About a dozen years ago electronics contract manufacturers used to say they were not just board stuffers, but "full-service" manufacturers. That meant in addition to building printed circuit boards, they could also do sourcing, system assembly, and fulfillment for their OEM customers.

Now "self-service" is a word electronics buyers will be hearing, not from contract manufacturers, but from distributors.

Some major distributors say they are seeing a trend towards self-service among buyers. Self service means that buyers can research parts and prices on distributor websites and purchase them online without any human intervention by distributors. It's similar to buying concert tickets or books online.

Of course, this model has been used for years by engineers, but they tend to buy small volumes of parts for prototype builds. Self-service with buyers involves larger volumes of components for production.

Many younger buyers have grown up using the Internet and don't need to get any additional information about parts by phoning distributors or talking to a salesperson in person. Distributors say the number of such buyers will grow in the coming years.

jcarbone@reedbusiness.com