What Relay Specialties does

Relay Specialties, Inc. is a privately held, value-added distributor of electromechanical and industrial electronic components, headquartered at 17 Raritan Road in Oakland, New Jersey, and founded in 1963. The company aggregates inventory from a broad supplier base — including Omron, Finder, Littelfuse, Schneider Electric, IDEC, CIT Relay and Switch, Carling Technologies, ELKO, Alps, and Cooltron — and resells it across roughly ten product categories: solid-state, signal, PCB power, AC latching, and automotive relays; snap-action, tactile, DIP, pushbutton, limit, safety, rocker, and automotive switches; flow, pressure, vibration, thermal, optical, color, and IoT environment sensors; circuit protection devices; connectors and interconnects; controls and time-delay relays; contactors; thermal management products; lighting and indication; and magnetics. Distribution is executed through a BigCommerce e-commerce storefront (shoprelayspec.com), toll-free and local phone-based direct sales, and a request-for-quote workflow, supported by a marketing site (relayspec.com) that hosts catalog PDFs, datasheets, and a supplier news feed.

The business model is straightforward hardware distribution: Relay Specialties purchases components from manufacturer suppliers and resells them at margin to industrial equipment manufacturers, OEMs, and other distributors/resellers, with pricing handled per order or via RFQ rather than published lists. The company operates four US locations — the NJ headquarters plus branch offices in New England, Metro/Philadelphia, and Long Island — covering the Northeastern United States, with Canada listed in its operating geographies. It maintains an account-login system for repeat customers and is a member of the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA). The firm is led by President and CEO Barry Sauer, has 11-50 employees, and has navigated trade-policy shifts including a 2018 Section 301 tariff surcharge on Chinese-sourced goods. There are no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, subsidiaries, or institutional investors, and the company operates independently as a private corporation under New Jersey governing law.

Name

Relay Specialties

Legal name

Relay Specialties, Inc.

Website

https://relayspec.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Relay Specialties is a privately held, value-added distributor of electromechanical and industrial electronic components — relays, switches, sensors, circuit protection, connectors, thermal management, and lighting — sourced from dozens of brand-name suppliers and resold to industrial OEMs, equipment manufacturers, and other distributors, primarily across the Northeastern US.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electronic Components Distribution

NAICS

Electrical Apparatus and Equipment, Wiring Supplies, and Related Equipment Merchant Wholesalers (42361)

SIC

Wholesale-Electrical Apparatus & Equipment, Wiring Supplies (5063), Electronic Connectors (3678)

akta.pro primary industry

Electromechanical Components (Relays, Switches, Potentiometers, Encoders) (IMAGAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cables, Connectors & Wiring Harnesses Retail (CRACAKAE), Connectors, Terminals & Lugs (industrial connectors, terminal blocks, lugs, ferrules, splices) (IMAGAEAE)

Keywords

• Electronic components distribution
• Electromechanical components reseller
• Industrial relays distributor
• Sensors and switches supply
• Value-added component distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Distribution and Resale: Relay Specialties generates revenue by purchasing electromechanical and industrial components from manufacturer suppliers (Omron, Finder, Littelfuse, Carling Technologies, IDEC, Schneider Electric, and many others listed in their catalog) and reselling them to industrial customers, OEMs, and electronics manufacturers at margin. They offer product across categories including relays, switches, sensors, circuit protection, connectors, magnetics, lighting, thermal management, and wire/cable. Revenue is derived from the markup on product sales, with pricing either quoted per order or listed via e-commerce.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Relay Specialties is a value-added distributor that purchases electromechanical and industrial components from a broad set of manufacturer suppliers (Omron, Finder, Littelfuse, Schneider Electric, IDEC, CIT Relay & Switch, Carling Technologies, Alps, Cooltron, ELKO, and others) and resells them at margin to industrial equipment manufacturers, OEMs, and electronics producers. The offering spans relays (solid state, signal, PCB power, AC latching, automotive), switches (snap action, tactile, DIP, pushbutton, limit, safety, rocker, automotive), sensors (flow, pressure, vibration, thermal, optical, color, IoT), circuit protection, connectors, controls, magnetics, thermal management, lighting/indication, and wire/cable products. Distribution is delivered through an e-commerce storefront, phone-based direct sales, and regional branch offices in the Northeastern U.S.

