Supply Chain Reaction

Arrow Electronics has announced its Arrowfest schedule, kicking off next week in Philadelphia.

The annual coast-to-coast technology exhibition for customers and suppliers in part of Melville, NY-based Arrow’s North American components business and is now in its 20th consecutive year. After Philadelphia, Arrowfest travel to a six other US locations and makes one stop in Canada this fall.

Each exhibition includes technical supplier seminars, hands-on demonstrations, and information on the latest products from manufacturers like ADI, TI, and NXP. Arrow estimated that more than 2,500 engineers, suppliers, OEMs, and other industry professionals attend Arrowfest each year.

The schedule is below. For more information on the events, visit www.arrowfest.com. Note, each city has a theme (Santa Clara attende...Read More

Speak of the devil. Just a few days after we blog about the need for more REACH awareness, SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), SESHA (Semiconductor Environmental, Health and Safety Association), ESIA (European Semiconductor Industry Association), and ISMI (International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative) announce a Webcast on the environmental regulation.

The 90-minute free Webcast, "Logistics of REACH Pre-Registration," will be run from the newly created ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, August 11 at 8am pacific time. SEMI describes the Webcast’s target audience as “semiconductor industry members and suppliers concerned with regulatory compliance for substances produced in, or imported directly or indirectly, into...Read More

The IPC released some startling numbers this week, suggesting that the electronics supply chain is not ready for the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation, despite the fact that it took effect on June 1, 2007.

The industry group conducted a survey on REACH preparedness in the North American and European interconnect industry and found that more than 40% of manufacturing and purchasing personnel have no understanding of the REACH regulation as it affects their companies. On top of that, the survey found that the same holds true for nearly one-third of senior management, 29% of engineering personnel, and 28% of environment, health and safety personnel.

Numbers as drastic as these are always shocking. How do you ignore REACH – an EU regulation that puts responsibility on the electronics supply chain to manage th...Read More

There’s a newly implemented system in China to thwart counterfeit components. Blessed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and jointly supported by the China Quality Management Association for the Electronics Industry (CQAE) and the China Electronic Purchasing Association (CEPA), the Reliable Electronic Component Suppliers (RECS) system certifies and authenticates electronic component manufacturers and authorized distributors that provide products from legal and reliable sources.

Numbers concerning counterfeiting vary from source to source, as do the suggested ways to defend the electronics supply chain against these fake components. In late 2007, the US Patent and Trademark Office estimated that counterfeiting and piracy drain about $250 billion out of the US economy each year along wit...Read More

Broadcom and Qualcomm were back in court today, each beating their same old drums when it comes to certain cell-phone power-conservation chips.

Today’s courtroom reunion sees the two competitors once again arguing over if cell phones using Qualcomm chips that include technology found to infringe Broadcom patents should be sold in the United States. Qualcomm was ordered by the US District Court for Northern California last year to stop selling phones with certain WCDMA and EV-DO chips by January 2009 because they were found to infringe three Broadcom patents. The ruling also required Qualcomm to pay royalties to Broadcom for the chips it sells during the "sunset period."

So should such pho...Read More

Newark has inked an exclusive North America distribution deal with UK device programmer manufacturer Dataman.

Newark, part of UK-based Premier Farnell Group, will distribute Dataman’s range of universal, specialized, and gang programmers, designed for use with prototyping and production quantities of MCUs, memory chips, and programmable logic devices. Included in the offering are the latest programmers, which can support USB 2.0 connectivity, in-system programming capabilities, and PIC micro devices, Newark noted in a statement today.

Newark is making Dataman’s products available for same-day shipping through its Web site -- a big win for Dataman. Even the quickest glance at Dataman.com pro...Read More

The European Commission has given its blessing to Avnet Inc’s acquisition of Horizon Technology Group,  an Ireland-based IT products distributor.

All in all, Horizon had total sales of $455 million (288 million Euro) and EBITDA of $16.9 million (10.7 million Euro) before unusual items in 2007. Phoenix-based Avnet made a cash offer of $1.87 (1.18 Euros) per share or approximately $156.1 million (98.5 million Euros) in April. 

Since then, the EC has been scrutinizing the buy, saying it raised competitive concerns. After closer review, the EC has green lighted the move, one that will significantly increase Avnet’s presence in the UK and “Emerald Isle.”

