Supplier realignment always causes stress in the electronics supply chain — but the past six weeks has moved the needle to “anxiety.” In early October, chip maker Texas Instruments announced it was dropping six of its distributors — including Avnet Inc., WPG and WT Microelectronics — by the end of 2020. Within the past week…
Yageo Corp.’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Kemet Corp. will unite two leading component makers into a $3 billion powerhouse in the interconnect, passives and electromechanical (IP&E) market. The move will expand both companies’ global footprint, market penetration and product portfolios. “Together with Yageo, we will have an enhanced global footprint and be better able to…
Global procurement professionals are facing more challenges than ever — tariffs, trade wars, environmental regulations and patent/IP protection. Fortunately, they are up to the task. Worldwide, electronics purchasing managers have an average of 16 years on the job, according to EPSNews’/Aspencore’s first global procurement study. They work more than 40 hours a week; spend a…
U.S. factory activity contracted for the third straight month in October as trade issues, the GM strike and global economic uncertainty plagued the market. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index registered 48.3 last month, up slightly from a 10-year low of 47.8 in September. New orders, employment and inventories all rose from September but…
Paul Andrews Jr. did not set out to build a global distribution enterprise. “My first objective was survival,” he half-joked. “I’d been laid off from General Dynamics. I’d worked in manufacturing, procurement, I’d done inventory control, managed production and had experience in sales. My primary goal was to make a living.” In the early 1970s,…
Taiwan start-ups have some digital healthcare technologies they’d like to bring to the United States. They have a few hurdles to clear first. For many foreign companies, unique technology isn’t enough to secure investors in America. The medical technology market is highly regulated, and venture capitalists remain very cautious about where they invest their money…
Texas Instruments Inc. has further pared its distribution channel, notifying global distributor World Peace Group (WPG) and Asia-Pacific distributor WT Micro that it was terminating those relationships, effective December 2020. TI told global distributor Avnet Inc. last week that it was ending their franchise agreement. The latest announcements are consistent with the evolution of TI’s…
Texas Instruments, a longtime supplier to Avnet Inc., will discontinue its relationship with the global distributor as of Dec. 31, 2020. TI’s products account for roughly 10 percent of Avnet’s sales, which reached $19.5 billion in fiscal 2019. TI notified Avnet of its decision on Oct. 1, citing the evolution of its channel strategy. TI…
U.S. factory activity in September contracted for the second consecutive month to reach its lowest level since June 2009—the end of the last recession. The Institute for Supply Management’s leading manufacturing index, the PMI, registered 47.8 in September, a 1.3 percent drop from August. The demarcation line between expansion and contraction is 50. Business confidence…
The nation’s leading factory index in August contracted for the first time in three years as new orders, production and employment all fell below 50 — the threshold between growth and contraction. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI dropped to 49.1 percent last month, its lowest reading since 2016. Business confidence has also declined as…