Electronics OEMs look for distributor design help
By James Carbone -- Purchasing, 3/12/2009 2:00:00 AM
The Mantra of show business is the show must go on. The same thinking can be applied to the electronics industry where the belief is new product introduction must continue even during a recession.
While many electronics companies are seeing less demand for products in production, they are continuing to design and introduce new products. However, because many of them have lost resources during the recession, they are turning to electronics distributors for design help.
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In some cases they consult with distributors' field application engineers (FAEs) for technical advice on parts. In other cases, they use distributors' design centers or teams to design a board or system. Sometimes they rely on their distributors to suggest third-party design houses to help with a new product.
Savvy buyers need to check out the design services of distributors to see if they match the needs of their design departments. Distributors say OEMs are often busy during a downturn designing new products so they will be ready for production when the economy turns and equipment demand picks up.
Many OEMs are busy right now designing new products, says Tom Swist, manager of Arrow Consulting Engineering Services (ACES). He says many companies introduce new products at trade shows even during a recession. "They say 'I have this show coming up and I need to have a new product to introduce because my competition is going to introduce something.'"
Swist says demand for design services has been picking up since just after the first of the year. Some companies had pulled back on their use of design services in favor of handling everything internally in the fall.
"Now those guys are coming back to us saying 'I have this new product project and I don't have resources and I don't want to bring on the resources,'" says Swist.
He says often Arrow's FAEs provide support to customers with their internal design work. The FAEs provide technical support, advice and recommendations about parts.
"We also have a team of 20 engineers that do more than that, supporting customers with design solutions. They will recommend a whole suite of parts," says Swist.
Some OEM buyers are looking for specific support on one component, but "our endgame is to look at a total solution approach with the breadth of our line card," says Swist, adding that Arrow also recommends certain outside design houses to OEMs seeking services. "I am matchmaker between customers and a short list of third-party design services firms that we have vetted over the years."
Such houses may have in-depth knowledge of certain technologies or customer segments such as wireless, medical or defense among others. They also have knowledge of the semiconductor lines that Arrow carries.
Rafael Cruz, vice president of design services for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, says there is growing demand for design services, but he is not sure if it is because of the recession.
"We have not seen a development slowdown and from a resource point of view we have seen tremendous demand," he says.
Avnet offers a wide range of design services including application specific integrated circuits and board layout. Its engineers have experience in a variety of segments including computers, networking switches and routers, military equipment among others.
Cruz says OEMs in today's market are looking for total solutions to reduce their overall cost. Some are looking for design assistance because of component obsolescence issues.
"As manufacturers are closing lines, announcing obsolescences, OEMs still have products using the parts" and are turning to distributor partners like Avnet for help in cross-referencing parts.
"Component engineering resources within some OEMs have been decimated," says Cruz. "So now they count on us to do that. Or they may want to do an evaluation to see if they the keep their product in production. It is creating opportunities for us to identify alternate technologies so they can redesign a board or plug in a replacement part," says Cruz.
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