For years, the Just In Time (“JIT”) strategy was seen as the ideal model for electronic components. Then the world got complicated in ways no-one saw coming, with COVID lockdowns, international trade tensions between the US and China, and the Ukraine war. The lack of resilience in JIT became a major problem. Major motor manufacturers had to shut their production lines, due to lack of components. This led to a new strategy, Just In Case (“JIC”), to replace JIT .
Most companies that purchase electronic components are find that shortages are becoming more and more common, just as more industry sectors become reliant on those components. Here’s why. (more…)
There are many ways of sourcing electronic components. Manufacturers recommend that you use their recommended distributors, but that’s not always possible, especially for small quantities and obsolete components.
If you work in purchasing for an electronics company you may receive a regular supply of spam emails from overseas distributors: most people are wise enough to delete these on sight. Components can be sourced on EBay. Searching eBAY for STM8S005C6T6, a popular microcontroller from STMicroelectronics, returns 20 or more suppliers, mostly in China. (more…)
Every company that relies on a supply electronic components, and that is most manufacturing companies, are now looking to make their component supply chains more resilient. The COVID pandemic showed the fragility of supply existing chains. The fighting in the Ukraine is a reminder that the vast supply of components from Taiwan could be vulnerable. (more…)
Sometimes we solve problems for two clients in one deal, by helping one client get a cash return on unused components, at the same time as helping the other client source the components they need. We use our years of industry experience, and our worldwide network of contacts, to do this. Often the components are not on offer on any public market place: it’s our expertise that knows where to find them. (more…)