Alan Anderson Manufacturing, a UK-based CEM, is building a portfolio of franchise agreements with suppliers of essential, commonly-used components. The purpose of this franchise base is to protect customers from shortages. The first deal is with Diotec Semiconductor, a German producer of discretes including small signal diodes, rectifiers, triacs, MOSFETs and TVS components.
Sales director, Michael Knight, said: “When the market suddenly experiences a large demand, say for AI processors, this has a knock-on effect as there is not enough capacity to make all types of semiconductors. Naturally, the large producers tend to focus their capabilities on the high-end products that have the biggest margin, resulting in some common parts becoming hard to find, and/or expensive.
“Yet to build a PCBA you need everything—expensive ARM-based processors and simple discrete diodes. Any missing part will cause production lines to cease, no matter how little the individual component costs. By building franchise relationships with key suppliers of simple, widely specified parts, we can ensure that our customers’ builds come in on time and on budget.”