The security solutions industry can be a complex one, with a supply chain made up of multiple different parts. Distribution companies within this sector continue to play a pivotal role in helping the industry adapt to both changing customer needs and supply chain disruption.
Norbain is one of the UK’s most successful distributors of IP Video, CCTV, Access Control, and Intruder Detection solutions. We spoke to their Managing Director, Mark Field, who took over the reins almost 3 years ago now, to find out Norbain’s views on the complexities and opportunities for the distribution landscape.
He took us through the company’s recent experiences and the challenges ahead.
Recent experiences in the supply chain
Mark explains: “The security solutions industry has seen a considerable amount of volatility within the supply chain in recent years as we all know. From the factory through to the customer, component shortages, extended shipping lead times and cost increases have impacted how we all do business. And whilst it’s much improved from 2-3 years ago, the levels of stability haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The sector continues to face the twin challenges of both component scarcity and operational difficulties which have driven up costs. Furthermore, we’ve seen other pressures on prices compounding the situation recently, such as higher fuel prices, increasing labour cost, inflation and so on. All of these have found their way into our business of distribution.
Distributors need to work very closely with suppliers to meet these challenges. Norbain has always maintained strong relationships with manufacturing partners, but this period of continuing volatility has meant our team are focusing on our supply chain more carefully than ever.
And of course, customers do not want to hear about supply chain challenges - they’ve come to expect a level of service despite disruption and have the choice to look elsewhere or investigate a different solution. So, we have reorganised our business to strengthen our supply chain management and ensure we have good levels of inventory to support our customers’ needs.
So, what is coming next for distributors of security solutions? What challenges do we believe are ahead of us?
There are three big ones that distributors will need to face head on to succeed:
1. Developing recurring revenue models – the move from shifting boxes to subscription-based services.
2. Digitalisation and the ever-changing needs of our customers
3. Overcoming the skills shortage, a UK-wide issue
Subscription-based services
Looking first at the shift towards recurring revenue models. This is a significant change and. as a distributor, we need to understand clearly what our role is in this changing landscape. We must continue to add significant value within the supply chain for both our suppliers and our customers as we develop our ability to offer subscription type services rather than simply shifting boxes from A to B.
Again, our ability to understand what our suppliers are looking to achieve whilst simultaneously listening to the needs of our customers will be crucial in positioning ourselves in the right way to deliver on this objective.
Yes, there’s always going to be a need for the physical elements of security – cameras, recorders, readers, etc. But distributors must find a way to adapt and add value in different ways.
Supporting subscription-based services requires a very different set of processes from buying a box, storing it, selling it to a customer and invoicing them. Businesses such as Norbain need to invest heavily in this area, so that they can offer the flexibility expected in their product portfolios and processes.
This will involve not just potential changes to internal systems such as billing customers, but also a considerable investment in the capability of sales and account management teams. It’s going to involve a different way of selling.
We’ll need to educate our people with the right skills to continue to offer the high levels of service our customers have come to expect.
Digitalisation
The second challenge facing industries across the board is that everyone wants to do more and more digitally. We want to be able to buy online across different mediums, access our account details, follow up or amend an order, track where it is, and so on. Not only that, we want to be able to do those activities on demand - not constrained by business opening hours, but when it suits us.
This has been led by consumer industries but is impacting B2B firms more and more.
It’s a big challenge for a lot of businesses – customers’ expectations around service levels and their ability to self-serve have increased comprehensively. Consequently, that is the way you need to do business. We’re seeing more and more of the buying journey happening online, and so we’ve had to understand what that journey looks like and how we can influence their buying habits.
We have to add value without them needing to speak to us physically. It’s no longer enough to provide the facility for them to buy online - we must replicate the dialogue they might have with an account manager, anticipating their questions and their needs.
This is the challenge we need to embrace in the coming years. At Norbain, we believe that by investing in more flexible, modern systems and engaging openly with our employees, we’ll be in a strong position for the future.
