How to Survive the Aerospace Price Inflation Squeeze

By Logan Wamsley

Maturing generations have a tendency to view price inflation as a symptom of the modern age. With a tear in their eye, they recall the days when a piece of rock candy was a few cents, and the most expensive car a wealthy individual could possibly afford was a fraction of what a Toyota Corolla…

Long-Term Storage of Electronic Components: What Are the Options

By Logan Wamsley

The widening lifecycle mismatch between OEM products and the critical electronic inventory used to create them has had a profound effect on the modern supply chain. Where once OEMs could source the parts required over time under the assumption they would be available for a reasonable amount of time, now even components that were once…

The Expanding Role of Contract Manufacturers, and Their Limits

By Logan Wamsley

There was a time in the not-so-distant past where contract manufacturers (CMs) fulfilled a singular role in an OEM supply chain: product assembly. It’s a vital step in the manufacturing process, to be sure, but it was also a role kept isolated from the other processes necessary to fully realize a concept from design to…

The Price of an EOL Component Is More Than You Think

By Logan Wamsley

The passive electronic components that make up so much of what we use in our everyday lives are getting both smaller and more common. 15 years ago, the total number of components that made up the typical cellular phone was around 60. Today, that number has ballooned to over 1,000. Everyone has heard that there…

Predict Allocation: Partstat BOM Monitoring by the “Number”

By Logan Wamsley

The benefits of adopting a BOM monitoring service need no elaboration. Lead times for once commoditized passive components are now approaching near historic highs — in some cases beyond 52 weeks — and as component manufacturers continue to ramp up production to meet escalating demand, the lifecycles of their offerings continue to shorten. The problem…

The Flaw in Your Working Capital Management Strategy

By Logan Wamsley

Each year that passes in the world of manufacturing seems to operate around a particular theme. In 2018, this theme appears to be working capital management, with supply chain executives making it a priority to squeeze the cash flow cycle as much as possible as the predictions regarding interest rates and inflation continue to look…