Top electronic components distributors Digi-Key Corp. and Avnet Electronics Marketing are hitting company milestones this fall. Digi-Key said this month it will ship its 50 millionth package sometime in the next few weeks, and Avnet is celebrating a 40-year collaboration with component manufacturer Grayhill, Inc.
Digi-Key, which was founded more than 40 years ago, started a count-down on its web site and will recognize key customers from around the world to celebrate the shipping of its 50 millionth package.
“For over 40 years the company has been serving and enabling design engineers and the maker community well before ‘makers’ was a key industry term,” the distributor said in a press release announcing the event. “The company continues to adapt to the evolving needs of engineers in order to help drive innovation in the tech marketplace.”
Avnet and Grayhill marked their 40th anniversary earlier this year with an award exchange. The companies’ partnership began in 1975 and has grown to include a wide offering of products and services. Grayhill designs and manufactures intuitive human interface solutions, including optical encoders, rotary switches, keypads, joysticks, and pushbuttons. The company’s offering has grown to include state-of-the-art products such as multi-touch surfaces and display overlays.
“I think the mark of a truly successful relationship is the ability to grow individually and together over time,” said Ed Smith, president of Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. “Both Avnet and Grayhill are very different companies today than we were 40 years ago when we first began working together, yet through all the changes, we continue to find ways to leverage our collective strengths to fulfill growing customer demand for industry leading human interface solutions that push the technological envelope.”
Avnet ranked first and Digi-Key ranked eighth on Global Purchasing’s 2015 Top 50 Distributors list.
