Where to find an Allen Bradley online store?

HJTRBO

Member
Join Date
Jul 2008
Location
Melbourne
Posts
618
Hi all,

I do not turn over enough to get a good discount from the distributors. But on occasions when I go head to head against an automation house, I generally end up selling automation parts at cost just to get the job because I do not qualify for good discounts.

Does anyone know a couple of good online stores or distributors who are friendly to the little guys?

I've spent some time googling but haven't come up with much yet behind the Australian firewall.

Cheers
 
hmmmm I know one :) But I am very limited in what I sell, that said I do sell a lot to AU

Send me a PM for what you looking for next time and I can let you know if we sell it or you can search our store https://www.plccable.com/stock-inventory/

AB tries to keep their distributors from not selling online because it crosses area boundaries , we are not a authorized distributor, we buy and sell anything that has to do with automation and dont care what name is on it as long as its a good quality product, we also sell a lot of used equipment from plant closures
 
AB tries to keep their distributors from not selling online because it crosses area boundaries ,
Wow.

I guess that it is an indicator of how firm ABs grasp is of the US market, for distributors to accept that. Being a distributor in 2018 and not having an online portal for selling directly to customers is a serious handicap. But if all AB distributors follows this, then...
Is it even legal ? It smacks of hindering open competition. Definitely illegal in the EU.
 

I did not really have a issue with that but what killed me and a lot of other small integrators was the 'in house' integrators they employ... I could compete with Bubba down the street but when Bubba was working for the AB distributor they would lower the cost of the hardware on the bid so my bid was not even in the ballpark on the total job and this force myself and others to look for alternative products or join them in the hardware distribution business
 
Hi all,

I do not turn over enough to get a good discount from the distributors. But on occasions when I go head to head against an automation house, I generally end up selling automation parts at cost just to get the job because I do not qualify for good discounts.

Does anyone know a couple of good online stores or distributors who are friendly to the little guys?

I've spent some time googling but haven't come up with much yet behind the Australian firewall.

Cheers
Does this work
https://www.kirbyrisk.com/search/?b...Computers & Software&brand_name=Allen-Bradley
 
Wow.

I guess that it is an indicator of how firm ABs grasp is of the US market, for distributors to accept that. Being a distributor in 2018 and not having an online portal for selling directly to customers is a serious handicap. But if all AB distributors follows this, then...
Is it even legal ? It smacks of hindering open competition. Definitely illegal in the EU.

In the UK, we are restricted with the Official Rockwell Supplier, Routeco.
We get preferential discounts, and if we were to buy on the grey market from other places, we are told that the warranty would not be valid...but how would they know where we bought the item from..?
 
if we were to buy on the grey market from other places, we are told that the warranty would not be valid

Not that it happens often... once in the past 10 years, I had a customer open a factory sealed item and it was dead (1746-P4) I sent them another and had that one repaired, it had a capacitor that was broken off the board

Now that said I have had many customers buy the wrong part, not only AB... they buy a BWA and needed a AWA, this happens more then once a month, I put a sticker on the items and that helps, the part numbers can be confusing

I just dont think the warranty is much to be concerned with, if AB, Siemens , etc made junk we would not be using them in the first place, had a customer looking for a card for their S5 that was installed in the early 90's and I sell a couple cables a week for the SLC 100/150 and they have been off the market for decades
 
Wow.

I guess that it is an indicator of how firm ABs grasp is of the US market, for distributors to accept that.

For clarification, this isn't unique to Rockwell. Most automation products are sold through regional distributors.
 
JohnCalderwood said:
In the UK, we are restricted with the Official Rockwell Supplier, Routeco.
We get preferential discounts, and if we were to buy on the grey market from other places, we are told that the warranty would not be valid...but how would they know where we bought the item from..?

For Ireland, Hanley Automation are the only Authorised Rockwell Automation Distributor in the country and have been for the last 30 years. We usually get up to 15% discount on most new items, especially controllers and drives. It's hard to beat that anywhere else, even online.

Although I've never been advised by them not to buy AB products or RA software from anywhere else, I cannot in my current role. Our company stipulates that we must buy from an Authorised Distributor.

For online shopping, this is also out of the question for me. I do not have direct purchasing powers. For all orders, I must raise a Purchase Requisition which, once authorised, must then raise a Purchase Order number. I could not setup online accounts for any of our suppliers and buy direct, even if it was less expensive for the company.

If they were in the practice of voiding warranties on any products bought "elsewhere", then one way they may possibly be able to keep tabs is the product serial numbers against purchaser. But I don't think that this or similar is actually the case. What happens when an integrator has purchased a product for a contract but later a fully entitled TechConnect end-user presents with the product for warranty cover? Is there a "paper trail" at the Distributor to link these two together? I'd doubt it?

I'm sure distributors do keep a record of what has passed through their system but would they go as far as requesting serial numbers off of valid customers before they will honour a product return under warranty? That has not been my experience.

Rockwell Automation do acknowledge the existence of non-Authorised Distributors and Resellers, but they do make it clear that all terms and conditions put forward by such sellers place no burden of liability on Rockwell Automation themselves...

