Verical Communications » News

Arrow Electronics Acquires Converge and Verical, Inc.

Verical — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:24:23 +0000

Acquisitions provide services across the entire product lifecycle
MELVILLE, N.Y., Apr 06, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) today announced agreements to acquire Converge, a leading provider of reverse logistics services, and Verical, Inc., a unique ecommerce marketplace geared toward meeting the end-of-life components and parts shortage needs of customers.

”These acquisitions complement Arrow’s global strategy by providing comprehensive services across the entire product lifecycle for suppliers and customers,” said Michael J. Long, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Arrow Electronics. “Reverse logistics is a rapidly growing area, and this acquisition builds on Arrow’s global capabilities as a supply chain and logistics expert. The addition of Verical also further strengthens our ecommerce capabilities.”

Converge, with 350 employees, is headquartered in Peabody, Mass., with offices in Singapore and Amsterdam, including support centers throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas. Verical is based in San Francisco.

The acquisitions are expected to be accretive to earnings by $.05 to $.10 per share annually post closing of the Converge transaction. The Converge deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close in May 2010, while the Verical acquisition has been completed.

Arrow Electronics (www.arrow.com) is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for over 900 suppliers and 125,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 310 locations in 51 countries and territories.

Safe Harbor

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. This press release includes forward-looking statements, including statements addressing future financial results. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or facts to differ materially from such statements for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to: industry conditions, the company’s implementation of its new global financial system and the company’s planned implementation of its new enterprise resource planning system, changes in product supply, pricing and customer demand, competition, other vagaries in the global components and global ECS markets, changes in relationships with key suppliers, increased profit margin pressure, the effects of additional actions taken to become more efficient or lower costs, the company’s ability to generate additional cash flow and the other risks described from time to time in the company’s reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q). Forward-looking statements are those statements, which are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements can be identified by forward-looking words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” and similar expressions. Shareholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any of the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Arrow Electronics, Inc.

Arrow Electronics, Inc.
Michael Taunton, 631-847-5680
Vice President & Treasurer
or
Paul J. Reilly, 631-847-1872
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
or
Media:
John Hourigan, 303-824-4586
Director, External Communications

Arrow Electronics Acquires Converge and Verical, Inc.

Press Release: Verical’s Toolbar Shows Discount Prices of In-stock Electronic Components in Browser Bar

Verical — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:26:07 +0000

Buyers See Part Numbers, Prices and Quantities for Inventory In-Stock at Verical’s Factory Outlet—without Navigating to Verical.com

Firefox extension gives buyers immediate, always-on access to Verical inventory information
Auto-complete feature displays drop-down lists of matches as shoppers key in part number searches
Download the Verical Toolbar at https://www.verical.com/extensions

SAN FRANCISCO — February 22, 2010 — Verical, Inc., the online factory outlet for electronic components, today announced the Verical Toolbar, a Firefox web browser extension that lets users quickly and easily search the company’s extensive catalog of electronic components through a search box located in the browser bar. With the Verical toolbar, buyers can browse Verical’s in-stock inventory and bargain prices—without navigating to Verical’s website located at https://www.verical.com. Available now, the Verical Toolbar can be downloaded at https://www.verical.com/extensions/.

“Our new plug-in toolbar gives buyers, engineers and others an instant search tool to spot check prices and availability at Verical without needing to open a new window and navigate to our site,” said Josef Ruef, co-founder and CEO at Verical. “This toolbar is just one of many features that Verical offers to improve the efficiency of its user’s search experience, by rendering data in a way that makes it extremely consumable—information rich, yet easy to understand and act on. Our mission is to provide shoppers with all the data and tools they need to make informed buying decisions as immediately as their circumstances dictate.”

Other customer-driven features recently announced for the Verical Marketplace include the Bid Button, a one-click icon that delivers eye-popping bargains on selected clearance inventory available at https://www.verical.com, and Demand Match™, the industry’s only bulk search tool that matches open requirements with available supply automatically.

