Ever since I started working in the electronics distribution sector I have been staggered at the number of bad actors who start each working week with the sole objective of tricking OEMs into buying components that aren’t what they are claimed to be. Just imagine how much better the world would be if the effort applied to counterfeiting was redeployed to getting it right. Everyone would be a winner.
As it stands, under the banner of progress, the electronics manufacturing industry will always be subject to fluctuations of supply and demand, leading to gaps which the existing distribution infrastructure can find challenging to fill.
However, difficult does not mean impossible. It just depends on who to turn to for help. Most OEMs I speak to have a standard array of distributors on their books typically including: broadline, domestic, specialist, high service and independent. Answers to all supply problems can always be found somewhere within this group.
The secret to being treated by your cohort of distributors is to choose suppliers with strong reputations for quality service, underpinned by a catalogue of industry and governmentally recognised standards.
As time goes by, I’m hopeful digital technology will start to eat away at the trickery. For example, I would love to see web enabled CAD systems interrogate component choice, in real time, not just from a technical perspective but also supply chain reliability over the product’s proposed life cycle. This way, supply risk could be managed or designed out of
the product from day one with little or no effort.