When Rebeca Obregon stepped into the role of President of Farnell in 2024, she brought with her a strategic mindset shaped by her previous experience within Avnet, particularly in long- term planning and cross-business integration.
One year into the role, Obregon reflects on a transformative twelve months that has seen the distributor sharpen its customer focus, embrace structural change, and reinvigorate its internal culture.
Speaking with Procurement Pro, Obregon details the company’s evolving strategy, key lessons from the past year, and her outlook for the months ahead.
You’ve just completed your first year as President of Farnell. Looking back, what moments or milestones stand out the most for you?
I started the year rolling out a new strategy for Farnell. I had already begun some of that work before being appointed to this role, as strategy was one of the areas I had been focusing on for Avnet. So, it led nicely into this new phase. The strategy was really centred on customer growth, on serving the entire product life cycle in collaboration with Avnet and ultimately becoming the e-commerce engine for all of Avnet. We really solidified that in the first quarter.
In Q2, the focus shifted to building the right structure to support the strategy. I made a few changes to the team, but I wanted to get those done relatively quickly so we could then move ahead with execution. The changes in structure were always in support of the wider strategy.
Q3 was all about execution. We really started to see some of the business turning around, which was exciting. Our numbers are publicly reported, and while the business had declined, we slowly started to see signs of recovery. That has been a real highlight.
Walking into the office now, I can genuinely feel a different buzz, a different energy across the teams. That’s been my number one priority from the start – building the culture. And now, I really feel we’re seeing that come to life.
What have been the biggest lessons or insights you’ve gained over the past twelve months?
There have been quite a few key developments. The first one, I would say, was really starting to unlock the opportunity we have through close collaboration with Avnet. Back in 2016-2017, that was the original intent behind Avnet acquiring Farnell – not to integrate us or change what we do, but to capture the link between a broadline distributor and a high-service distributor. We’ve really started to unlock that potential. It feels like we’ve torn down walls, and now we’re collaborating on every aspect – not just sales, but across the entire customer lifecycle, including suppliers.
It’s amazing what happens when you simply start having open communication. The benefits we’ve unlocked so far have been significant – for Farnell, for Avnet, for our suppliers, and for our customers. I would say that’s been the most important development.
Beyond that, there have been a few other noteworthy areas. One of our key differentiators in the industry – aside from our connection with Avnet – is the strength of our regional warehousing footprint. We actually have warehouses all around the world, which is a bit different from some of the other players in this space. It’s something we’re looking to leverage more, especially now with the increased importance of geopolitics, tariffs, and supply chain resilience. That global presence is becoming even more critical, and it presents a real opportunity.
And then finally, there’s the back to-basics element – really looking at opportunities to optimise our operations. A lot of our focus this year has been on improving our operational efficiency and refining our ways of working. We’re now starting to see the results of those efforts, and that’s encouraging as we look ahead.
How has Farnell improved or strengthened its customer offering during your first year? And how are you aligning Farnell’s strategy with shifting customer expectations, particularly in areas like product availability, support, and digital service?
When it comes to product availability, we now have more products available than before. It’s really about getting back to our core, and that core is high service. We’ve expanded our breadth of product to ensure we’re meeting customers’ needs – especially when it comes to NPIs. We’re making sure we can fulfil those NPIs, even in single unit quantities. That breadth is at the heart of what we do, and it’s central to our strategy for supporting the customer journey.
We’ve also been enhancing the options available to customers at checkout. For example, we started in Europe by offering different shipping priorities, depending on what the customer needs. It’s all about responding more closely to customer expectations. We’re also improving tracking information and other touchpoints that make the entire experience smoother and more transparent.
For customers we support in closer collaboration with Avnet, we’re looking at the full product lifecycle. That means offering everything from a few initial samples to enabling a seamless transition into larger volume orders. It’s about making that link as smooth as possible and supporting them every step of the way.
What specific sectors or markets have shown the most promise for Farnell’s growth during your tenure?
This has definitely been an interesting year. We’ve seen a lot of variation – whether by region or by market, it’s been very mixed. I would say anything related to AI, data centres, or hyper scalers has shown growth. On the other hand, we’ve experienced some slowness in industrial and automotive sectors. But we’re now starting to see signs of recovery.
The overarching message, though, is the continued pervasiveness of electronics in the world. I’ve been in this industry for over 30 years, and I know it’s cyclical – this isn’t anything new. What changes from cycle to cycle is the depth and the duration, but the cyclical nature itself remains constant.
You mentioned tariffs and some of the current geopolitical challenges. What is Farnell’s view on the present supply chain volatility, and what advice are you giving to customers in response to these conditions?
I think that because of where we sit in the market and our position within the supply chain, we have a lot of opportunity to navigate these challenges – whether it’s geopolitics, tariffs, or something else entirely. Sometimes it’s natural disasters. I always say the only constant is change, and I really believe that. Whether it was the pandemic or other disruptions, there’s always something. So, none of this really comes as a surprise.
What makes a difference is how we respond. Thanks to the breadth of our supplier base, we’re able to offer customers different options. And because of our regional footprint, we can provide alternative supply chains or shipping routes, depending on what suits the customer best. We’re effectively turning these challenges into opportunities by doing more global supply chain planning.
That’s one of my key priorities for the next fiscal year – looking at the supply chain end to end, from where a product is manufactured to where it’s ultimately built and used, and then optimising the entire journey. Between the diversity of our product offerings and the flexibility in our supply chains, I think we’re in a strong position to give both our customers and suppliers real options to navigate whatever comes next.
As you look ahead to year two and beyond, what are your strategic priorities for Farnell?
For me, it starts with people – continuing to invest in them, motivate them, and really foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork.
After that, it’s about the opportunities around our product offering, as well as the internal opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. On the product side, the goal is to continue bringing in products that support emerging applications. We want to shift more towards selling based on applications rather than just individual products, so we’re giving customers more targeted solutions. Internally, AI offers a real chance to change the way we work. I believe that if we don’t embrace it, we risk being left behind. So, we’re focused on continuously optimising how we operate, using AI where it makes sense.
Strengthening our partnerships – with both suppliers and customers – is also key. Those relationships are the lifeblood of distribution. We’ve enhanced the support we provide to our suppliers and will continue to build on that. On the customer side, we’re committed to improving the overall journey. We’ve already made significant investments in our e-commerce infrastructure, and now the focus is on refining and enhancing the experience further.
Lastly, we’ll continue to leverage our collaboration with Avnet to deliver better customer experiences and stronger product offerings.
Finally, what message would you like to share with your customers, suppliers, and internal teams as you enter your second year?
We have amazing teams. I genuinely admire their resiliency, agility, and openness. I want to thank everyone for welcoming me into this role and for the support they’ve given me throughout. It’s been incredibly meaningful.
I think it’s important that we continue to build on that foundation – on communication, trust, and teamwork – both internally and externally. Yes, we may operate in a highly digital, highly technical industry, but at the end of the day, it’s still people doing business with people they trust.
We will continue to earn trust – through our actions – with our employees, customers, and suppliers. That’s how we’ll continue to grow the business.
his article originally appeared in the July/August issue of Procurement Pro.
