialists in intercon nectors, and we are able to accompany the customer from the beginning of the application, from the design phase and sampling to mass production. This is a clear differentiator.”

New distribution centre

Continued business growth called for new warehousing capacity, as the facilities in Germany were proving inadequate. As a result, the company has invested in a brandnew warehouse located in Mysłowice in southern Poland, a major milestone set to further boost business development.

“Defining the place and space for the investment was a big challenge,” reflected Mr Barrig, saying that from over 10 poten tial locations, the one that would bring the greatest benefit to the entire company had to be chosen.

“The new warehouse is of strategic impor tance for our organisation, and its loca tion had to enable the optimisation of all distribution and logistics processes,” he explained. “The building itself had to meet strict criteria, such as employee safety and minimised impact on the environment.

“In the end, the decision for south-west Poland was made following a number of detailed logistic analyses and by exam ining the flow of supplies to domestic and foreign recipients. This was supported by Mysłowice having become an important industrial district in recent years, sup ported by extensive infrastructure. This favourable geographic location of Upper Silesia provides great distribution oppor tunities,” he said.

Sustainable operations

Robert Sobiecki, Territory Business Manager CEE at Heilind Electronics Europe, affirmed that the opening of a new distribution centre, expanding Heilind's presence in the local market, has been welcomed by business partners. Manufacturers and customers alike appreciate the proximity of the warehouse, the proposed EDI solutions and the flexibility of Heilind's customer service.

Needless to say, the modern building meets strict environmental standards. Environmental sustainability, the buzzwords of today, naturally affects Heilind’s oper ations as well. The company is set to participate in Electronica, the largest electronic trade fair held in Munich in

November, an event promoting not just industrial and military components, Heilind’s specialisation, but focusing also on elec tric mobility, green energy and smart homes; areas presenting new opportunities.

“The complete EV market is evolving across Europe, and we have formed a dedicated team focused specifically on this area so that we can be ready to accommodate our customers' new needs,” noted Mr Grzesiak.

“Electrification does not affect just the automotive industry but other segments as well, such as tooling for example, where compressed air pro cesses may be replaced by battery driven appliances. All these areas are evolving, and we are watching market developments carefully.”

Performance – trust – innovation

Speaking about the future, Mr Barrig reflected that after two years of limited opportunities to build relationships with

existing and new partners, the company is ready to reach out. “In the coming months, we will increase our participation at trade fairs and exhibitions, showcasing innova tions as well as solution proposals from our leading partners in order to build increasing trust among our customers.

“The result will be a relentless drive to improve performance for new solutions proposed to the industrial market, in line with our slogan ‘Performance –Trust – Innovation’.”

While not imminent, expansion into addi tional European countries is ultimately in the pipeline, Mr Barrig concluded: “Our growth over the last seven years has been amazing. From a very small team of people, we have grown to a thriving business with over 160 dedicated employees. If we main tain our growth pace, we will double the size of the business in two years. Setting up physical presence in more countries in Europe is definitely on the agenda in the longer run.” n