Rockwell Automation said:
Terms and Conditions of Sale

These general terms and conditions of sale only apply to purchases of Allen-Bradley and Rockwell Software branded products and related services made directly from Rockwell Automation. Purchases made from appointed distributors or other independent resellers will be subject to terms and conditions of sale as may be separately established by each such distributor or reseller, which will in no event be binding upon Rockwell Automation unless otherwise expressly agreed to. However, Rockwell Automation extends its standard Manufacturer’s Warranty to customers purchasing Allen-Bradley and Rockwell Software branded products and related services from their local authorized Allen-Bradley distributor. Such Manufacturer’s Warranty is in lieu of all other warranties, which are expressly disclaimed.

...

Full T&C can be read here: https://www.rockwellautomation.com/...=legal&docid=198528fc3229c170dfd6764621cc27f8

Unless an online or even offline AB/RA sales entity is actually Authorised, the T&C's will vary from seller to seller, but there will be no Manufacturer's Warranty, unless Rockwell Automation has expressly agreed to this. Just something to be aware of when looking for that cheaper option online or otherwise. This, of course, may also go for other product brands on the "open" market.

But that interesting question does still stand? How do they know the product has been resold in an unauthorised manner?

Regards,
George
 
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Our distributor is acknowledged by Siemens and possibly also AB and the other big brands.
All orders are handled online, both when the orders go through our parts supply chain as well as single immediate orders (f.ex. by myself). We do not have to place an order by phone, fax or mail. The online portal is enough. Order confirmations from the distributor are sent by mail.
The distributor can send to anywhere in our country.
I can also order directly from Siemens online portal, but not from AB, or any other.

I believe that the original brand manufacturers actually prefer that as much go through distributors, and that they handle as many support requests as possible. But I have never had any problems with support from Siemens, as a matter of fact they have never ever asked me for any proof that I have purchased the product in question, directly or via a distributor.
Same as for warranty. No difference if the part was ordered via a distributor or directly.

Some other distributors handle orders the oldfashioned way. Typically cables that are cut to length require a specification on mail that results in a quote, which in turn can be ordered.

To me it appears that the trend is that more and more are handled through online portals, with the old-fashioned ways still being possible. It is everywhere. Airline tickets, tax, banking, cinema tickets, you name it. That is why a manufacturer "banning" distributors online ordering systems seems arcaic to me.
 
Hi all,

I do not turn over enough to get a good discount from the distributors. But on occasions when I go head to head against an automation house, I generally end up selling automation parts at cost just to get the job because I do not qualify for good discounts.

Does anyone know a couple of good online stores or distributors who are friendly to the little guys?

I've spent some time googling but haven't come up with much yet behind the Australian firewall.

Cheers

I can't help with an online portal.

We are an industrial mill. So I guess you guys would consider us 'users'

Our panel vendors (the guys that put together the starters, wire custom panels, do small integration projects with waste water, etc) get much better discounts from Rockwell than we do. And we have 3 or 4 of them locally (within 3 hour drive) that all seem to go through enough Rockwell product to get good discounts. So we often split out the hardware for the project and send it out for competitive bids. They take our drawings (that is exaggerating. Maybe I should call them sketches?) and then purchase the panels, racks, IO, mount the terminals and DIN rail, power supplies, fuses, mini breakers. The finished panels are shipped to site. Our electricians or contractors mount the panels, do the field wiring, etc.

We do our own programming and our own commissioning so that we can troubleshoot it.

The last time we purchased a ControlLogix L73, it was cheaper for us to get it put into rack, with a power supply, installed into a panel with a few terminals and a couple of power supplies ... than it was for us to purchase just the ControlLogix directly from Rockwell.

There is something wrong with the Rockwell sales model!
 
Yes and no...

This model helps to pay for local distributor to hire local technical support people and they saved me a few times. But also throw a monkey wrench into project that are sourced 3 time zone away. The local guy obviously like to get credit for it but the integrator doesn't want to mess up their relationship with their local RA house either... always a mess.
 
Wow.

I guess that it is an indicator of how firm ABs grasp is of the US market, for distributors to accept that. Being a distributor in 2018 and not having an online portal for selling directly to customers is a serious handicap. But if all AB distributors follows this, then...
Is it even legal ? It smacks of hindering open competition. Definitely illegal in the EU.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...ws/dealings-supply-chain/manufacturer-imposed

According to the above link, it is almost certainly legal in the USA, and most other vendors do the same thing. What the US rules boil down to is that one entity imposing limitations is often OK, but multiple entities colluding is bad. Also, there is a distinction where competition between brands must be considered in addition to competition within the brand. If a company (AB) thinks putting regional limits on its distribution helps it compete with other brands (better distribution support, more focused sales team, whatever), that's probably OK.

I know Siemens has a website you can buy from, but I've never heard of anyone in the states using it. It might be possible to do and it's just a pricing thing.

I'm not sure Rockwell actually BANNED websites or if it is just another case of the industry being mostly behind the times. I see so many people who say "this is how we do business", and because of existing legal agreements there's no way for a new/smaller/more agile company to try to steal their niche.
 
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