Gregory Spierkel represents the changing nature of the world’s biggest technology products distributor, Ingram Micro Inc.
The Canadian-born executive is set to take over as chief executive of Santa Ana-based Ingram in June. Up to now, he’s overseen the company’s Asian and European operations.
Last year, Spierkel headed up Ingram’s $530 million buy of Australia’s Tech Pacific Ltd. The deal was the company’s largest yet and marks a stepped up push in Asia.
In the fourth quarter, Ingram’s global sales for the first time surpassed North America’s, which came in at 42% of the total, down from 51% in the first quarter.
Spierkel is set to take the reins from Kent Foster, a Texan and retired Air Force captain who has served as Ingram’s chief executive for the past five years. The two are a study in contrast: Foster once said he didn’t “see how people run a company without being in the military.”
“I don’t have military service,” Spierkel said. “But I have broad international experience.”
In many ways, Spierkel is taking over a different company than the one Foster ran. In the past few years, Ingram saw massive cost cutting and restructuring after the technology downturn that started in 2000.
“Like the rest of the tech industry, we got caught in a major slowdown and there was a lot of restructuring,” Spierkel said.
Foster’s task was to realign Ingram with the industry’s new reality after the boom of the late 1990s.
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Spierkel: “Of course, we’ll always move to right-size the company. But I believe it’s going to get better” |
Spierkel inherits a leaner company that’s growing again. Last year was Ingram’s best since 2000.
The company is set to report first-quarter results on Thursday. The company said it expects sales of about $7 billion and net income near $50 million.
A year ago, Ingram reported $6.3 billion in sales and $38 million in profit in the quarter.
But Spierkel faces a different challenge. Better times have brought renewed competition.
In March, the head of rival Tech Data Corp. of Florida said he’s seeing a price war as distributors look to gain market share.
“Each and every order is pretty hotly contested,” Steve Raymund, Tech Data’s chief executive, told trade publication Computer Reseller News.
Competition isn’t new for Ingram. But even the slightest slip in prices means a hit to profits, which already are razor-thin for tech distributors.
Earlier this month, Ingram said it plans to cut 550 North American jobs, about half in Santa Ana. The move aims to save the company about $25 million a year by 2006. Ingram plans to outsource the work abroad by the end of the year.
“Of course, we’ll always move to right-size the company,” Spierkel said. “But I believe it’s going to get better.”
Key Customers: IBM, Intel
Ingram ships products for computer and other electronics makers to resellers and stores worldwide. The company handles products for just about every major supplier,Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Intel Corp., among others.
On the other side of its business, Ingram distributes products to CompUSA Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Office Depot Inc. and scores of other sellers of tech gear.
Spierkel, 48, said he’s been working in technology “since I left university.” A native of Montreal, Spierkel got his start at Bell Canada, working on one of the first e-mail systems in 1979. He went on to work for Ontario’s Mitel Networks Corp. for 11 years before coming to Ingram.
Most of Spierkel’s time at Ingram has been spent in Europe and Asia. He joined eight years ago as president of the company’s Asia-Pacific business. He moved from there to Ingram’s Europe operation in 1999.
In Spierkel’s time abroad, he’s played a key role getting Ingram to go after acquisitions, including last year’s Tech Pacific buy. He also played a role in Ingram’s 1997 buy of Singapore’s Electronic Resources Ltd.
Some of the programs that Spierkel’s spearheaded for Ingram in Europe and Asia could make their way here, according to an interview he did with Computer Reseller News. Those include more products and services in telecommunications, consumer electronics and point of sales systems for retailers.
Ingram could swap “best practices” between its Europe and Asian arms and its North American base, Spierkel said.
“There’s some things we’ve done well with regard to how we manage our vendor relations abroad,” he said.
Spierkel has spent the better part of his life abroad, working in Hong Kong, Belgium, Britain and Singapore.
His two sons have citizenship in three countries,America, Britain and Canada. His wife, Rhiannon, is Welsh.
Spierkel’s own parents came to Canada from Luxemburg. His father owned a newspaper and TV station and even worked at an airline and in construction. His mother was a linguist who spoke seven languages.
Telecom Background
Like Foster, Spierkel worked in telecommunications at Mitel. Earlier in his career, Foster helped turn around GTE, now part of Verizon Communications Inc.
But Spierkel said his time in Europe and Asia give him “a deeper understanding of the business than Kent had when he started.”
“I would call myself more of a hands-on operator,” he said.
Spierkel’s experience helped him beat out competition. He and Kevin Murai were named co-presidents a year ago with the expectation one of them likely would be the next chief executive when Foster retired.
The move surprised Ingram watchers, who had expected former chief operating officer Michael Grainger to replace Foster.
Grainger left when he learned Spierkel and Murai were promoted.
Like many Canadians, Spierkel said he played curling and hockey until age 17. But he admits he wasn’t “NHL material.”
Early on, he said he worked in iron ore mines, doing a number of duties including driving the giant mining trucks and on the docks.
