Founded in San Jose in 1939,Buckles-Smith is the oldest electrical distributor in Northern California.  Two men and a few thousand dollars, a tiny warehouse and a pick-up truck thought they could improve the electrical "hardware store" with a then uncommon customer service - delivery!  Since that time many changes have taken place as the agricultural Santa Clara Valley transformed into the high-tech world of the Silicon Valley, but over 70 years later, Buckles-Smith remains focused on the same thing - how to provide uncommon customer service. 

We still deliver, although on a Slightly different scale.  From strategic locations around the Bay Area, our fleet of vehicles hits the streets daily to provide our oldest, most basic service - consolidated, on-time delivery from local inventory of electrical and control productsproduced by manufacturers from around the world. We've grown a bit.  With over a hundred employee owners, more than five million dollars in inventory, and sales approaching forty million dollars, Buckles-Smith is Northern California's largest supplier of industrial electrical and automation products.  And size does matter.  The most prestigious manufacturers in the industry choose us to distribute their products, often exclusively.  In addition, the breadth and depth of products we stock is simply not available from our competitors. 

We still do some things the old fashioned way.  For example - real people, not machines, answer our phones.  But our proximity to the Silicon Valley has allowed us to take advantage of leading edge technology to improve operations.  At our San Jose distribution hub, automated storage and retrieval system and our on-line inventory management system are representative of the technology that keeps us running at peak efficiency.  In fact, a survey of the industry's top manufacturers rated our business systems best among Bay Area distribution companies.

We offer solutions for customers to manage their inventory. JITOL - Just-In-Time-On-Line - our storeroom management system, utilizes bar code technology to track the usage of parts, and to generate replenishment orders directly from our mainframe as needed.  Software can track the usage of parts by project, department, personnel, or other key criteria.

When it comes to stock, our customers demand more than Northern California's most complete inventory.  They also want access to it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  That's why we came up with CustomerLink.  Our on-line service allows our customers to check inventory and prices, to place or modify orders and to send us e-mail.  Customers can access our on-line catalog and cross-reference tools.

 

Our business systems are the backbone for many of our customer's supply chain solutions.  They allow for custom reporting and summary invoicing, which can significantly reduce the administrative costs associated with accounts payable, accounting and internal auditing. They are the basis for electronic commerce and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) designed to reduce errors, handling and time of traditional transactions.  Many suppliers are only beginning to discuss the operational capabilities that our customers have enjoyed for years.