Editor’s Note: This is the second of two articles examining the impact of tariffs — positive and negative–on the electronics industry. For political pundits, the United States government’s tariff strategy is about political leverage. For electronics OEMs, however, tariffs are about business. “As a United States patron, I look at it through the lens of…
Sixty percent of companies make offshore-sourcing decisions based on rudimentary metrics, such as wage rate, ex-works price or landed cost, often resulting in a 15 to 30 percent understatement of actual offshoring costs. Inclusion of all relevant factors—overhead, balance sheet, risks, corporate strategy and other external and internal business considerations—provides a better determination of the…
The causes, effects and implications of “The Great Component Shortage of 2018” have been thoroughly analyzed. The automotive and IoT industries have been driving unprecedented demand for smaller and more efficient passive electronics, which in turn has stretched lead times for these once- commoditized components to the breaking point. What hasn’t been discussed, however, is the equal…
Electronics component shortages are now so severe that some OEMs believe their growth for 2018 could be stymied if they are unable to get parts. “We have not missed deliveries yet, but we are on the edge,” said George Whittier, COO at manufacturing and engineering services provider The Morey Corp. “Shutting down one of our…
Electronics OEMs count supply chain risks as the most troubling set of challenges their businesses face, ahead of global economic malaise and geo-political issues. Problems such as inaccurate forecasts, sourcing constraints, supplier consolidation, pricing fluctuations, inventory management problems and the negative effects of natural disasters on shipping, procurement and logistics top the list of operating…
Historically, the semiconductor and electronics industry is a story of ebb and flow: the cycles of demand and the lulls that follow. Mix in the greater, macro-economic waves of variables that push or pull at consumer confidence and spending and you get a pattern that held out for the better part of several decades. The…
Purchasing conditions continue to whipsaw in the electronics industry but OEMs and contractors remain on top of the food chain, benefitting from weak pricing and easy availability of supplies amidst heavy discounting by harried vendors. However, OEMs, too, are stressed with uncertain demand, the stronger dollar, a potential hike in U.S. interest rates and conflicting…
Some ambitious electronics OEMs are staking out new markets in BRIC nations in contrast to the typical focus on Western countries and in defiance of the recent spate of negative news across the globe. If these bold market plays succeed, might we see a follow-on disruption along the channel and a shift in the leadership…
The Internet of Things (IoT) – which represents a great opportunity for component makers and OEMs in the electronics market – has implications for the millions of users of IoT applications. Purchasing, I’d imagine, is one of those applications. When I look at purchasing issues, I break them into two separate groups: my issues as…
Nothing has polarized the supply chain like counterfeiting. It has pitted segments of the industry against one another (distributors versus brokers) and more recently divided the channel into two camps: Pro-DNA and anti-DNA. Both of these debates center around proposed solutions to the counterfeit problem in the channel and both have spurred action. But these…