Posted by Jenny Miller on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 08:49 AM
“Electronics Contract Manufacturers Face Supply Chain Pileup”
As our economy turns around we see different affects still adding up. In the post-recession, post-stock market dive times, EMS manufacturers remain wary of keeping excess inventory on hand…to the point of creating electronic component shortages.
According to “Electronics Contract Manufacturers Face Supply Chain Pileup,” by Thomas Dinges on August 30, 2010,
“Component shortages have led to a traffic pileup in the global electronics supply chain, with major contract manufacturers facing a challenging supply imbalance characterized by tight inventories of parts and finished products and a glut of raw materials, according to the market research firm iSuppli Corp.”
Looking at the inventory breakdown according to major EMS providers, finished goods are at their lowest levels since Q4 2008.
“Judging from various earnings calls as well as numerous conversations taking place in the industry, semiconductor companies are citing extended lead times and parts shortages as a major problem, Dinges said.
A quick look at many component samples reveals that lead times have worsened for a wide range of semiconductor discrete devices, with lead times running as much as 100 percent longer than for the same period last year. The shortest lead times—at 10 weeks as of July—are for connectors, up from 5 weeks in July 2009. The longest lead times are for rectifiers and small signal discretes, now running at 20 weeks—a full five months compared to 10 weeks last year at this time.”
To read more from this article, click here.
When you look at these numbers, what is clear is that we’re in a electronic component shortage situation that varies in intensity depending on what you’re looking for. iSuppli sees this problem persisting through the end of the year, and our forecasts could take that into the first or even second quarter of 2011.
Fortunately we’ve done our homework, and have high level relationships with the right suppliers so that we can provide resources for you in this component shortage climate.
Please call, email, or search for components on IC Trends today for the part you need so that we can supply your team with the right components to fuel your continued success.
Posted by Jenny Miller on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 @ 09:44 PM
In attending the CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronic Parts last week in Arizona, I walked away both challenged and encouraged. I have much greater clarity on this issue...and it really includes two main parts. It was incredibly beneficial having all the different pieces of the supply chain present so you could see different viewpoints and better understand the challenges they face. Let me give you an example:
- IC Trends buys a part from a distributor
- We don't have a great deal of confidence in the parts
- We try to get support from the Original Component Manufacturer (OCM)
- The OCM is reluctant to give support and until last week I didn't know why...
- Now I understand that the OCM has economic reasons motivating their decision, but moreover they don't want to be on the hook for parts that they could once verify but now can't because they've been outside of their control
Back to the conference- the counterfeiting problem breaks down into two main pieces:
1. The size of the problem and how many people it touches
2. The complexity of the problem
The counterfeiters are in many cases better financed and becoming more and more sophisticated as time goes by. Our abilities to detect counterfeiting need to increase. I learned a number of new methods by which we can make that happen. Some of those methods are relatively simple and will be implemented immediately, and some are more complex requiring the acquisition of capital equipment and that will happen over time.
In the coming weeks, I'll be blogging and sharing with you some of the methods gleaned from the conference. We'll be putting out literature on the immediate steps that IC Trends is taking to become even more dependable as a partner against counterfeiting. Some of the things you'll see in the next month are:
-Full disclosure of the IC Trends Anit-Counterfeiting Program
-The specific in-house testing and partnerships we have to ensure reputable components
-An outline of our visual inspection techniques
-The steps that we are taking to come into compliance with prevailing and relevant industry standards
IC Trends has always been motivated to excel as a trusted partner in the marketplace. When our customers have the need to move outside their normal supply chains we want to be the first, last, and most trustworthy call they make to satisfy their electronic component needs.
Best Regards,
Joe Stafford
Posted by Jenny Miller on Fri, May 28, 2010 @ 06:48 PM
As we head into the CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronics, questions about the scope of this problem and its impact on our industry are being asked. We know counterfeit electronic components are on the forefront of anyone in the world of component distribution. We know the scope of the problem is huge, according the US Department of Commerce; counterfeiting accounts for 8% of all global merchandise and can account for up to $1.2 trillion in lost sales.
As we look forward to the CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronics, held this year in Phoenix from June 8th-9th, counterfeiting is on the brain. The problem is big and the answers seem few. As we look ahead to this week there are several areas we're hoping get touched on and an array of questions we're hoping get answered.
The first handful are:
1. How big is the legacy problem for these manufacturers?
2. How pervasive is the counterfeiting problem?
3. Who are companies turning to in counterfeit component situations?
4. What are the current market conditions for OEM's? Are they experiencing shortages and increased lead times and, if so, what are they doing about them?
5. Are companies taking an aggressive stance against questionable electronic components coming out of Asia (i.e. not buying product from there)?
We'll be tweeting the specific stats and updates before, during, and following CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronics on these topics and more...follow us on twitter @ ICTrends to get the facts and figures associated with the staggeringly large business of counterfeiting. Follow this trail to get see what's happening at the important industry conference.