ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS
ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
LIMTRONIK
EMS SERVICE PROVIDER LIMTRONIK COUNTERS
VOLATILE MARKET FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
The market for electronic components has
been more volatile for several months and
the trend shows no improvement before
2020. The reason: The electronics industry
is booming - among other things, by the
increasing “electronification” and digitization
of processes. The associated increased
demand for components leads to price
increases and supply bottlenecks on the
part of the suppliers. The Limtronik GmbH (
www.limtronik.de), An expert in electronic
manufacturing services (EMS), counteracts
this development with customer awareness
and organizational change.
Limtronik GmbH is an expert in Electronic
Manufacturing Services (EMS) and Joint
Development Manufacturing (JDM) partners
- the portfolio ranges from the production
of electronic assemblies and tailor-made
systems to product development.
Current situation in the
component supply market
For some months now, the procurement
market for electronic components has
been growing increasingly scarce - and the
trend is still rising. According to experience,
more and more “Counterfeit Parts”, ie fake
components, are coming onto the market.
Dr. Anjou Appelt, Managing Director of
Limtronik GmbH, explains which products
or components are currently the most
affected by the development: “In addition
to capacity and capacity bottlenecks in
active components (semiconductors), which
led to increased delivery times as well as
partial allocations, are currently falling
in particular the previously low-priced
passive components (resistors, capacitors)
in the category of bottleneck procurement.
In particular, the ceramic-based R chips
(resistors) and even more massive MLCCs
(multi-layer ceramic chip capacitor) seem to
be the hardest hit. “
The MLCC is one of the most commonly
used components in electronics. Each board
contains several MLCCs. In a laptop, for
example, up to 1,000 MLCCs are installed.
Increasing “electronification” of processes
(IoT), more sensors in vehicles, wireless
chargers etc. lead to an increased demand
for passive components.
“Looking at the supply market, it should
be noted that, due to the low price since
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its own years, a consolidation on the
manufacturer side has taken place. The
MLCCs are currently covered by only ten to
twelve manufacturers worldwide. Both the
consolidation and the prices of recent years
resulted in maintenance investments by
the manufacturers, but not in extensions.
The capacities of the producers are simply
exhausted. The replacement times increase
sometimes longer than 1 year. After visits
from several manufacturers in Asia, we were
assured that investment in capacity had
been initiated, but with plant delivery times
of up to 18 months, this will not become
a reality until the second half of 2019,
“explains Anjou Appelt.
In parallel, a concentration of some (mainly
Japanese) manufacturers on smaller sizes
to notice, which in turn has influence on
development projects. As a result, there are
enormously long replacement times and
price increases (in some cases by + 300% at
the end of the year), which make planning in
a logistical sense extremely difficult.
How is Limtronik dealing
with this market situation?
Limtronik has been adapting to the
changed conditions for several months, so
that long-term planning with customers
can be accelerated. Furthermore,
Limtronik makes a selection of alternative
manufacturers - in close consultation with
the customers. Ensuring good partnerships
with distributors and manufacturers
worldwide is another important factor.
Limtronik makes acquisitions of the most
needed components, partly directly in
Asia. A component WE review and close
collaboration with laboratories in Asia also
helps prevent counterfeiting.
One of the most important measures is
also the promotion of customer awareness
of the market situation. For customers
and interested parties Limtronik therefore
organizes on August 16, from 12:00
clock, at the company headquarters in
Industriestraße 11-13 in 65549 Limburg an
information event with top-class speakers
from the field of manufacturers, suppliers,
customers, etc.
The event carries the title “Quo Vadis
Electronics Production: Component
Discontinuation / Obsolescence, Allocation,
Long Replenishment Times, New
Requirements of the Automotive Industry ...
What Should We Set for in the Future?”.
www.limtronik.de/en/