Anixter is a unique distributor, providing local and global logistics services and leading technical support, in addition to maintaining partnerships with the industry’s top manufacturers. Anixter highlights its value in three key business units: enterprise cabling and security solutions, electrical and electronic wire and cable, and fasteners.
Bob Grubbs, Anixter’s CEO, emphasized that in particular the security market is growing quickly in different vertical markets including government, manufacturing, and construction. That’s one of the reasons for installing a new Lab to test and recreate existing network environments and at the same time, evaluate the effectiveness of the various security and network solutions.
Anixter’s business model is based on distribution between integrators and resellers. Grubbs said that the company’s values are backed by technical expertise, quality products and solutions, global distribution and logistics services.
Grubbs indicated that the way to define networking evolution starts with the traditional network migration, that connects data, voice, video, automation and access control; this migration continues to the IP connected model that incorporates the data network, video, utilities (electricity, water and light), industrial automation, and security. That means, one source – a global distributor such as Anixter - is needed that can supply all of the resources necessary for a truly IP connected platform.
With a technical expertise background, Anixter is able to offer specialized services in its Infrastructure Solutions Lab. Its main objective is to advise the customers on the migration process to IP convergence and to educate the market about the products and solutions available.
This new Lab allows customers to incorporate new technologies and standards for networking and security. It also demonstrates and tests cabling solutions of the industry’s top manufacturers.
Lab Mission: educate, demonstrate and evaluate
Since its opening, the Lab has had received more than 2,000 customers and had generated more than 3,000 test reports that helps the customers make better decisions.
Andrew Jiménez, Vice President of Technology for Enterprise Cabling Solutions at Anixter, summarized in three words the Lab’s objective: educate, demonstrate and evaluate. The Lab creates a flexible environment that allows customers to make system configurations in its demonstration room using the solutions currently being used by the customer: analog and IP cameras, cabling, cabinets, cable management, and access control. There, it is possible to test and evaluate the results of the system’s complete integration, independently of the suppliers.
Likewise, the Lab assists customers in additional ways, testing the performance of equipment and products through simulated networks. Furthermore, the Lab can demonstrate structured cabling’s behavior in real-world environments, the value of IP integrated systems, and test the interoperability of security products and systems.
Jiménez explained that another service that they offer is training in installation and maintenance best practices, simulations of complex solutions from multiples manufacturers and to explain the impact that new technologies have on IP applications and the network.
Not only does Anixter’s Lab benefit its customers, it also assists manufacturer partners with proof of concept testing, interoperability testing of security products, and by evaluating new products to verify they meet the industry standards.
In addition, Anixter works with potential manufacturers as a designated third party to validate potential products for manufacturers that solicit certification of their products and solutions for entry into emerging markets such as industrial automation.
The Lab is also designed to provide a platform that supports many applications, including IP, and tests for voice, data, video surveillance, access control and audio/visual.
“Some results that were found by the Lab, indicate that there is an increase of 25% in the loss of data with Category 5e cable in comparison with Category 6”, said Jiménez, while recording a test performed for Rolls Royce, whose challenge was supporting future IP applications with their existing infrastructure.
With the support of the tests that were conducted in the Lab, Anixter recommended to the automotive company, after testing their requirements of VoIP, that it was necessary to replace their old cabling system with a Category 6 solution.
Another case study involves a large retail chain customer that turned to Anixter when their security system, including analog cameras, began to fail within 2 weeks of each other. The Lab studied the situation and recommended an IP based security system (one that uses megapixel technology).
Currently, the company offers advice and expertise on data centers (including temperature management, efficiency and energy requirements), high performance cabling for data networks (armored, not armored, optical fiber, 10 Gigabit solutions), IP security, convergence and connectivity standards, complementary products (wireless, PoE) and technology advancements. As a part of the complementary services that the Lab offers, Anixter provides training programs for customers and integrators.
The intention of the Lab is to extend their tests to other applications such as Industrial Ethernet, evaluating the performance level for Coax, interoperability of access control with video surveillance, 10 gigabit cabling performance, the effects of PoE+ and heat in data transmission, and the management of IP intelligent infrastructure.
“The decision to bring customers and integrators to the Lab is the responsibility of the local sales office which is in charge of defining and selecting the projects to evaluate and test based upon the customer’s technology and requirements”, mentioned Tim Holloway, Vice President of Technology for Security Solutions at Anixter.
Anixter also provides demonstrations via Webinarmers, or when it is not justifiable to travel to the Lab.
Test services are free – an added value Anixter provides to qualified customers.
According to the vice presidents, the projects evaluated are diverse, ranging from requests from financial enterprises to education and healthcare – large and small companies alike. The Lab’s services are free for customers and integrators - they are only responsible for travel expenses to Anixter.
Of the Latin American customers that have requested the Lab’s services (the majority had traditional security systems), the requests tend to be similar to the rest of the market: security and migration to IP network projects, etc. Anixter is considering the possibility of making demo space with the same capabilities in several of the company’s locations, although this doesn’t include the testing capabilities (because of the high cost of the analysis equipment).
The capabilities and benefits of the Infrastructure Solutions Lab make Anixter a unique distributor. They offer the ability to perform several tests, which include demonstrating network products and the performance of security systems over a single IP network, measuring the bandwidth of an IP camera or any network gadget and the impact that the environment will have on the total performance of the cabling.
The Original text was written in Spanish
Author: Pilar Hernandez S.
Infrochannel.com.mx May, 2007
| Anixter lab integrates networking, security 2007-07-31 |  | A 4,000-square-foot lab designed to educate, demonstrate, and evaluate networking and security infrastructure products has been unveiled at telecom distributor Anixter’s (www.anixter.com) corporate headquarters in Glenview, IL. |
| Education gets top billing at Anixter's new solutions lab 2007-05-17 |  | By offering educational workshops, providing published resource guides and bringing integrators into its new Solutions Lab to test products, Anixter helps its customers decide which combination of security products will meet their needs |
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