Digi-Key’s VP of global business development, Mike Slater, believes the long-term outlook for the electronics supply chain in the UK is very bright
Over the past two and a half years, Digi-Key has worked hard to offer personal and professional crucial behavioural competencies to overcome significant obstacles. Much of what we did and adjusted to, was not part of the playbook many of us have used in our careers.
While many have continued to see increased sales volume in 2022, I believe that we will see a levelling off in the UK in 2023. Customers have now adapted to their new way of doing business and will work to get back to something a bit more sustainable. Our suppliers have continued to push for ways to increase supply and many are starting to dig out of the capacity and supply crunch we have seen. It looks like lead times in many product types and categories will begin to decrease, although I do not believe that we will see all capacity and supply issues fully resolved.
We believe the long-term outlook for the electronics supply chain in the UK is very bright and Digi-Key has significantly increased its capital infrastructure investments in recent years to match that. We have scaled our capacity to match demand and those investments will continue to scale as business grows. These include: the expansion of Product Distribution Centre (PDCe); more robust and predictive web search functionality; higher inventory levels; and increased warehouse automation. The impact of the recent economic cycles on Digi-Key and the industry has proven we have the resiliency, perseverance and grit to overcome obstacles.