M-EXPO Exhibitor Spotlight Interview with LAPP Tannehill

Original Content Written By: Christine Siebert, WHMA Marketing and Communication, in M-EXPO Exhibitor Spotlight Interview: LAPP Tannehill - First Time Exhibitor

WHMA talks with Khoi Nguyen from LAPP Tannehill (Booth 214) about his organization’s products, his take on the industry, and why they feel it’s a tremendous value to exhibit at the upcoming M-EXPO Wire Processing Show in September.

Khoi, tell us about yourself and your company.

“I’m the Director of Marketing for LAPP Tannehill, a role that encompasses Traditional and Digital Marketing and Product Management, eCommerce, Business Development, Project Management, and the Digitization of our business front-to-back. I’ve been with LAPP Tannehill for five years, and preceding that, I have 20+ years of experience in engineering, product management, marketing, and business process digitization.

LAPP Tannehill is a North American, broad-based wire, cable, and electrical connectivity distributor representing 250+ manufacturers and specializing in value-added services for wire harness manufacturers and OEMs around the globe. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of LAPP, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of high-performance cable, connectors, and electrical connectivity solutions.”

What products/technologies are you showcasing at M-EXPO?

“For cabling technology, we will be showcasing our ETHERLINE® Industrial Ethernet, ÖLFLEX® Flexible Power, Control Cable & VFD Cable. For connectivity/termination technology, we will be showcasing our EPIC® modular hooded connectors and SKINTOP^® cord grips. And finally, for solutions, we will be showcasing our Inventory Management tools and customized cabling solutions.”

What sets your company apart from competitors?

“We endeavor to blend the best aspects of a traditional high-service level “bricks and mortar” distributor that manufacturers have depended upon for decades to help run their supply chain and operations, along with the latest capabilities of an increasingly complicated, supply-constrained, global, digitized economy.

From a traditional perspective, in an age of increased technology and digitization, we also invest heavily in knowledgeable, passionate, service-oriented people on the inside (Inside Sales, Tech Support, Customer Service, and Supply Chain) but also out in the field with Field Sales consultants to help manufacturers optimize their business operations.

We blend this human capital with the best digital technologies in an “omnichannel” approach to serving our customers and earning their business in a consultative approach from concept/design all the way through mass-production and optimization.

Regarding the latest capabilities…

Very little of our business is simply a reel of off-the-shelf cable, though we do that well with a 98%+ on-time delivery rate and 99.9% error-free rate. Instead, most of our business is tailored solutions for each manufacturing customer. From customized put-ups to assemblies/kits optimized for their manufacturing line, we function as an extension of their internal operations department.

Our Field Sales consultants spend much of their time on technical consulting with manufacturers to find the right product or solution from our 250+ manufacturers. Regardless of the application situation, we will find an off-the-shelf, semi-custom, or fully engineered solution that fits the customer’s technical and commercial requirements.

Lastly, we proudly serve as supply chain consultants and solutions for manufacturers, which has increased importance with the ongoing supply chain landscape. Working with our many manufacturers and other business partners, we will find a way for our customers to maintain and scale their production output with minimal interruptions to their end customers.”

Have you exhibited at M-EXPO prior to 2022?

“We have not. We’ve attended the annual WHMA conference and the Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo (EWPTE) but this will be our first entry into M-EXPO.”

Why are you exhibiting at M-EXPO?

“We have been serving manufacturers in Mexico for over 30 years and see tremendous opportunity to expand our service coverage and build business relationships with additional manufacturers.”

Is Mexico, specifically the Juarez region, a current market region for your company?

“As we all know, there are very strong, generational macro-economic and political forces shaping the global economy. One positive aspect of this massive sea-change is, and will be, the continued resurgence of North American manufacturing, particularly across Mexico and the United States, as US-based, global companies re-evaluate their manufacturing footprints and supply chain strategies. From an economic, social, and political perspective, the Mexico-US relationship will only grow increasingly stronger with time.

While LAPP Tannehill has a very strong presence in the US, we feel like there is a unique opportunity for us to expand our supply solutions relationships beyond the several dozen manufacturing locations we currently work with in Mexico. We currently have business relationships with customers in many locations such as Monterey, Matamoros, Ensenada, Tijuana, Reynosa, and Hermosillo in addition to Juarez, but Juarez is definitely a high priority; due to its key role in our industry and growth outlook.”

Tell us about some recent projects that your company has been involved in.

“We see two big trends driving many of our projects. First and foremost, it would be helping manufacturers grow and flourish during the incredibly challenging supply chain situation across the globe.

Our team is working around the clock to reduce bottlenecks, ensure uninterrupted supply, and, where possible, find alternative supply sources for manufacturers around the globe. This is our traditional “bread and butter” as a distributor, and we’re leveraging our decades of relationships with wire and cable manufacturers to manage the challenges.

Secondly, more of our customers are looking for products and solutions to solve ever-challenging application challenges, whether it’s dealing with harsher and more stringent application conditions (temperature, electrical characteristics, cable flexing cycles, etc.), reducing weight/bulk of cable, special jacket/insulation compounds or incorporating multiple discrete wires and cables into one composite cable solution our team is functioning as a technical design consultant representing 250+ manufacturers to find the right solution for harness manufacturers and OEMs. As technology advances in all industries, more problems are manifested with the end-customer while at the same time, new solutions are being formulated from the wire, cable, and connectivity manufacturers. LAPP Tannehill helps bridge the gap between the two communities.”

What would you say are the key challenges and opportunities currently faced by the industry?

“In a word, ‘change,’ and how to deal with the ‘quickening’ of the pace of change impacting our industry, from technological to socio-economic and everything in between. We can’t fall back on the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it mentality’ as the world around us is constantly shifting, and a lot of things that we took for granted as sureties are no longer so. As Mark Twain is often credited with saying, ‘It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.’”

Why is M-EXPO important for the industry?

“Given our answer above, more than ever, as leaders in our teams, companies, and industry, we need to prioritize the carving out precious time to step out of the day-to-day and look out ahead and ‘out there’ for both challenges and opportunities BEFORE they happen or pass us by.

Otherwise, we’ll always be in reactive mode with respect to change. While the Web and digital communications are great, Google can only do so much with providing in-depth, practical, real-world awareness of problems and solutions that may or may not be in our field of vision. You don’t know what you don’t know, and you can’t ‘Google’ what you’ve never heard of.

That is why M-EXPO is so important for our industry, as it sits at the crossroads (figuratively AND geographically) of what is happening in our industry. Bringing together like minds who are encountering problems that we may also be experiencing (or that may be hiding right around the corner for us), along with people who are at the forefront of solving these challenges with technologies, practices, and people resources that we may not be aware of. With all the uniqueness of our industry, the ROI from sending our thought leaders to M-EXPO and engaging with other like-minded thought leaders is immeasurable.”

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