After weathering tumultuous tides of volatility over the past few years, 2020 is shaping up to be a better year for supply chain managers, thanks to increased market predictability, especially for sourcing materials. Still, The best defense—and greatest offense—for managing dynamic markets, product complexity and unpredictable supply conditions is an Intelligent Digital Supply Chain that…
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,…
The Microchip Technology/Microsemi Corp. distribution channel is beginning to gel following the March acquisition of Microsemi by Microchip. Microsemi has joined Microchip in its authorization of Avnet Inc. to carry its complete product portfolio across the globe. This is the first major move by the merged entity as it assesses its combined distribution channel. For…
U.S.-based supply executives are receiving the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 favorably. The tax reform, signed into law by President Donald Trump in December, will have a positive impact on U.S. manufacturers’ organizational, strategic and tactical considerations, managers said. The Institute for Supply Management conducted a special survey to gauge members’ familiarity…
Businesses are looking at bigger merger & acquisition (M&A) targets in 2018; both in the number and size of those deals, according to Deloitte’s latest M&A report. Deloitte surveyed more than 1,000 executives at corporations and private equity firms about their M&A activity in the next 12 months. The number driver for those deals is…
Component shortages are not just about increased demand. Any number of factors – production capacity, supply chain disruptions, obsolescence and technology migration – can contribute to product scarcity. For 2017 and 2018, supplier merger and acquisition (M&A) activity can be added to the causation list. Semiconductor and tech mergers reached an all-time high in 2016 and formed…
The consolidation of the semiconductor sector has moved into a new phase involving mega transactions that may trigger similarly large acquisitions in other segments of the electronics market and further the redrawing of the industry supply chain as OEMs, contract manufacturers and component distributors re-align with the new power centers. IC market consolidators had been…
The $130 billion offer by Broadcom Ltd. for Qualcomm Inc. announced this week will rank as the industry’s biggest deal but that designation alone should give cause for concern. Huge deals like this are notorious for not meeting expectations and a hard look at the facts indicate Broadcom’s shareholders may in time come to rue…
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the technology sector continue on an upward trend in 2017, although at a slower pace. For purchasers this could translate into growing component obsolescence or it could mean a chance to negotiate better pricing for more products from fewer suppliers. Global M&As in the first half of 2017 increased 8.4…
The Avnet Inc. that just closed fiscal 2017 is significantly different from the Avnet of a year ago. Following a rollercoaster ride of M&A, executive turnover and internal-systems challenges, Avnet ended Q4 with sales up 16.1 percent year-over-year. Driven by organic growth of 8.4 percent, Avnet’s Q4 revenue reached of $4.6 billion from $3.9 billion…