It’s with a little nostalgia that I write this. When I was a teenager on the East Coast, designing and building radio and electronics gear, Allied Radio (now Allied Electronics & Automation) was my “go to” for electronic parts. And without revealing my age, I will say that a mail order was just that—the United States Post Office; UPS wasn’t yet available in my area. There was no Internet, and Ethernet was not yet reality. And if you needed more information, you relied on the Allied Catalog as parts descriptions were fairly complete.

Fast forward to today, and Allied Electronics has been accumulating a treasure trove of datasheets. The company just announced there are now more than 1.1 million of them, and the number keeps growing. From semiconductors and ICs, capacitors and resistors, connectors through industrial sensors, automation and control equipment, tools plus wire and cable, you can probably find the info you need. Getting datasheets at Allied doesn’t cost anything—other than your time spent in searching and downloading.

“Customer experience is one of our most important values at Allied,” says Stacey Ostermann, director of digital product content & content management at Allied. “Our customers are continuously requesting more detailed information on the products they buy, and we see datasheets as a key component of our overall product information experience.”

Besides the 1.1 million datasheets, the company also has more than 32,000 360-degree images on line, and ships most orders by 10:00 p.m. eastern time for same-day shipping. There are more than 3.5 million parts available to order with more than 170,000 on the shelf and ready to ship. The company also has a 99-percent order accuracy and stocks products from more than 300 name-brand suppliers.

While Allied is used to handling large accounts, it still will sell components to me, the little guy who orders a handful of parts now and then.

“No matter the size of the customer or the order, providing a superior customer experience is at the absolute core of the Allied brand,” says Fal Dieso, director of brand strategy and supplier marketing at Allied.

Maybe this is why Allied has withstood the test of time. I watched two of its main competitors back in the day fade away: Lafayette Radio/Electronics early on, and Radio Shack, just a few years ago. Not to say there aren’t any competitors today, but yesterday and today, Allied has fulfilled my orders fast and accurately.

Visit Allied Electronics & Automation on line.