Despite my years in the electronics industry, I continue to be fascinated with the global supply chain and remain amazed at its overall efficiency. However, I also recognize the constant presence of supply chain volatility — a volatility that has now become the new norm impacting every supply chain decision we make. Contributing to this…
I find one reality TV show interesting because it actually represents reality. …At least, it's the reality that I see through the supply chain and procurement lens of Freebenchmarking.com and Component Cost Estimator as it mirrors typical purchasing negotiations. The show is Pawn Stars , about a family-owned pawn shop in Las Vegas. In this…
There are two ways to approach a competitive environment-based marketing program: As a field general or as a bean counter. Guess which approach works better? More on that later, but first, attitudes regarding budgets vary greatly. Some believe in creative financing, such as having their PR or ad agency invest in their company: We expect…
The complexity of global supply chains — and the potential dangers therein — is perhaps best exemplified by Apple and Samsung. These two smartphone giants generate billions of dollars in revenue each quarter, but each could potentially be losing a billion dollars every quarter if they aren't properly managing their revenue. The global supply chains…
Having the world's largest independent database of current electronic component pricing gives me a unique perspective on pricing. Having developed the prediction algorithms used in Freebenchmarking.com and Component Cost Estimator — applications that accurately predict what individual companies should be paying for components — I am happy to see my customers saving millions of dollars…
It would be unfortunate if electronics companies were to resist the integration of transactional data, such as geography, delayed shipments, and supplier payment terms, with master data, such as supplier, customer, and inventory management. There is a great wealth of data that can be collected from search engines and marketing and advertising platforms to provide…
As the semiconductor industry has consolidated in the past 10 years, entrepreneurs have been forced to think differently about how to fund a great new idea. Venture capitalists, as we know, have cooled on the industry's ROI, to say the least! But, not surprisingly, at that end of the design and supply chain, novel approaches…
Are there {complink 379|Apple Inc.} turfs that {complink 4751|Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.} doesn't want to stomp on? The Korean electronics giant in 2012 grabbed the title of the No. 1 consumer of semiconductors from its North American smartphone and tablet PC competitor, according to an announcement yesterday by Gartner Inc., adding to its bragging rights…
{complink 2657|Intel Corp.} is changing alright, but in such incremental and deliberate ways, the process may be near conclusion before its rivals, investors, and many industry analysts realize the extent of the dramatic turnaround the current management is trying to execute. Over the course of the next five to 10 years, and certainly before the…
This time of year, we're inundated with predictions. Some of them you look at and forget. Others stick with you and get your problem-solving wheels spinning. The second scenario happened to me the other day when I was browsing sites and looking up enterprise IT trends. Three of the executive predictions cited on the Business…