After adding the Verical Toolbar to the Firefox browser, users simply type in the part number they are looking for, and the toolbar will display a drop-down list of the parts available at Verical that match the search. To expedite searches, the toolbar’s auto-complete feature guides users as part numbers are keyed-in, by progressively refining the match list with each keystroke entered. Selecting one of the parts from the list will take users to the Verical site, where they can research and purchase the part. Going forward, the company will introduce a Verical Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Chrome.

For buyers who need parts delivered “yesterday,” Verical’s new toolbar provides ready access to factory direct inventory, at discount prices. Keying in the first few digits of a part number will instantly reveal parts orderable on demand, replete with pricing and quantity available.

For more information on Verical, Inc., please visit https://www.verical.com. For additional perspectives, visit and subscribe to the Verical blog at http://blog.verical.com/, and follow Verical on Twitter at @Verical and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Verical.

Additional Resources

Verical Website: https://www.verical.com

Company Overview: https://www.verical.com/about/

Newsroom: https://www.verical.com/about/resources/newsroom.html

Blog: “The Electronic Components Source” http://blog.verical.com/

Verical on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Verical

Verical on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Verical

Industry Insights: presentations, articles, websites; https://www.verical.com/about/resources/industry.html

Counterfeit White Paper: “The Real Solution to Fake Parts: Securing Supply Chains through Data Transparency and Better Market Design”; http://bit.ly/counterfeitwhitepaper

About Verical

Verical is the creator of the Verical marketplace, an online factory outlet for electronic components that provides buyers traceable, branded goods at discount prices. Top manufacturers and franchised distributors publish slow-moving inventory to Verical to optimize prices and yields anonymously. Founded in 2007, Verical is a San Francisco-based start-up backed by Valhalla Partners. The company is experiencing rapid growth with over 27,000 parts available today in the Verical outlet at www.verical.com.

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DemandMatch is a trademark of Verical, Inc. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Tags: Verical Marketplace Toolbar, Firefox, browser bar, electronic components, distribution, electronic component catalog, electronic components factory outlet, excess inventory, online catalog, shortage purchasing, shortages, supply chain, supply chain integrity, supply chain security, inventory, manufacturing, Bid Button, DemandMatch, Internet Explorer, Chrome

Media Contact:

Susan D’Elia, media relations for Verical

TECHMarket Communications

650.344.1260

Susan@TECHMarket.com

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Slashing Sourcing Times for Electronic Components Buyers

Verical — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:34:49 +0000

Slashing Sourcing Times for Electronic Components Buyers

Electronics Advocate: Verical purchasing tool cuts sourcing time

Verical — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:28:58 +0000

Verical purchasing tool cuts sourcing time

By: Gina Roos, Electronics Advocate

http://www.electronicsadvocate.com/2010/02/05/verical-purchasing-tool-cuts-sourcing-time/

Press Release: Verical “DemandMatch” Slashes Sourcing Times for Electronic Components Shortage Buyers

Verical — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:34:39 +0000

Bulk Search Tool Matches Open Orders with Available Supply for Multiple Shortages

DemandMatch™ automates workflow to shrink sourcing time from hours or days to minutes
Online catalog eliminates the spreadsheets, phone calls and web searches used by buyers spending 40 percent of their time sourcing 1 percent of their parts purchases
Industry-first sourcing feature only available on Verical

SAN FRANCISCO — February 3, 2010 — Verical, Inc., the online outlet for electronic components, today announced DemandMatch™, the industry’s only bulk search tool that matches open requirements with available supply automatically. With DemandMatch, open requirements generated by planning systems are matched with available supply at www.verical.com, segmented, and returned via email to the buyers responsible for purchasing the components. Available now, DemandMatch dramatically reduces the time it takes buyers to procure parts “on demand,” slashing sourcing time from hours or days to minutes.

“Parts shortages are weekly, hair-on-fire problems for EMS companies,” said Chris Cookson, vice president of operations for Verical. “When a production line goes down, it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day in lost revenue and market share. Worse still, if orders are perishable then each lost sale impacts the bottom line at the gross margin level. EMS companies spend anywhere from one to ten percent of their total material spend filling shortages by sourcing from the secondary market. Buyers typically spend over 40 percent of their time sourcing the 1 percent of the parts they purchase to cover shortages. DemandMatch puts out the fire, saving companies time and money while keeping production lines up and running.”

