MWJ: Can you give us a little background and history on Pasternack for those not familiar with your company?
TJ: Pasternack was established in 1972 as a supplier of high-quality RF and microwave components. Several years later it became obvious that there was a need in the marketplace for a company that could ship high quality products not in the weeks or even months typical of the industry but the same day they are ordered. This required a major revision to our product and business model that was unique in the industry. The concept was almost immediately successful and has since been expanded to cover more than 48 different types of products and has firmly established the company in the electronics industry supply chain.
MWJ: What do you see as the major growth markets/opportunities for Pasternack in the near term?
TJ: RF and microwave technology has become embedded in an enormous array of consumer, commercial, industrial, and defense products, which has expanded our opportunities more than ever before. As Pasternack continually works to identify and make available new components that will be required in these applications, we see growth everywhere. Some of the commercial opportunities include carrier wireless and Wi-Fi hotspots, distributed antenna systems, microwave point-to-point links for backhaul, weather and air traffic control radar, satellite, and RFID. There are still and will continue to be extensive opportunities in defense systems, from radar, to electronic warfare, SIGINT, all type of communications systems, and many others. It’s also important to remember that the “Internet of Things” is largely enabled by wireless communications and this market is only just now beginning to take shape.
MWJ: Pasternack provides a wide variety of products well beyond cables and connectors – how many product lines do you have and can you highlight a few new ones that have been added?
TJ: Our four dozen product categories cover interconnects, active and passive components, and test & measurement. Pasternack is widely recognized for its interconnect product capabilities, especially the ability to provide an enormous range of custom-built cables that ship the same day they are ordered. While these products will always be a major element of Pasternack’s product line, we are also significantly investing in our active and passive product lines as well. During the last year we have expanded these lines with the goal of becoming the world’s largest supplier of immediately-available amplifiers, switches, limiters, detectors, attenuators, and waveguide components as well as many hi-rel products. Our product management and engineering support teams are making good progress toward that goal.
MWJ: What types of applications support do you offer?
TJ: Technical support is one of the most important services we offer our customers. The number and type of products that we carry on our shelves is the direct result of our engineers being able to communicate with customers and define their needs to align components with applications. All of our product managers and application specialists are RF engineers and technicians. Our sales and service staff can respond to general technical questions, guiding customers through product selection to identify the best component compatibility and performance match-ups for their applications. RF Engineers provide an additional layer of support and are available to consult on a wide range of application solutions.
MWJ: Pasternack recently published new portfolio of RF Calculators and Conversion Tools to Pasternack.com – what did these include and how can they assist engineers?
TJ: Engineers are always looking for efficient, effective tools to help them in their work. The “Engineer Resource Center” on our Web site includes new RF calculators and converters, bringing the total to more than 30 types ranging from RF power conversion to coaxial cable impedance, link budget, VSWR and return loss, free-space path loss, wavelength calculation, and many others. The resource center is a place where engineers, buyers, and students can learn more about RF technology, and find assistance for research and development. It’s also a place where our customers can tell us what they think, what we are missing, and anything else that will help us serve them better.
MWJ: The company prides itself on top-notch customer service, what metrics do you use to measure and improve customer service?
TJ: We expect every member of our sales and service and technical support teams to focus on providing our customers with an exemplary experience. Through constant monitoring, training, customer surveying and feedback loops, we are always listening to our customers’ needs to ensure we provide a superior purchasing experience.
MWJ: Pasternack boasts 99.4% off-the-shelf availability with same-day shipping available on more than 40,000 Products. How does the company enable this kind of delivery on so many products?
TJ: This capability is critically important to our success and is one of our key competitive differentiators. The last thing we would ever need is for a customer to contact us for a part they urgently need only to find it unavailable. That would negate our basic mission and fortunately it doesn’t often happen. Our product management team, procurement department, and production staff have established processes designed to ensure we maintain our stock level of more than 99.4%. We also employ sophisticated proprietary forecasting models, software algorithms, and other tools to support them.
MWJ: How many different distribution partners do you have and how do you determine their location?
TJ: Pasternack sells direct to customers throughout North America via our Web site and catalog. We also have formal relationships with 19 partners that service more than 35 countries. Our presence in many of these territories was established to provide localized support to customers who were historically purchasing directly through our U.S. headquarters. Our international distributors service our customers with sales and technical support in local language, customs, and currency. Our partners work with us to provide translations for our marketing materials for each of the covered territories and provide us with valuable information concerning local product and service needs, especially technical support.
MWJ: What geographic areas offer the best growth opportunities for Pasternack and why?
TJ: We have increased our resources internationally in recent years. We opened a sales and marketing office in China earlier this year because we believe there is significant opportunity there for us. However, as the company was traditionally domestically oriented, we are still developing our resources throughout the world, and we have no doubt that our customer value proposition is as relevant outside of North America as within it.
MWJ: What are your major long-term goals and where do you see the company heading in the future?
TJ: Our primary goals combine those that we have always had with new ones based on our experience over the years. We will focus on maintaining our commitment to immediate delivery of RF and microwave products, providing a very high level of customer support, expanding our product lines to accommodate changing needs of the industry, and broadening our reach to encompass key markets throughout the world. As the company continues to grow it would be easy to lose sight of what has made it successful, and we never intend to let that happen.