Burtek streamlines marketing, sales

HOUSTON--The marketing and operations efforts of sister companies Burtek Sytems and Richardson Electronics Security Systems Division is now directed out of Canada, thanks to a late-summer executive reorganization. A supplier of alarm, CCTV and access control products and services, Richardson Electronics SSD is headquartered in Houston and has five branches in the U.S. Burtek is the Canadian division of Richardson Electronics SSD. Based in Vancouver, Burtek has 11 branches in Canada. In an effort to improve sales and streamline operations, the company announced two promotions and reorganizing plans in late August. Peter Tomlinson is now vice president and general manager, operations, America; and Ian Houghton is now vice president of global marketing. Both Tomlinson and Houghton are based in Vancouver. "Up until this reorganization we had two distinct sales and marketing efforts--one in Canada (Burtek) and one spearheaded out of Houston for the rest of the business (U.S., Latin America and Europe)," said Wendy Diddell, vice president and general manager for Richardson's Security Systems Division. "The purpose of the reorganization was to take the group with the most resources and the most success--Burtek--and charge them with spearheading strategy and implementation for the rest of the organization," she explained. Although the products may still vary by location depending on local market demand, Houghton's group, which contains marketing-communications and product management--will ensure that Burtek and Richardson Electronics SSD products and services will have the same look and feel, Diddell said. Tomlinson will be responsible for streamlining operations, which includes logistics, inventory and service. He will also continue in his role as vice president of finance for Burtek. There may be some reshuffling of responsibilities, but no jobs will be eliminated as a result of the restructuring, Diddell said. The streamlining measures do not include plans to have the companies share the same name, she said. Richardson SSD and Burtek employ 238 people and have 10,000 customers in North America. Eighty- to 90-percent of Richardson Electronics SSD's business is commercial, with the residential market comprised mainly of its alarm business. The companies are the security arm of Chicago-based Richardson Electronics.