Directly linked to this of course is increased logistics functionality – we’ve already become accustomed in our personal lives to our purchases being delivered when and how we want them. So if you want an hour timeslot and you’re will to pay for that, your Amazon delivery will be tightly scheduled. For a little less, you can make do with a longer timeframe, and so on.
We have to add value without them needing to speak to us physically. It’s no longer enough to provide the facility for them to buy online - we must replicate the dialogue they might have with an account manager, anticipating their questions and their needs.
This is the challenge we need to embrace in the coming years. At Norbain, we believe that by investing in more flexible, modern systems and engaging openly with our employees, we’ll be in a strong position for the future.
Directly linked to this of course is increased logistics functionality – we’ve already become accustomed in our personal lives to our purchases being delivered when and how we want them. So if you want an hour timeslot and you’re will to pay for that, your Amazon delivery will be tightly scheduled. For a little less, you can make do with a longer timeframe, and so on.
Norbain and all security distributors must be able to tailor their logistics solutions to cater to these expectations.
Similarly, we know that, just as consumers want to transact and gather information on demand, they also want to collect equipment when it suits them. So, we are seeing increasing interest from
customers wishing to use the delivery box type solutions, where you can get your order delivered to a safe and secure site – it might be in the local Co-Op or garage forecourt for example.
Customers can be safe knowing that they’ve placed their order, the equipment is in a secure and easily accessible location, but they can fit in physically collecting it when convenient, working around other commitments. For Norbain, this is an area we’re investigating thoroughly to identify the changes we need to incorporate. It’s vital that we continuously assess and develop our logistical capabilities.
Here, we’ve been able to capitalise on our ability to recruit the right expertise and we work hard to find the right partners, upholding the high expectations of those we depend upon.
Skills shortage
The third challenge causing a headache, not just for Norbain or even the security solutions industry, is the UK-wide issue of recruiting the right people with the right skills. And much as this has been a challenge for Norbain, it’s actually helped us to better understand the things that we need to do as an employer to make sure we can attract and retain talented people.
What we’re learning is that, particularly when you look at our younger generations, they want to work for an employer who has a clear and defined purpose, along with values that resonate with their own.
So, understanding clearly what our responsibility is within the security solutions supply chain and delivering on that quickly and efficiently is fundamental to our purpose. It’s taken for granted when you order something from Norbain that it’s in stock and will arrive when we say it will.
Employees understanding this purpose definitely helps us attract and retain them.
There’s also the ongoing challenge of a shortage of skilled engineers in the security solutions industry. Distributors can help their customers mitigate that at least in part by having an expert understanding of how the solutions we sell work, along with strong wrap-around services such as account management, pre-configuration and technical support.
By clearly defining our purpose, we’ve also recognised the important role we have to play within the local community. Environmental, social, and governmental policies are becoming critical in business as a differentiator.
Not only do employees want to work somewhere that supports the local community, it’s becoming increasingly important for customers to see this commitment demonstrated. Norbain have increased the amount of work we do with local charities, plus we’re working hard on our environmental impact with several projects, spearheaded by our parent company.
Also, the way that we run our business points to our values, particularly around integrity and the importance of having really strong, robust processes and guidelines. And there’s an expectation that our employees work within these. We can’t deliver on any of this without engaging our employees.
Norbain’s focus is simple – our people and our processes.
Summarising all of this
There’s no doubt that the security solutions industry continues to face challenges posed by component scarcity, operational constraints, and pressure on costs. Distributors must work more closely than ever with their manufacturing partners to strengthen supply chain management.
On the horizon are irrevocable changes to the way we do business, which offer great opportunity for distributors if met, or pose a threat to survival where ignored. We must develop the systems and skills to offer subscription-based services. The expectations of customer interactions are changing quickly too, as we continue towards greater digitalisation.
And finally, distributors must clearly understand our responsibilities within the supply chain and ensure we continuously evolve our purpose. This will provide the best opportunity to attract and retain the right people.
But if we can get it right, there’s plenty of scope for the distributors within the sector to add value to the supply chain and simplify the lives of both our suppliers and our customers.