Logistics Manager
  • Logistics
    • A-E
      • 3rd Party Logistics
      • Air Cargo
      • Coronavirus
      • Express & e-delivery
      • Editor’s Blog
    • F-M
      • Health & Safety
      • International logistics
      • Latest issue
      • Logistics & Supply Chain
    • O-Z
      • Ocean Freight
      • Policy and legislation
      • Professional development
      • Rail freight
      • Road transport
      • Sustainability
      • Temperature-controlled
  • Intralogistics
    • Automation
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Equipment
    • Infrastructure & Services
    • IT & Software
    • Materials handling
    • Packaging
    • Picking and sortation
    • Robotics and innovation
    • Storage
  • Supply Chain
    • A-L
      • Automotive
      • Construction
      • Energy
      • Fashion
      • Food & drink
      • Forecasting
      • Healthcare and Pharma
      • Hi-tech
    • M-Z
      • Manufacturing
      • Military
      • Omni-channel
      • Public Sector
      • Retail
      • SME
      • Sourcing and procurement
      • Supply Chain Analysis
      • Supply Chain Awards
      • Supply Chain Strategy
      • Supply Chain Technology
      • Supply Chain Visibility
      • Technology
  • Property
    • A-M
      • Big Sheds
      • Design & Build
      • East Midlands and East Anglia
      • M25 East
      • M25 West
      • Mid-box
    • M-Z
      • North East & Yorkshire
      • North West
      • Scotland
      • South-West & Wales
      • Speculative Development
      • Urban Warehouses
      • West Midlands
  • Corporate Insight
  • Digital Magazines
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
  • Events
    • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
    • ESG Industrial & Logistics Conference
    • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
    • CiTTi Awards
    • IntraLogisteX
    • Robotics & Automation
  • Webinars
LinkedIn Twitter
  • Subscribe
  • Free weekly e-newsletter
  • Free daily e-newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
LinkedIn Twitter
Logistics Manager
SUBSCRIBE >
  • Logistics
      • 3rd Party Logistics
      • Air Cargo
      • Coronavirus
      • Express & e-delivery
      • Editor’s Blog
      • Health & Safety
      • International logistics
      • Latest issue
      • Logistics & Supply Chain
      • Ocean Freight
      • Policy and legislation
      • Professional development
      • Rail freight
      • Road transport
      • Sustainability
      • Temperature-controlled
  • Intralogistics
      • Automation
      • Commercial Vehicles
      • Equipment
      • Infrastructure & Services
      • IT & Software
      • Materials handling
      • Packaging
      • Picking and sortation
      • Robotics and innovation
      • Storage
  • Supply Chain
      • Automotive
      • Construction
      • Energy
      • Fashion
      • Food & drink
      • Forecasting
      • Healthcare and Pharma
      • Hi-tech
      • Manufacturing
      • Military
      • Omni-channel
      • Public Sector
      • Retail
      • SME
      • Sourcing and procurement
      • Supply Chain Analysis
      • Supply Chain Awards
      • Supply Chain Strategy
      • Supply Chain Technology
      • Supply Chain Visibility
      • Technology
  • Property
      • Big Sheds
      • Design & Build
      • East Midlands and East Anglia
      • M25 East
      • M25 West
      • Mid-box
      • North East & Yorkshire
      • North West
      • Scotland
      • South-West & Wales
      • Speculative Development
      • Urban Warehouses
      • West Midlands
  • Corporate Insight
  • Events
    • Events News
      • Conferences
      • Exhibitions
      • Top 50
    • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
    • Industrial & Logistics Property Conference
    • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
    • CiTTi Awards
    • IntraLogisteX
    • Robotics & Automation
  • Digital Magazines
    1. November 2023
    2. October 2023
    3. September 2023
    4. August 2023
    5. July 2023
    6. June 2023
    7. May 2023
    Featured

    Logistics Manager Magazine November 2023

    6th November 2023By Michelle Mooney
    Recent
    6th November 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine November 2023

    2nd October 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine October 2023

    4th September 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine September 2023

  • Webinars
LinkedIn Twitter
Logistics Manager
Logistics & Supply Chain

Frank Peplinski

Alexandra LeonardsBy Alexandra Leonards1st January 20064 Mins Read
LinkedIn Twitter Email Facebook

Electrocomponents is a prominent international distributor of electronic, electrical and industrial supplies, best known in the UK under the RS
Components logo.

The company’s general manager, supply chain, Frank Peplinski, is a chemist by training. This is an exact science where outcomes and yields can usually be predicted from inputs. One of the attractions of working in the supply chain, Peplinski says, is that ‘anything we do can always be done better. It’s an exacting and challenging career path and we have a responsibility to explain the supply chain dependencies to others, whether we are working with suppliers, in our many internal processes and departments, or dealing at the other end with customers.

