BOM Monitoring from an Engineer’s Eyes

By Logan Wamsley

When viewing the electronics manufacturing industry from the outside, it is easy to gloss over the market conditions that have every bit as much to do with the production process as the design and assembly of the product itself. Just as a chef can only cook with the right ingredients, or a car technician can…

Raw Material Shortages Will Prompt Last Time Buys

By Logan Wamsley

If asked what determines the manufacturing cost of an electronic component, many might be surprised to discover that the most capital is spent during raw materials acquisition. This holds particularly true for passive components such as multilayered ceramic chip capacitors (MLCCs), which incorporate a variety of materials into their designs including nickel, copper, aluminum, zinc,…

You Just Received a PCN…Now What?

By Logan Wamsley

If your company just received a product change notification (PCN) for a critical electronic component or semiconductor, the first thing you should do is consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Of all the electronic components that transition toward obsolescence, roughly half are issued without any prior notice. While component manufactures do strive to keep…