DemandMatch automates the workflow for sourcing time-critical components that can’t be obtained through the primary channel. On a weekly basis, buyers armed with spreadsheets and telephones spend countless hours calling distributors and brokers, hunting down parts needed to fill gaps between planned and actual parts requirements. Despite the huge outlay of time, these “on demand” requirements make up only one to two percent of the total parts purchased. DemandMatch compresses sourcing time to zero by processing open requirements sent automatically from buyers’ enterprise planning systems and notifying buyers of matches via email within minutes.

DemandMatch in Detail

DemandMatch delivers in-stock supply information to buyers with extremely short deadlines, allowing them to fill their time-critical needs for production shortages, new product introduction builds, and repair orders. Groups of factories can be served simultaneously. DemandMatch emails buyers only when exact matches or drop-in replacement upgrades are available for immediate purchase and delivery. Buyers need only click on hyperlinks embedded in the email to view matches.

The DemandMatch process begins when Verical receives an electronic requirements report from the planning systems of participating OEM and EMS companies. These lists may be submitted in any electronic format, including industry-standard protocols such as RosettaNet, web services, XML, cXML, xCBL or EDI. Alternatively, buyers may upload lists directly to the Verical website by registering and then clicking on the “Buyer’s Workbench” tab.

After the requirements list is submitted to Verical, DemandMatch automatically generates match lists and segments them by buyer. The individualized match lists are subsequently emailed to each buyer. Each email includes hyperlinks that navigate users to matches in the Verical outlet. There, buyers review the matches against their open requirements, select the parts they wish to buy and check out.

Cookson, who held the position of VP, supply chain solutions at Solectron prior to joining Verical, said, “DemandMatch delivers component solutions to buyers in advance of the Monday morning shortage meeting, provided that their planning systems are calibrated to send information to Verical after running over the weekend. If our automated tool can enable buyers to get parts in the air two days earlier than through a manual sourcing process, we’ve reduced their risk considerably. Their lines stay up, penalties are avoided, and they can deliver their finished products on time.”

For more information on Verical, Inc., please visit https://www.verical.com. For additional perspectives, visit and subscribe to the Verical blog at http://www.verical.com/comm/category/blog, and follow Verical on Twitter at @Verical.

Additional Resources

Verical Website: https://www.verical.com

Company Overview: https://www.verical.com/about/

Newsroom: http://www.verical.com/comm/category/news

Blog: “The Electronic Components Source” http://www.verical.com/comm/category/blog

Verical on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Verical

Verical on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Verical

Industry Insights: presentations, articles, websites; https://www.verical.com/about/resources/industry.html

Counterfeit White Paper: “The Real Solution to Fake Parts: Securing Supply Chains through Data Transparency and Better Market Design”; http://bit.ly/counterfeitwhitepaper

About Verical

Verical is the creator of the Verical marketplace, an online outlet for electronic components that provides buyers traceable, branded goods at discount prices. Top manufacturers and franchised distributors publish slow-moving inventory to Verical to optimize prices and yields anonymously. Founded in 2007, Verical is a San Francisco-based start-up backed by Valhalla Partners. The company is experiencing rapid growth with over 27,000 parts available today in the Verical outlet at www.verical.com.

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DemandMatch is a registered trademark of Verical. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Tags: electronic components, distribution, electronic component catalog, electronic components outlet, excess inventory, online catalog, shortage purchasing, shortages, supply chain integrity, supply chain security, DemandMatch

Media Contact:

Susan D’Elia, media relations for Verical

TECHMarket Communications

650.344.1260

Susan@TECHMarket.com

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Verical Debuts One-click Buying Capability for Electronic Components Outlet

Verical — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:19:38 +0000

Verical Debuts One-click Buying Capability for Electronic Components Outlet

Verical “Bid Button” Provides Bargains, Greater Convenience in Electronic Components Outlet

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:02:03 +0000

Buyers, Sellers Gain Fast, Hassle-Free Price Negotiations and Immediate, Definitive Results

One-click icon automates price negotiations between buyers and sellers
Bid Button eliminates protracted haggling by phone or email, letting buyers know in seconds whether their bids are accepted or rejected
Industry-first feature only available on Verical

SAN FRANCISCO — January 20, 2010 — Verical, Inc., the online outlet for electronic components, today announced the Bid Button, a one-click icon found on listings of clearance inventory at www.verical.com available from top manufacturers and franchised distributors of electronic components. Clicking the Bid Button (available on selected listings only) enables bargain shoppers to get great deals when bids exceed specially discounted and unpublished reserve prices set by suppliers. Winning bids are accepted instantaneously. Available now, the Bid Button automates price negotiations between buyers and sellers, providing fast, hassle-free negotiations and immediate, definitive results.

