Globalization, disaggregation, declining average selling prices of components – all are pressing issues. Distribution Insider is the place where OEMs, suppliers and distributors examine how these issues impact the supply chain, explore how industry leaders are turning these challenges into new growth opportunities, and optimize the performance of their ever-evolving supply chains.
Distribution Insider Features:
eBooks
Globalization Fuels Design Chain Movement
Driven by competitive pressure from an increasingly global marketplace, a new twist on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection has taken hold in the electronics supply chain. Today, it is not necessarily the fittest that survive, but the fastest.
Read this eBook »Downturn Déjà Vu? Not This Time
When the dot.com boom burst in 2001, there was no silver lining in the dark cloud hanging over the high-tech sector. Today, however, as US economic predictions range from a mild slow down to an all-out recession, it is clear that insights gained from that experience have prepared the supply chain to withstand any type of economic hiccup.
Read this eBook »Going Commercial: Mil/Aero Cos. Switch Strategies
The United States may be the “leader of the free world,” but when it comes to the global semiconductor industry, the U.S. government is now just another low-volume customer.
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Resources
Avnet On-Ramp Technical Sessions™ for Texas Instruments:
Offering the convenience of on-site customer training with the benefits of a professional, hands-on, technology-specific technical presentation, Avnet´s Texas Instruments On-Ramp Technical sessions help jump start customer designs using breakthrough technologies like TI´s MSP430F5xx generation of ultra low power microcontrollers. This new family of MCUs offers the industry's lowest power consumption for devices that can provide up to 25 MHz peak performance, increased Flash and RAM memory and integrated peripherals such as radio frequency (RF), USB, encryption and LCD interfaces. All sessions include a product roadmap, technical overview, tool offerings and demos. Click here to read more about how Avnet On-Ramp Technical sessions can accelerate new product design development time.
Learn More »Avnet Electronics Marketing's Defense/Aerospace Services
Reliable, sustainable solutions. That´s what the defense/aerospace sector needs, and that´s what Avnet Electronics Marketing offers. Bridging the gap between legacy and leading edge technologies, Avnet´s military/aerospace experts work to protect companies´ design investment, flex creativity and stretch product life expectancy. For example, Avnet´s "first to know, first to react" obsolescence services provide customers with up-to-the-minute, part-number specific, end of life and obsolescence notifications. Click here to read more about Avnet´s EOL solutions including Prómiere lifecycle management tools, authorized aftermarket production using original manufacturer die as well as adapters and custom packaging.
Learn More »Maxim's MAX3100EVKIT MAX3100 SPI™/MICROWIRE™ Evaluation Kit
For use in applications with space, cost and power limitations, the MAX3110E and MAX3111E combine a full-featured universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) with ±15kV ESD-protected RS-232 transceivers and integrated charge-pump capacitors into a single 28-pin package. This evaluation kit from Avnet gives designers of handheld/battery-powered equipment, industrial front-panel interfaces and point-of-sale devices a fully assembled and tested platform to evaluate this technology. The kit also includes Windows 2000/XP/Vista-compatible software for simple graphical user interface when exercising the features of the MAX3100. Click here for information on price and availability.
Learn More »Actel's HMI Daughtercard for the Actel® Icicle™ Kit
Available exclusively from Avnet Memec, the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) daughtercard provides a design reference and evaluation kit for keypad control, LED color mixing using Actel's ultra-low power IGLOO® FPGAs. The board is designed to work with Actel's IGLOO Icicle Kit (ordered separately) and attaches to the Icicle™ kit's accessory board edge connector. Key features of the kit include complete design documentation and source files, royalty-free design reference and current mode step-up LED drivers from Monolithic Power Systems. Click here to see how this kit can meet the demands of battery powered and portable applications as well as keypad control and LED backlighting and brightness control.
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In-Depth Articles
Distributors Drive REACh Response
The electronics industry overall is not ready for REACh, according to a survey by industry association IPC. Then again, who is?
Read more »Countering Counterfeit Parts, Part 2
With cooperation from international governments, business and law enforcement agencies, in 2007 the U.S. customs and border protection agency successfully prevented millions of dollars worth of counterfeit electronic components and hardware from entering into the electronics supply chain – but that´s just the tip of the iceberg. The U.S Chamber of Commerce estimates the global market for counterfeit electronics may be as high as $10 billion.
Read more »Countering Counterfeit Parts, Part 1
What happens when good customers buy bad components?
It´s a scenario most component makers and franchised distributors have hoped to sidestep by lobbying for procurement only through authorized distributors and manufacturer representatives. But, when demand outstrips supply or end product lifecycles outlast component-level availability, buyers often believe they have no choice but to take their chances with the open market –
exposing themselves and the entire supply chain to the risk of counterfeit product.
Distributors Help Fuel Eco-Friendly Designs
As service providers, electronic component distributors’ value proposition is typically defined by their ability to not just meet, but also exceed customer expectations. Sales representatives or field application engineers who are willing to go the extra mile are rewarded with both business and customer loyalty.
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Industry News
DFT Benefits for Developers — and Entire Organizations
More than half the time required to get a product to market is now spent on testing. By designing for testability, developers can help get products through quality assurance faster and help their companies deliver high-quality products to market ahead of competitors.
Read more »Product Application: Tantalum Capacitors for Military Apps
Driven by commercial industry needs, new capacitor technology often falls short of meeting the reliability requirements of military applications. Yet today, a number of manufacturers now offer high-reliability (Hi-Rel) commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tantalum capacitors, which combine the reliability required in demanding military applications with the latest in capacitor technology required to meet challenging design goals.
Read more »Energy Saving Initiative: DC/DC Converter Efficiency Revisited
The ongoing trend for "green" systems has challenged the electronics industry to embrace power conservation and increase system-level efficiency. As a result, demand is surging for power silicon products like power MOSFETs, which create and dissipate the vast majority of any low-voltage power conversion in-circuit losses.
Read more »Technology Roundtable: Medical Electronics Forum
Electronic Products discusses design issues in the medical electronics industry, including miniaturization and regulatory requirements with industry experts from ON Semiconductor, Analog Devices, ZMD, AVX, Astrodyne, BI Technologies and Maxim Integrated Products.
Read more »Evaluation Kits Provide FPGA Design Head Start
As increases in logic density and bandwidth continue to improve the design flexibility and performance of FPGAs, designers are rapidly migrating from logic hardware to programmable solutions. See how pre-engineered, ready-to-use evaluation kits are allowing designers to expand their use of FPGA technology and provide product differentiation in a quicker design cycle.
Read more »Technology trends for industrial LCDs
Technology advances have fostered a growing use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the industrial market for applications including factory automation, portable medical, marine and other devices. Click here to read more about the non-consumer applications for this high-efficiency lighting technology.
Read more »RoHS: To Comply or Not to Comply
RoHS compliance may not seem optional, but two years after the directive was made, some confusion remains as to when and where RoHS requirements apply and when and where they do not.
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About the Sponsor
Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT). Avnet Electronics Marketing serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in nearly 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services.