“The Commis...Read More

In my blog post yesterday, I note that I recently interviewed Fern Abrams, IPC’s director of government relations and environmental policy, on the addition of material restrictions to environmental regulations like ROHS and REACH.

The interview, which was more fun than business thanks to Fern’s witty sense of humor, was for EDN’s special “2008 Innovators” issue. Innovators takes over where Electronic Business’ Movers & Shakers left off and explores what this industry’s top minds see the most pressing issues at hand. For Fern, that’s the continued proliferation of substance re...Read More

IPC today reported on its recent ROHS-revision focused workshop in Brussels and -- like a growing number of electronics supply chain companies, organizations, and experts – noted concerns with the Öko-Institut’s proposed expansion of ROHS substance restrictions.

Öko-Institut was contracted by the European Commission to study the inclusion of additional hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment under ROHS. Right now, ROHS still stands at restricting the original six materials: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl and polybrominated diphenyl ether.

In the Öko-Institut’s draft report to the EC, it recommended the restriction of TBBPA (Tetrabromobisphenol A), a flame retardant used to protect more than 80% of printed circuit b...Read More

Numbers out of Europe this week show that economic concerns, like those here in the United States, are, indeed, having an impact on the electronics supply chain.

IDEA (the International Distribution of Electronics Association) has reported that European DTAM (distribution total available market) saw 3.8% sequential growth in Q1, below expectations. Year over year, the growth showed a 9% decline. As EDN’s UK-based sister publication Electronics Weekly points out, “this brings little joy to the market.”

According to Silvio Baronchelli, president of IDEA, “Q1 has historically been the leading growth quarter in Europe, however global e...Read More

It looks like New York City will be going ahead with an e-waste law, putting additional emphasis on the end-of-life stage of the electronics supply chain, whether the mayor and some industry groups want it or not.

The New York City Council voted last week to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of Introductory Number 729, which would have amended the “Electronic Equipment Collection Recycling and Reuse Act” to impose minimum collection standards on manufacturers of covered electronic equipment.

AeA, one of the nation’s largest high-tech trade association, is openly opposing collection standards at any level and fully supports Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to veto this ordinance.  

“AeA would like to express its disappointment regarding the decision of the New ...Read More

I get request from readers all year long for our top 25 list of electronics distributors. Here it is folks, our most recent ranking. 

This year, in addition to the ranking, we’ve provided content on how technology advancements are impacting the electronics supply chain and distribution channel. We’ve also given special attention to environmental regulations and how they are impacting technology, from design to end of life.

Click through and share your comments on the EDN supplement below.

Ah, lighting, this year’s EDS shinning star. The market holds great opportunity for the electronics supply chain. It’s particularly attractive to distributors, as coming HB LEDs (high brightness light-emitting diodes) will require full system approaches from suppliers and manufacturers, including thermal management systems to control heat.

HB LEDs, named a 2007 hot technology by EDN, are expected to be more reliable, provided better device performance, and be more energy efficient than the most efficient fluorescent lights in the near future. While HB LEDs aren’t there yet, especially for consumer use, some estimate high-growth opportunities for driver ICs from 20...Read More

When setting my schedule for EDS,  I first took a look at the schedule of events and noted which ones would be of particular interest and service to our EDN readers. One of those events was “Talent Pool in America” at 1pm Tuesday afternoon. 

The panel event, chaired by ECN editor in chief Alix Paultre, was indeed worth attending. Unfortunately, I’m one of the few people who now knows that. Less than a dozen EDS attendees came to the event. This had me scratching my head in wonder. Our talent pool here in the United States is dwindling, putting the US at extreme risk of losing its standing as a leading nation in terms of technology. Be that because our education system does not encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) interests with children, be that because engineers fa...Read More

Distributor Premier Farnell and its companies (Newark, Farnell, Premier Electronics, CPC, Farnell-Newark, and MCM) are once again offering up $100k to make this world a little greener.

The global electronics supply chain giant today at EDS announced Live EDGE 2008, its second annual international challenge in support of green design.

Live EDGE—the EDGE portion of which stands for Electronic Design for the Global Environment—aims to provide a forum where electronic design engineers and students can design products that are environmentally friendly through the use of electronic components. For example, a design that cuts carbon emissions or reduces energy consumption in an end product.

What’s changed from Premier Farnell’s first Live EDGE design contest? First, the c...Read More