ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS
COMPONENT SUPPLY
BEC DISTRIBUTION
BEC DISTRIBUTION TO EASE COMPONENTS
ALLOCATION AND END-OF-LIFE (EOL) CHALLENGES
Current problems in the electronic
components market including shortages,
allocations and EoL notices bring specialist
distributors and customers closer.
Forty years ago, when BEC Distribution was
first established, there was no internet, no
websites or Supply Chain Management.
However, component manufacturers now sell
more through specialist distributors than in
the past. The reasons include:
• Increased national and international
regulations
• Supply Chain policies of OEM and EMS
providers including no sole sourcing,
• Distributors ability to soften EoL impacts
• Information fatigue: in a world full of • •
information and short of our attention,
customers must hash through hundreds
of thousands of pages for what’s the best
technology for their requirements, for their
challenges and for the boards that they are
building.
To help engineers and buyers with these
new realities, BEC Distribution now offers
performance comparison tables, genuine
franchised EoL alternatives, shorter lead
times and better pricing.
Manufacturers’ EoL announcements and
their disastrous impacts on engineers and
buyers have been an enduring theme of BEC
Distribution’s supply experience. Changes
in raw materials, or their availability, even
Mergers & Acquisitions could trigger EoL
notices.
Typically, manufacturers discontinue lines
after 7-10 years. This is a potential risk for
customers whose products have longer
expected lifetimes including Aerospace,
Medical, Surveillance or Defence industry
equipment.
But EoL as a term used by manufacturers
does not mean the end of demand or
usefulness of a component to design
engineers. A more appropriate term
would be “End-of-Sale” (EoS) by a specific
manufacturer. Nonetheless for both
manufacturers and customers, EoL remains
an impossible to eliminate reality.
BEC Distribution’s EoL Component Sourcing
Service will be a lifeline to R&D engineers,
design houses or Supply Chain Management
at OEMs and EMS providers. With a stock
of 15m EoL passive components, BEC can
provide pin-for-pin direct replacement or
alternatives. If the required components
are not in stock, BEC can recommend
standard alternatives, or source custom value
components.
Sourcing EoL components without proper
assessment and technical due diligence is
however, a potential risk to performance or
quality of final products. One of the most
important things to look for in a distribution
partner is their technical sourcing ability,
proven experience in the market, together
with CoC guaranteeing that the alternatives
match original specifications. In addition to
Technical Support, BEC can also provide FOC
samples.
For more info please contact sales@
bec.co.uk or visit www.bec.co.uk
100
PECM Issue 35