Welcome
to the premier issue of Electronics
Purchasing Strategies
IP&E Market Insider monthly newsletter. We plan to profile many of the key
players in the interconnect, passive and electromechanical (IP&E) markets
including component manufacturers and distributors, as well as provide news
coverage on what's happening in these markets, including financial reports,
franchise agreements, and new trends and strategies. Here's a sampling of recent
news including Vishay's Q4 outlook
and its cost-cutting actions,
Kemet's new electrolytic
innovation center,
and Amphenol's Q4 sales
report.
There is no doubt that the biggest news in this market
over the past two months was Koch Industries' $7.2 billion
acquisition of Molex, which not only put the limelight on Molex but the
entire interconnect industry. On the distribution side, Avnet makes a big case
for IP&E. In addition to outreaches to support design engineers, Avnet has been courting
purchasing and procurement experts at OEMs and electronics manufacturing
services (EMS) providers. Execs say the goal isn't just to increase Avnet's
IP&E sales but to also demonstrate some of the value-added services it
offers suppliers and customers in the sector.
Part of our charter is to provide
analysis and discussion of the challenges, opportunities, and issues in the
IP&E market. EPS' editor in chief Bolaji Ojo has delved deep into the
IP&E market over the past few months, looking into some of the challenges
that IP&E component manufacturers and distributors face, including commoditization, market share struggles and the
need to innovate. All of these issues have an impact on the purchasing
community. We hope these articles shed some further light on what's happening in
this market.
Over the past month, our managing editor − and
distribution guru − Barbara Jorgensen has spent some time talking to
distributors about some of their challenging issues. Dave Doherty, vice
president of Global Supplier and Product Operations for Digi-Key, discusses the company's
expansion from a traditional low-volume high-mix (catalog) order model into
a small production and prototype business. Jim Ricciardelli, vice president of
e-commerce strategy at Arrow, talks about the company's new
tool that acknowledges the link between a product's design and the
procurement of devices necessary for final assembly.
Speaking of the link between design and purchasing, we'd
like to enlist your help with a survey that EPS has launched as part of
our efforts to gain a better understanding of the electronics purchasing and
procurement community. If you buy or specify components for a manufacturer, we
would like to hear from you. The survey won't take more than 15 minutes and we
will provide an executive summary of the report to respondents in addition to
entering them into a drawing to win one of two mini iPads.
All
answers are completely confidential and will be used only in combination with
others we receive. Your candid response is critical to the success of this
research.
Simply click on the following link to get
started:
http://survey.beacontech.com/2328/cgi-bin/ciwweb.pl?studyname=2328&p=3&hid_pagenum=1&hid_link=1&hid_javascript=1
We
would also like to hear from you. If you have a story idea, let us know.
Interested in a specific topic, contact us. You can reach me at gina.roos@epsnewsonline.com.
Gina
Roos
Executive
editor
Electronics
Purchasing Strategies