U.S. manufacturers that rely on access to electronic components are on the brink of not being able to fulfill their customers’ orders. But manufacturing is still humming: The Institute for Supply Management’s leading factory index, the PMI, increased by 1.4 percent in May to 58.7. However, comments from the computer and electronics sector indicate OEMs…
Electronics component shortages are now so severe that some OEMs believe their growth for 2018 could be stymied if they are unable to get parts. “We have not missed deliveries yet, but we are on the edge,” said George Whittier, COO at manufacturing and engineering services provider The Morey Corp. “Shutting down one of our…
Anyone who is in procurement knows that high-volume purchases mean discounts and oftentimes, leverage. Most small businesses don’t have the need – or the pocketbook – to achieve either. However, when small businesses combine their resources for group purchasing, their negotiating position is significantly strengthened. UNA, launched in 2012, is one of several group purchasing organizations…
Purchasing managers for the manufacturing industries in the U.S. expect growth will continue throughout the remainder of 2018. Sixty-two percent of the respondents to the Institute For Supply Management’s Semiannual Economic Forecast expect their revenue in 2018 will be 11.6 percent higher than in 2017; the industry will average 6.6 percent growth. In fact, every…
The electronics industry has tried a number of mechanisms to prevent counterfeit ICs and other components from entering the supply chain. Unfortunately, counterfeits remain all too common. The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has charged distributor PRB Logics Corp. of Orange County, California, with the sale of counterfeit components. The counterfeit ICs could have been…
For decades, U.S.-based electronic component distributors’ global growth strategy was acquisition. Beginning with the EU, American distributors acquired foreign competitors to establish themselves in a geographic market. The same is true for Asia-Pacific, and acquisitions there will likely continue. For foreign distributors entering the Americas the trend has been different. While there have been acquisitions—by…
Significant change is coming to the manufacturing arena. As artificial intelligence, the industrial IoT and the smart factory begin to transform production, Intel Corp. is gauging the impact such technologies will have on manufacturing and the supply chain — and the humans that oversee these complex operations. The benefits of smart factories are many: autonomous…
U.S. manufacturing experts say when it comes to China, trade and tariffs, industries such as electronics should keep their eye on the long game. “The [Trump] administration is playing a larger chess game than it is given credit for,” said Tom Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management. “It’s not just about aluminum and…
U.S. electronics companies are feeling the pressure of widespread component shortages, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s latest report. Although the overall U.S. manufacturing index — the PMI — remains robust, supply constraints and extended lead times have caused some computer and electronic companies to delay or even miss sales opportunities. “Supply constraints, extended lead…
Chuck Delph, Avnet Inc.’s president of Electronics Marketing for the Americas since 2016, is the latest Avnet veteran to depart the company. Delph has been named president of Vallen Distribution, effective April 9, 2018, and will be based in Vallen’s Belmont, NC, headquarters. Delph is among a number of senior executives who have left Avnet…