Spotlight
Times have changed T
Distribution has changed over the last three decades, and Debbie Rowland, director at Charcroft, looks at how the needs of engineers and buyers have changed over that time. The experience of working with customers in very high-reliability and harsh markets has given valuable insights into how distribution needs to support customers.
Debbie Rowland
hirty years ago, the UK electronics industry had far more independent distributors. Now, Charcroft is one of the few franchised distributors
which have remained independent, with a specialist line card and focused mainly on customers in the UK.
Keeping up with the market is challenging, as it typically moves in cycles. Over the years, the market has switched from OEMs controlling the design and purchasing of components, to these functions being given to sub-contractors. The process has reverted and changed many times and now, in some cases, the process has become a hybrid, with OEMs and sub-contractors both working on design and purchasing.
Another key change is how far ahead customers are looking to procure components for contracts, and how willing the customer is to share that information with distribution. Longer-term procurement helps the OEM to secure pricing for longer and makes sure that the stock is in place to cover the long-term need for components.
What do engineers want from distribution?
Google and parametric searches offer a lot more information than used to be available, but engineers still need help from distribution. Having the knowledge to think outside the box, and to apply human decision-making and thought processes is invaluable in delivering sound engineering solutions.
The job of an engineer covers multiple roles. This could be designing- in new, innovative parts from scratch, or undertaking a design upgrade or refurbishment. It may be necessary for the engineer to evaluate and source alternatives for an obsolescent component, or for a part which is on an extended lead time. Distribution must be ready and able to help the engineer to achieve solutions in all of these roles.
26 September 2024 Approved defence supplier for decades
Listening to the needs of each customer is the most important part of distribution, and those needs can change day to day, and week to week. It is also important to remember that all of the needs hold the same level of importance to the customer. Specialist distribution is not just about selling at the lowest price and holding the most stock, it is about being the link in the chain which can deliver fast problem solving. A subcontractor recently went on line-stop for a critical, hi-rel part. After the issue finally found its way back to the engineer, the engineer contacted us and we were immediately able to offer four options for him to approve and filter back to the sub-contractor. The result was that the subcontractor could continue to build and deliver on time, to give a win-win-win situation.
Proactive not reactive The defence and aerospace market is
Components in Electronics
special as the equipment has the highest need for reliability and a lifetime which stretches into decades. Today, there is more visibility of contracts which have been won, and the planned dates for production. Obsolescence can present a challenge, especially for refurbishments. A lot of work has been done over the years to ensure that boards are not designed with components which have only one source. This ensures that the components are not only competitively priced but, more importantly, are available from multiple sources.
The sharing of information is crucial, particularly for End-of-life (EOL) and Part Change Notices (PCNs), This information is gathered and shared, but the key is not just to pass on the information but to offer potential solutions for alternatives at the same time. This means that projects are not held up at the last minute, and pre-empting these issues means that the
answers are already in place for both engineers and buyers.
Defence aircraft have an extremely long service life, and Charcroft has been an approved defence supplier for almost 50 years. That means that when a component used in a defence aircraft becomes obsolete, we could have supplied the original component decades ago. By maintaining an archive of hardcopy datasheets going back to the 1970s, there is access to vital information which can be matched with new performance demands to recommend a viable alternative to keep the aircraft in the air.
Another change is that the size of passive components has decreased and more are supplied on tape-and-reel for automatic insertion. There are far higher capacitance and resistance values available in smaller sizes, in addition to higher voltages and power, as well as far more surface-mount components than
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