Leading omni-channel industrial product and service solutions provider RS Components, a trading brand of the RS Group, stocks more than 700 000 industrial and electronic equipment products.

Sourced from over 2 500 leading suppliers, the company provides a wide range of product and service solutions to over 1.2-million customers, with customers in 32 countries.

Trading through multiple channels, and shipping more than 60 000 parcels each day, RS Components is involved in designing, building and maintaining industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainable.

“We support customers across the product life cycle, whether via innovation and technical support at the design phase, improving time to market and productivity at the build phase, or reducing purchasing costs and optimising inventory in the maintenance phase,” RS Components South Africa MD Brian Andrew says, adding that it offers customers tailored product and service propositions that are essential for the successful operation of their businesses and help them save time and money.

He adds that through the company’s business model, it is able to help companies reduce their maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) costs by reducing the number of suppliers they need to work with.

“Through our global supplier agreements our customers can benefit from improved stock availability and the latest technologies, especially on one-off or infrequently purchased items – there is no minimum order quantity required at RS. From a substitution or standardisation perspective we have over 700 000 products that customers can choose from or compare alternatives depending on their specific requirements,” he explains.

“RS can reduce your inventory holding requirements through our world class logistics system - if we have what you need in local stock it can be delivered within 24 to 48 hours and if stock needs to come from one of our global distribution centres it generally takes 4-6 working days. All of this is facilitated by our website, so the processing and sourcing costs related to MRO are reduced,” Andrew says.

The company’s purpose is “making amazing happen for a better world”, with education forming one of the pillars that make up RS Global’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.

“We plan to inspire a more sustainable world through education and innovative solutions that improve lives. Through a range of projects and activities we’re supporting the engineers of today and tomorrow, ensuring that they have all they require – from a broad product range to a number of core services that help to add real value to our customers,” the company says.

RS, as a whole, has numerous value-added solutions that make the company stand out when compared to its competitors, namely DesignSpark, procurement, inventory and maintenance.

DesignSpark is an online community for engineers, makers and students with access to free computer-aided design, electrical and mechanical design software. This platform has over one-million members as well as step-by-step tutorials and technical resources to help build and troubleshoot devices and various technology platforms.

Procurement sees RS offering solutions to customers to consolidate their spending and reduce procure-to-pay costs, providing continued cost efficiencies across its procurement solutions. Purchasing Manager is a free online eProcurement system.

“This customisable tool is ideal if you don’t have an in-house eProcurement system. There is no cost or investment involved and you don’t need to upgrade your IT systems,” the company notes.

RS also offers complete systems integration with customers’ in-house eProcurement systems using punch-out or round tripping.

The company’s inventory solutions are currently being tested in certain markets and enable customers to manage their inventory more effectively, reducing working capital and improving productivity.

This includes recently rolled out offerings such as RS VendStock and RS ScanStock, as well as IESA’s fully outsourced inventory management.

RS also provides maintenance solutions to help customers manage their assets and improve productivity and sustainability - specifically around energy and condition monitoring.

Over the years RS has also acquired a number of complementary businesses which add to RS’s appeal and extends its reach to customers globally.

These include the founding of Okdo, a global tech company focused on Single Board Computing and the Internet of Things.

Monition, an energy and condition monitoring business, has been absorbed into the RS business to include among the company’s value-added solutions.

Further acquisitions include: IESA, the market leader in procurement and management of indirect materials; Synovos, a global, independent MRO supply chain management services provider; Needlers, which is the UK’s leading supplier of personnel protective equipment (PPE), safety and hygiene products to the food manufacturing industry; and Liscombe, a leading specialist supplier of high-risk hand protection and PPE products to industrial blue-chip customers in the UK and the Netherlands.

ELECTRA MINING

RS Components started exhibiting at Electra Mining Africa in the early 2000s and believes that the show has grown and evolved to reflect the changing trends and technology in the industrial sector.

“Because our business is constantly changing and innovating it makes sense to exhibit at the show as we can touch base with our key suppliers as well as connect with our customers both locally and in Africa,” the company comments.

Historically, Electra Mining Africa is the company’s largest show in Africa and it says it “stands up against other international trade shows”.

“It is definitely a drawcard with suppliers and customers when we mention that we are exhibiting at Electra Mining,” Andrew says.

RS Components can be found at Hall 5, Stand A9.