I've never forgotten what a supply chain manager once told me: “When you're number two, the view in front of you is always the same.” The context was a conversation about how supply chain leaders dictate the rules of the game, and how every other company that isn't number one basically has to fall in…
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PHOENIX — Global technology distributor Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) today announced that it was named to the Top 100 of this year’s InformationWeek 500 – a list of the leading technology innovators in the U.S. Avnet was ranked No. 78 on the list because of its global shop floor control system, which plays a critical…
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I was barely awake this morning when I heard Joe Scarborough raving on TV about the teachers strike in Chicago. He argued that the teachers union was committing public relations suicide and alienating parents while Mayor Rahm Emmanuel cuts them to shreds. This is possibly all true, but not entirely relevant to the issues at…
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It was an improbable scenario. A not-for-profit organization wanted to manufacture a very low-cost, low-margin product in a highly developed country not known for bargain-basement tax rates or wages. In fact, some potential partners in the deal wouldn't even entertain the proposal, saying it simply couldn't be done. “With the initial production run being something…
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It's commonsense that the more one repeatedly does the same thing to complete a single task, the longer the job is going to take. If it were possible to identify every repetitive action and only do things once in order to achieve desired results, there would be an exponential savings in time and effort. What…
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Can something as simple as good planning contribute to anti-counterfeiting measures? Of course it can. But a successful plan has to be proactive rather than reactive. In other words, a plan has to be put in place before a key component in your design ends up as an end-of-life (EOL) device. The best way to…
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ATLANTA — The 2012 Executive Conference, being held October 28-30 at the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare Hotel, is an unprecedented networking and learning opportunity for the electronics industry. The schedule includes a first-class roster of speakers, roundtable dialogue and a generous amount of networking time. Attendees receive the latest information from renowned experts and gain unprecedented…
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The electronics industry could take a few lessons from Patagonia as pressure mounts on the industry to make its supply chain transparent. (See: The Information Squeeze.) Patagonia, a company long known for its environmentally friendly and philanthropic policies, has recently taken steps to open a window on its use of materials, its environmental practices, and…
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (F-RAM) and integrated semiconductor products, today announced that its Board of Directors has carefully reviewed the revised unsolicited tender offer from Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: CY) to acquire all outstanding stock of Ramtron at a…
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LA FOX, IL — Richardson RFPD, Inc. today announces immediate availability and full design support capabilities of a new 400W SMT hybrid coupler and matching termination from Anaren. Part of the Xinger®-III line, the X3C06A4-03S is a low profile, high performance 400W, 3 dB hybrid coupler for two-way power combining/dividing in a small, easy to…
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