Smith Wins Bronze Award for Its Internal E-Learning Program

Chief Learning Officer magazine awards Smith for its achievements in learning and development

Houston, TX (May 9, 2019) – Smith, a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces that its e-learning program has earned a Bronze Award in Chief Learning Officer magazine’s prestigious LearningElite awards. Judges critiqued Smith’s e-learning platform, Smith University, based on its ability to efficiently deploy business strategies that produce significant results.

Smith University is used internally to train employees and help them to further develop their careers. All courses are offered online and designed to strengthen employees’ industry knowledge and skillsets. Smith managers and industry experts lead various courses across the platform in video lessons that teach Smith’s leading approach to delivering global supply chain solutions. Bringing in these subject-matter experts (SMEs) from within Smith not only spotlights their knowledge but also encourages more collaboration across the company and empowers employees to see Smith University as being truly their own platform.

“When building the platform, we wanted to invest in the best technology that can provide personalized learning experiences to each of our employees,” said Dr. Lisa Cairns, Smith’s Director of E-Learning. “LearningElite recognized the vision we have and that we’re building towards now with our strategic use of machine learning to implement artificial intelligence in upcoming quarters.”

By incorporating Smith SMEs as the core voice of Smith University, empowering employees through dedicated learning paths, and building extensive dashboard capabilities into the platform, Smith was able to increase learner enrollment by 828% in under 12 months. Employee enrollment in Smith University began 18 months ago and has already exceeded expectations by offering new course series monthly and delivering engaging content curated by Smith’s experts from across its global offices and various positions in the company.

“Employee development is one of the cornerstones at Smith, and we are proud to offer unique learning opportunities for all departments and ranks,” said Mark Bollinger, Smith’s Chief Globalization Officer. “Over the past year, our team has worked diligently to ensure the success of this platform, so winning a Bronze Award from LearningElite is truly an honor.”

About Smith

Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. In 16 cities around the world, from Silicon Valley to Seoul, Smith’s legion of employees communicates in 50 different languages and dialects and buys and sells components 24 hours per day, with global annual sales of $1.66 billion. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. With testing and logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam, Smith’s processes focus on critical issues, from quality management to counterfeit prevention and environmental safety. Smith’s operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide are seamlessly integrated with the company’s global IT infrastructure, offering real-time inventory and logistics visibility anywhere in the world. Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks number nine among all global distributors. Smith’s Intelligent Distribution™ model adapts to ever-changing demands by providing reliable global electronics sourcing and logistics, regardless of distribution channel or locale. For more information, please visit https://www.smithweb.com, or, to reach a Smith representative 24 hours a day, please call +1 713.430.3000.

###

For more information, contact:
Margo Evans
Smith, VP of Marketing
+1 713.430.3966
[email protected]