A first for the electronics industry, the Bid Button streamlines the typically drawn out, inefficient process of haggling. The Bid Button lets buyers submit bids on select components at below-published prices — and get immediate confirmation of a bid’s acceptance or rejection — as part of the Verical checkout process. Meanwhile, sellers can set both published prices and secret reserve prices at the time they list their components, enabling automated negotiations with bargain-hunting buyers.

“The Bid Button lets buyers and sellers quickly and easily negotiate component prices without haggling,” said co-founder Josef Ruef, president and CEO at Verical. “Nobody wants to spend hours watching bids on auction sites or haggling over the phone or by email. Buyers don’t want to deal with aggressive salespeople. And sellers want an easy-to-use mechanism that optimizes yields on slow-moving inventory assets, without adding new layers of cost or complexity to their operations. With the Bid Button, buyers offer prices they are willing to pay, and sellers set secret prices they are willing to accept that are lower than published prices on the listing. We’ve managed to conveniently generate the best prices for buyers and sellers alike.”

Bid Button in Action

A Bid Button icon appears next to any component that a seller is willing to sell at a below-list price. To date, approximately five percent of components in the Verical outlet have Bid Buttons appearing next to them. That percentage will increase over time. Clicking the Bid Button initiates the following bidding process:

The buyer fills out shipping and billing information, which is submitted along with the below-list bid, e.g., an $0.80 bid for a component listed at $1.00.
If the seller accepts the bid, the buyer is immediately notified with a message confirming both acceptance and order information.
If the seller rejects the bid, the buyer is immediately notified with a message confirming rejection and inviting a second, higher bid.

Ruef added, “A buyer might balk at paying a dollar for a component, but be perfectly willing to spend ninety cents. Meanwhile, a seller might be willing to sell that component for eighty cents, but doesn’t want to publish that price publicly for fear of eroding prices in primary channels. The Bid Button gives both parties a quick and easy way to negotiate a transaction that isn’t advertised but makes them both happy.”

Additional Resources

Verical Website: https://www.verical.com

Company Overview: https://www.verical.com/about/

Newsroom: https://www.verical.com/about/resources/newsroom.html

Blog: “The Electronic Components Source” http://blog.verical.com/

Verical on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Verical

Verical on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Verical

Industry Insights: presentations, articles, websites; https://www.verical.com/about/resources/industry.html

Counterfeit White Paper: “The Real Solution to Fake Parts: Securing Supply Chains through Data Transparency and Better Market Design”; http://bit.ly/counterfeitwhitepaper

About Verical

Verical is the creator of the Verical marketplace, an online outlet for electronic components that provides buyers traceable, branded goods at discount prices. Verical’s suppliers are top manufacturers and franchised distributors who use Verical’s self-service marketing platform to optimize yields on slow-moving inventory. Founded in 2007, Verical is a San Francisco-based start up backed by Valhalla Partners. The company is experiencing rapid growth with over 27,000 parts available today in the Verical outlet at www.verical.com.

All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contact:
Susan D’Elia, media relations for Verical
TECHMarket Communications
650.344.1260
Susan@TECHMarket.com

Evertiq: Tip 5: Seek out transparent catalog pricing

Verical — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:29:21 +0000

Tip 5: Seek out transparent catalog pricing

EMC Mag: The Rise of Counterfeiting

Verical — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:22:02 +0000

The Rise of Counterfeiting

Evertiq: Three Certainties in Life: Death, Taxes, and the Forecast is Wrong!

Verical — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:19:20 +0000

Three Certainties in Life: Death, Taxes, and the Forecast is Wrong!