Industry Focus
Blue Book for Success
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Sep 01, 2017
Anixter has a Blue Book that
serves as a corporate bible;
Pat Comunale, president of
Anixter’s global security solutions,
believes in the book
from the first page on, and it would seem the
Blue Book is, as he notes, second to none.
Comunale has been in the security industry
for a long time, most recently as the
president of Tri-Ed Distribution. The two
companies joined forces in (Sept. 14) 2014,
making it the largest global supplier of security
products. In fact, Comunale said Anixter
is the only distributor of this kind of operation,
and a distribution company that has a
working laboratory.
“What we have seen over the years is a
company that has expertise in door locks to a
high-end integrator,” Comunale said. “Now,
three years later, our focus is on security and
a multibillion dollar business.”
Why Anixter? Well, corporate officials invited
several members of the trade media to
their Chicago offices to learn more about the
company and the laboratory. Their message
is that Anixter has now become one of the
most strategic partnerships for the integration
community.
Case in point might be one of their
“poster children” in Brent Edmunds, who is
president and co-founder of Stone Security
in Salt Lake City. Edmunds is a regional integrator,
but his story is of global proportions.
“As an integrator, I am able to bring
or have an end user tour the Anixter Infrastructure
Solutions Lab and get a better view
of the technology and how it will work for
them,” Edmunds said. “There was a point
in time in our business when we had to reconsider
our own supply chain. Anixter was
there for us; they made integration roll-outs
successful, and they made us look good.”
Although Stone Security has a successful
business, Anixter was able to help expand
their business. The benefit for Stone is the
strengths of Anixter, and likewise, Anixter
grows because Stone Security is committed
to its growth and offering its security integrators
and their customers the best products
possible. Edmunds said Stone Security has
experienced 40 percent growth rate year over
year for the past five years.
Wow! That is impressive, but it also
means a regional integrator can count on
technological, standards and equipment
support whether in Salt Lake City or, let’s
say, Paris, France; Provo, Utah to Auckland,
New Zealand.
Anixter, combined to include the former
Tri-Ed Distribution and CLARK Security,
will be going in one direction and serving
its global supply chain as Anixter. The company
will become known more as a valueadd
supplier than just a “pick, pack and
ship,” company. Over time, all former Tri-Ed
distribution centers will be rebranded and
marketed as Anixter, whether it is in Dallas
or Mexico City. The company verticals will
remain the same: residential security, commercial,
industrial, government, education
and utilities. Anixter will also remain active
on numerous standards committees and will
continue to address future trends and interoperability
issues occurring in the security
industry at large.
For all the chatting in the board room,
the real gem is the tech center, or the Infrastructure
Solutions Lab. There are six
satellite Solutions Briefing Centers located
worldwide, combined with 65 former Tri-Ed
distribution centers that will allow staff to
demonstrate products and solutions when
asked. The Demonstration Center of The
Lab allows staff to present solutions for
video surveillance, biometrics, servers and
key-lock systems.
This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of Security Today.