WireMasters is accelerating digital innovation while investing in talent and culture
WireMasters is one of the leading global sources for wire and cable, connectors and accessories, harness management products, technical expertise, and value-added services, striving to consistently provide the highest quality products in the industry, all with full traceability. From electronics and avionics to commercial or military applications, the company’s team of expert consultants help customers find the exact products to meet their requirements.
When we last spoke with CEO Drew Love at the end of 2024, he detailed how the company was investing in new technologies to optimize operations. While
technology is still a key focus for WireMasters, Drew is keen to update us on the latest developments from across the business, including the addition of an ‘industry legend,’ Bo Corn, and a deeper commitment to investing in people.
“We’ve successfully implemented several projects and technologies, and we’re starting to see efficiency gains within our operations,” Drew opens. “When we last spoke, we had recently implemented a new e-commerce platform, so we’ve now had our first full year of leveraging the benefits of this system, and we’re looking to deploy the system around the globe.
“We’ve had robotic process automation (RPA) processes, but the combinations of RPA and the advancement of Agentic AI style models in unstructured data environments allows us to eliminate human data entry across the business. This enables our employees to spend more time on value-added activities like working on relationships and boosting customer experience. In fact, it’s WireMasters’ goal to eliminate human data entry across the business over the next three years.
The power of partnership
“We’re at an exciting time where we’re pivoting the business to focus on engineering and strengthen our technical prowess,” he shares. “Distribution in our industry has historically been viewed from a transactional perspective, but we’re bringing something new by focusing on the engineering side. We’ve also hired Bo as a Strategic Advisor, who is a well-known individual in our sector and brings decades of expertise, as well as longstanding relationships with several of our customers.”
Following Drew’s update on the company, we’re keen to hear from Bo about his career journey and what he brings to WireMasters. “I spent the first 44 years of my career working for two corporations within manufacturing, having worked on high-profile aerospace and defense initiatives,” Bo reflects. “However, my relationship with WireMasters is not new, but instead dates to 1988, as I’ve been part of the company’s supply chain since its early days and have since formed a strong relationship with the current owner. Being a former supplier to WireMasters gives me an outsider perspective and enables me to build or strengthen relationships from a customer viewpoint.
“WireMasters has always been a leader in the sector’s distribution channels, but I was mostly drawn to the business because of its commitment to people, both internally and externally,” he says. “In terms of customers, WireMasters provides everything imaginable to the customer from the beginning to the very end, but the area that needs strengthening lies in the technical expertise required to deliver full solutions. With me now on board, we can provide everything a customer needs and in a more profitable way, solidifying the position of WireMasters as a leading global supplier.”
Strategic changes ahead
Elaborating on building relationships with engineering professionals, Drew adds: “We’ve always been focused on customer experience, but our customers’ procurement and engineering teams are often siloed, which makes it difficult for us to build relationships with two cross functional teams that sometimes don’t interact with each another. With Bo’s history and experience, we’re hoping his introduction to engineering groups will foster warm relationships and allow us to deliver technical expertise. We’re building a team around Bo that will be a new functional group within our sales department to focus on working with engineering rather than procurement teams.”
The company’s approach to customer relationships also applies to its employees, with several initiatives underway to create a positive working environment and support professional development. “When I first started, there were around 20 employees, and for many years, we didn’t have documented core values or a mission and vision statement, but that’s not to say that we didn’t have a culture,” Drew reflects. “Our culture was created from the top down, with our owner, David Hill, setting the tone of expectations, so although we didn’t have official documents, we operated a shared unspoken culture that everyone understood.
Living by its values
“We’ve now documented our values of quality, service, family, gratitude, excellence, and integrity, to ensure we’re all working together towards a common goal. Any business can have a great strategy on paper, but a successful one needs the right people to execute the plan. I’m a big believer that every employee’s experience of working at WireMasters is closely related to their direct manager. For me, culture begins with empowering leaders across the organization to be inspiring, fair, and compassionate, and to embody our core values in both their business and personal lives.”
By investing in its people, implementing innovative technologies, and championing customer relationships, WireMasters will inevitably continue to grow while simultaneously creating a positive and supportive workplace. “We’re strategically pushing all teams to unlock further efficiencies that enable us to scale,” Drew says. “We are becoming more intentional with hiring, while also supporting our employee’s skill development and growth.”
Michelle van Wyk, E-commerce Manager, adds: “From an e-commerce perspective, it’s important to ensure our customers have access to find information and purchase items in the way they want to. We’re putting measures in place to support customers with a self-service model, which not only enables customers to shop at any time and from anywhere but also allows our salespeople to spend their time and resources on nurturing customer relationships.”
Drew concludes: “Our five-year roadmap includes continued investment in systems, platforms, and people to advance the company from a revenue perspective. We’re committed to strengthening our core capabilities, distribution, and stocking, as well as adding new products to our portfolio.”