Product overview

Relay Specialties is an electronic components distributor offering a comprehensive portfolio of electromechanical and industrial components. Their core offering centers on relays (solid state, signal, PCB power, AC latching, and automotive types) and switches (snap action, tactile, DIP, pushbutton, limit, safety, and automotive). The company also distributes sensors (flow, pressure, vibration, thermal, optical, color, and IoT environment sensors), circuit protection devices, connectors, controls, thermal management products, and lighting/indication components. Products come from multiple manufacturers including Omron, Finder, Littelfuse, Schneider Electric, IDEC, and others. The company operates an e-commerce platform (shoprelayspec.com) alongside their catalog business, serving customers through multiple branch locations in the New Jersey/New York area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solid State Relays Solid state relays (SSRs) offered from suppliers including Finder, Littelfuse, and Crydom, providing silent switching, high-speed operation, and long electrical life without electric arcing or contact bounce. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Signal Relays Low-power relays designed for switching signal-level circuits, offered from Omron and other manufacturers in PCB-mount and through-hole configurations. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• PCB Power Relays Printed circuit board mountable power relays for high switching capacity applications, including models from Omron (G2R, G5LE, G6D, G6QE families) with ratings from 5A to 36A. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• AC Power Latching Relays High switching current latching relays for AC power applications including the Omron G9TA (60A) and G9TB (120A) series with single-winding and double-winding configurations. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Automotive Relays Relays designed for automotive applications including the Omron G8N, G8ND, G8NDL, G8NW, G8NB, G8HL, G8HN, G8JN, G8HE, G8V series with various terminal layouts and current ratings. Sold to automotive and industrial manufacturers.
• Basic / Snap Action Switches Mechanical switches including Omron V-series (miniature), S-series (subminiature), J-series (ultra subminiature), sealed, and Z-series (basic) snap action switches for current ratings up to 20A. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Detection Switches Compact detection switches including general purpose and ultra subminiature SMD detection switches for position sensing applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Limit Switches Rugged detection switches with protective structures designed for factory floor conditions and industrial automation applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Safety Switches Switches designed to detect when mechanical guards or covers are closed, and emergency stop switches for safety applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Tactile Switches Tactile switches for operation panels including standard, illuminated, sealed, SMD, hinged types and associated caps. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• DIP Switches DIP switches for various setting devices including slide type, piano type, and rotary type configurations from Omron with multiple positions and mounting options. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Flow Sensors MEMS-based flow sensors including flow rate type, velocity type, and differential pressure type sensors for industrial and instrumentation applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• MEMS Pressure Sensors Micro-electromechanical pressure sensors with small characteristic variation for precision pressure measurement applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Vibration Sensors / Tilt Sensors Seismic sensors, vibration and tilt sensors, and automatic horizontal vibration sensors including the Omron D7S vibration sensor. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Thermal Sensors Human detecting sensors using highly sensitive infrared technology including the D6T series thermal sensors. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• IoT Environment Sensors Wireless sensors corresponding to Bluetooth beacon that can sense seven kinds of environmental information for IoT applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Optical Sensors Photointerrupter sensors, photomicro sensors, light convergent reflective sensors, micro-displacement sensors, and air quality sensors for industrial detection applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Color Sensors
• Circuit Protection Devices Circuit breakers, fuses, and fuse holders for protecting electrical circuits from overcurrent conditions. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Connectors and Interconnects AC power connectors, barrel connectors, battery connectors, circular connectors, D-subminiature, terminal blocks, USB/DVI/HDMI connectors, and other interconnection devices. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Controls Control devices including alerts, detectors, indicators, programmable controllers, liquid level controls, capacitor trip devices, and card readers. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Time Delay Relays Time delay relays for controlling timing sequences in industrial automation and control applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Contactors Electrical contactors for controlling motors and heavy loads in industrial applications. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Thermal Management Products Fans, blowers, heat sinks, thermal pads, and thermostats for managing heat in electronic systems. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Lighting and Indication LEDs, LED lighting, displays, lamps, pilot lights, indicators, and light towers for industrial lighting and status indication. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.
• Magnetics Transformers, inductors, chokes, power supplies, surge protection products, uninterruptible power supplies, and speakers. Sold to industrial equipment manufacturers and OEMs.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered primary, core and minor.

• OmronprimaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOmron is a major supplier partner whose products (relays, switches, sensors, power supplies, card readers, programmable controllers) are distributed by Relay Specialties. The supplier news section prominently features Omron product announcements and new releases.
• FinderprimaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFinder (Findernet) is a supplier partner providing relays, time switches, contactors, meters, monitors, pilot lights, power supplies, and surge protection devices distributed by Relay Specialties. Featured in supplier news for the 77 Series Solid State Relays.
• LittelfusecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLittelfuse supplies solid state relays and circuit protection products distributed by Relay Specialties. Featured in promotional banners on the company homepage.
• Schneider ElectriccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSchneider Electric (including legacy relay products) is a supplier partner whose products are distributed by Relay Specialties. Referenced in historical newsletter content on the website.
• ELKOcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorELKO is a supplier partner providing Din Rail style relays and monitors featured in promotional banners on the Relay Specialties homepage.
• CIT Relay and SwitchcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCIT Relay and Switch is a supplier partner whose UL-approved relays are featured in promotional banners on the Relay Specialties homepage.
• Carling Technologies (Carlingswitch)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCarlingswitch is a supplier partner providing switches and circuit breakers. Their products are cataloged extensively in the Relay Specialties online catalog index with multiple pages of technical documentation.
• IDECcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIDEC is a supplier partner providing programmable controllers, power supplies, relays, sockets, and switches. Featured in supplier news for LED flood lights illuminating hazardous locations.
• ECIA (Electronic Components Industry Association)coreOthersRelay Specialties is a member of the ECIA (Electronic Components Industry Association). ECIA membership provides industry advocacy, market intelligence, and ethical standards for electronic component distributors and manufacturers.
• AlpsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAlps is a supplier partner providing TACT Switch products (including the SKTH Series dust-proof compact switch for automotive applications), encoders, and potentiometers distributed by Relay Specialties.
• CooltronminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCooltron is a supplier partner providing EC fans and thermal management products distributed by Relay Specialties. Featured in supplier news for their 'green' line of EC fans.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Master Electronics: Master Electronics is an authorized distributor of electromechanical, interconnect, and sensor components, carrying many of the same franchise lines as Relay Specialties (Omron, CIT, Carling). It targets similar industrial/OEM customers with a mix of online catalog sales and value-added support.
• Powell Electronics: Powell Electronics is a specialized distributor of relays, switches, and connectors serving defense, aerospace, and industrial markets. Like Relay Specialties, Powell focuses on electromechanical components from franchise suppliers (e.g., TE, Omron, Coto) and competes for similar OEM and industrial customer accounts.
• Sager Electronics: Sager Electronics is a specialized North American distributor of electromechanical, interconnect, and power management components, with a strong focus on relays, switches, and circuit protection. It mirrors Relay Specialties' specialist, value-added distribution model and overlapping supplier lineup (including Omron and other franchise brands).
• Onlinecomponents.com (Online Components): Onlinecomponents.com is a B2B electronic components distributor focused on relays, switches, sensors, and electromechanical parts from authorized manufacturers. It targets the same industrial/OEM buyer as Relay Specialties with a primarily e-commerce motion.
• Heilind Electronics: Heilind Electronics is a specialized distributor of interconnect, electromechanical, and sensor products, serving industrial and aerospace customers. Like Relay Specialties, it is an authorized partner for major component suppliers and competes for similar OEM accounts.

Broad incumbents

• Digi-Key Electronics: Digi-Key is one of the largest global electronic component distributors, carrying relays, switches, sensors, and connectors from Omron, Finder, Littelfuse, and most other suppliers Relay Specialties carries. It competes primarily on catalog breadth, digital tooling, and logistics — overlapping directly with Relay Specialties on standard SKUs.
• Mouser Electronics: Mouser Electronics is a major global authorized distributor of semiconductors and electronic components, carrying Omron, Littelfuse, Schneider, and other suppliers in Relay Specialties' catalog. It competes on broadline selection and rapid fulfillment for industrial and OEM customers.
• Newark / element14: Newark (element14) is a global broadline electronics distributor offering relays, switches, sensors, and connectors from major manufacturers alongside tens of thousands of other components. It competes directly with Relay Specialties for industrial and OEM buyers but at vastly broader scale.
• Allied Electronics & Automation: Allied Electronics (an RS Components brand) is a large broadline industrial automation and electronic components distributor carrying switches, relays, sensors, and connectors. It overlaps with Relay Specialties' catalog but competes across a much broader SKU universe and geographic footprint.
• WPG Holdings: WPG Holdings is one of the largest global electronic component distribution groups, operating brands that carry relays, switches, sensors, and connectors across Asia, the Americas, and EMEA. While Asia-headquartered, its Americas operating units (e.g., WPG Americas) compete with Relay Specialties for industrial customers seeking Omron and similar franchises.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Relayspec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Relay Specialties