Components Express,Inc. United States

Corporate HistoryComponents Express incorporated in 1992. It began by importing electronic components from Asia and manufacturing data cables. Today, its high quality in-house manufacturing capabilities and cost-effective international import operations allow it to offer both simple components and complex sub assemblies. Asian Imports and Component SourcingCEO John Berst has been doing business and building relationships in the Far East since 1987. His customers wanted low-cost components but would not give up quality. He set out to offer price, quality assurance, and guaranteed delivery in any quantity. Berst began with part-time staffing in Asia 1992. By 1996 he'd set up a full-time office in Taiwan. CEI's Asian personnel find product sources, visit facilities, and negotiate deals. They work logistics, consolidate freight shipments, and act as CEI's translators when needed. Manufacturing cables for Cisco Systems equipment led CEI to invent a patch panel. The patch panel made many of the connections internally that the cables had been making externally, eliminating "spaghetti. " Cisco was impressed and invited CEI to redesign some of its Smart Serial Cables and develop more patch panels. CEI became an approved Cisco OEM Hardware Manufacturer and in 2001 was awarded a patent for the patch panel line. It later became an approved Hewlett Packard OEM Hardware Manufacturer, as well. CEI then added a graphic arts department with package design expertise. This allowed it to create kits for manufacturers that could go straight to the Point-of-Sale.