‘Variety makes things interesting every day. People outside logistics don’t always realise the quality of people we have and what they contribute. It’s not just systems, forecasting and planning.’

But getting the right people isn’t easy if potential recruits don’t understand what a supply chain does and the opportunities it offers. ‘My team has opportunities for travel, for dealing with international customers and suppliers and for working in different cultures, becoming more global people.’

Peplinski says that, depending on the post, recruitment involves competing in local, national or even international markets for the few top people who are out there. ‘Fortunately,’ he says, ‘in our organisation everyone knows that supply chain is valued, that it is a core part of the service. And as one of our core competencies it receives a lot of focus from the CEO and the board. Indeed, people want to join the supply chain from other parts of the organisation.’ This is not a claim every company can make.

Electrocomponents has a reputation for being an early adopter, even a developer, of modern business technologies. It was an early exponent of web technology, for example. So Peplinski’s views on the utility of currently emerging technologies deserve respect. The internet and e-commerce are of course central. Peplinski says: ‘I’ve been putting my energies into using the internet and e-commerce to work ever closer with suppliers and customers. B2B web interaction is growing in importance worldwide. It is vital for us to develop our capabilities so that we can
give suppliers more information and more rapid feedback – not just on forecasts and purchase orders but subsequent information around their products and where and how they are being bought and used. Then they can make their own plans and decisions. They can look at their costs and align order quantities with what the market actually wants. More generally, we can take out guesswork from the relationship and
replace it with fact.’

Electrocomponents is a serial winner of awards, especially for its customer website. Peplinski says the firm is about to launch a vendor portal with improved functionality for vendors and further capabilities will be rolled out. ‘This is the way forward. It’s a great opportunity to work with vendors to remove cost, and particularly to remove surprises. Everyone can have visibility of plans and changes.’

So, the firm is hardly Luddite, but Peplinski is no more than lukewarm about RFID. ‘We’ve looked at it with open minds but we don’t see the opportunity – we don’t see where RFID makes sense in our business environment. We are despatching 30,000 orders of low value each day and these volumes just don’t lend themselves to close monitoring with RFID. We have used the technology to track totes around warehouses
but that’s not what the technology is about – it’s about tagging things moving right through the supply chain. We can’t see any significant benefits over simpler and much cheaper bar coding.

‘Also, a lot of our sourcing is in the Far East or eastern Europe where RFID doesn’t yet exist as standard. But if the costs go down things could be different – who knows?’

 

  • Frank Peplinski graduated in chemistry from Oxford, but chose to work in manufacturing ‘because I wanted to do something practical and wealth creating’.
  • His 20-year career has taken him across the food, pharmaceutical and catalogue distribution sectors, in a variety of production, operations, materials management, logistics and most recently supply chain roles.
Share. LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email
Alexandra Leonards

Related Stories

Major HGV decarbonisation needed to meet net zero, report claims

30th November 2023

Research shows nearly half of Black Friday returns were paid for

30th November 2023

The Top 50 Logistics Service Providers 2023

28th November 2023
Latest News Stories
1st December 2023

Tesla’s legal battle with Swedish authorities amid labour dispute

30th November 2023

Major HGV decarbonisation needed to meet net zero, report claims

30th November 2023

President Biden unveils 30 new actions to fortify US supply chains

Free weekly e-newsletters

Discover what’s causing a stir in the world of logistics and supply chains


Key Content
  • Digital Magazines
  • Logistics
  • Intralogistics
  • Supply Chain
  • Property
  • Corporate Insight
  • Events News
  • Opinion
Akabo Media
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Free Daily E-Newsletter
  • Free Weekly Top Stories E-Newsletters
  • Free Weekly Supply Chain E-Newsletter
  • Free Weekly Property E-Newsletter
  • Sign up to be notified when we publish a new digital edition
Our Events
  • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
  • ESG Industrial & Logistics Conference
  • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
  • CiTTi Awards
  • Robotics and Automation Exhibition
  • IntraLogisteX
© 2023 Akabo Media Ltd Registered No 07766641 England | All rights reserved.
Registered Office: Akabo Media, GG.007, Metal Box Factory, 30 Great Guildford St, SE1 0HS
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.
By clicking “ACCEPT ALL”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie settingsRejectACCEPT ALL
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
_zm_chtaid2 hoursZoom sets this cookie to facilitate video conferences via zoom from the website.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
_gat_gtag_UA_*1 minuteGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store a unique user ID.
_gid1 dayGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store information on how visitors use a website while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the collected data includes the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
TS018dd1basessionDescription is currently not available.
TS01f92dc5sessionDescription is currently not available.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo