Executives of Ametherm Inc. spent years working to win a distribution agreement with Mouser Electronics Inc., a Dallas-based company with reach into more than 400,000 companies in 170 nations.
In the end, it turned out that the reputation of Ametherm had opened the door for the executives’ sales calls.
Mouser Electronics, part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway group of companies, said a few days ago that it signed a global distribution agreement covering the entire line of products manufactured by Carson City-based Ametherm.
Ametherm makes more than 300 varieties of thermistors, a specialized type of resistor used to protect circuits in products ranging from giant speakers to tiny battery chargers.
Even so, it’s working in a niche market, one that doesn’t necessarily leap to the attention of big distribution companies such as Mouser.
Medhi Samii, who co-founded Ametherm in 1994 with Eric Rauch, says the independent sales representatives who sell Ametherm’s products played a critical role in winning the distribution deal with Mouser Electronics.
Many of those sales reps also are selling other products that are distributed by Mouser, and they sang the praises of Ametherm to the Dallas company.
While Ametherm’s products are little known to the thousands of drivers who pass by its 34,000-square-foot facility on Fairview Drive every day, the company is a regular presence at electronics industry trade shows and its advertising brightens specialized trade publications. In the world of thermistor buyers, Ametherm is a big deal.
Then, too, Ametherm’s products already are carried by one of Mouser’s biggest competitors — yet another endorsement.
With that groundwork completed, Samii and Rauch headed off to Dallas to make their pitch and nail down the deal.
Andy Kerr, vice president of passives for Mouser Electronics, says his company decided to handle the Ametherm line because of the Carson City company’s reputation of providing output-protection devices for a wide range of markets.
One of those devices that’s been getting a lot of attention, Samii says, is a new line that’s known for its ability to handle high steady-state current in a wide range of temperatures. Developed by Ametherm’s staff in Carson City, the line is unique in its capabilities. The company employs about 45.
Competing in a cutthroat worldwide market, Ametherm is eager to capitalize on the worldwide reach of Mouser, Samii says. Along with its 492,000-square-foot distribution center in Dallas, Mouser operates 19 support centers for customers around the globe.