During the late 1990s dotcom boom, e-commerce was poised to simplify the supply chain. The Internet would give buyers more control over orders, bypass middlemen in the supply chain, and provide pricing options so far not seen in the channel. Instead, the Internet simplified some things but made others more complicated. The Internet enables sourcing…
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The electronics industry likes to celebrate success, touting the unusual circumstances under which many of its biggest companies were founded — the garage is a favorite location. It often fails to mention the hundreds, possibly thousands of other technological innovations that died unsung because the entrepreneurs either couldn't get anyone to pay attention to their…
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Building a core competency around analyzing various supply chain design scenarios is crucial to bringing more efficiency and effectiveness to a company's operation. From Make vs. Buy decisions, to the location of a distribution center, to the impact of a postponement strategy — these are real business decisions that are driving the need for more…
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All the buzz about Windows 8 has put an exclamation point on something many in the technology industry already knew: Mobile devices are changing business models. Early reviews of Windows 8 say that the OS is clearly meant for mobile devices, and that PC users are going to have a hard time moving away from…
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Am I the only one who is getting sick to death of all the outsourcing-bashing going on in today's local and national political campaigns? First of all, I wish someone would explain to the American public that “outsourcing” and “offshoring” are not the same thing. Maybe it is just semantics, but it bugs me! Now…
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Procurement strategies should not just take into consideration schedules, procedures, and resources, but also risks. If it is the first time a product is being purchased by your company, then there are unknown factors that revolve around quality, workmanship, capability in meeting delivery schedules, personnel in the particular supply chain, and long-term reliability of the…
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Long before Steve Jobs founded {complink 379|Apple Inc.}, and even before Bill Gates turned MS-DOS into the Operating System That Ate Everybody's Brain, Gene Roddenberry and William Shatner planted in my mind a vision of personal computing so sublime that no real-life advance in this technology has given me the slightest thrill. I can't identify…
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PHOENIX — Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), announced today a series of SpeedWay Design Workshops™ focused on the Xilinx, Inc.® (NYSE: XLX) Zynq™-7000 All Programmable SoC. These technical training sessions take place in locations across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The Xilinx Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC SpeedWay Design Workshops™…
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Google's earnings came out a few hours early last week due to a computer glitch. Some observers are blaming the glitch for a drop in Google's stock price. The fact that the earnings were awful is almost cited as an afterthought: Among the litany of issues, the Internet search giant's profits slid 20% from a…
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When R&D is designing a product, it is usually the result of top management's agreement that the new product will eclipse other similar products already in the marketplace only if it has a superior function, acceptable cost, and a significant market appeal. The superior function of an electronics or electrical product is itself a function…
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