Arrow Asia Pac Ltd., a business unit of Arrow Electronics, says it will provide that it will provide consignment vendor- managed inventory (VMI) service and its Customer Automated Replenishment System (CARES), for the Likom group of companies. Based in Malaysia, Likom is an electronics manufacturing services provider.

The distributor's supply-chain solutions will help Likom improve materials management efficiency, reduce lead-time and inventory costs, and increase its flexibility to meet customers' demand, according to Arrow.

Arrow's consignment VMI program allows customers to delay ownership of inventory and reduce cycle times while increasing the availability of components.

CARES is a Web-based tool offering 24x7 access. Multiple suppliers and any number of suppliers or parts can be managed from a single interface. The system supports various languages, including traditional and simplified Chinese, English, and Korean.

Digi-Key has entered into a distribution agreement with Crystek Corp. and will carry that company's line of frequency products.

Crystek specializes in ultra-low-noise, high-frequency and tight-stability products with a frequency range of up to 6GHz. Crystek's portfolio of frequency products includes quartz crystals and clock oscillators. Applications include digital radio equipment, fixed wireless access, satellite communications systems, base stations, personal communications systems, portable radios, and test equipment.

This new distribution agreement will enable Digi-Key to fulfill both the prototype/design and production quantity needs of its diverse customer base.

Digi-Key is based in Thief River Falls, Minn. Crystek is based in Fort Myers. Fla.

Mouser Electronics has announced it is stocking STMicroelectronics STM32 family of 32-bit flash microcontrollers based on ARM Cortex M3 core.

The STM32 was designed to deliver high levels of performance and energy efficiency while retaining all the benefits of working with the open, industry-standard ARM architecture and development environment.

The STM32 is offered in the STM32F103 "performance" line, with 72MHz clock frequency which provides the best-in-class 32-bit MCU performance, and the STM32F101 "access" line, with 36MHz clock frequency giving 16-bit devices a significant increase in performance at the same 16-bit level prices.

Used in battery-operated applications, the STM32 operates from 2.0 to 3.6V power supply and has power consumption down to 2 microamps in standby mode with reset circuitry active. Other power-saving features include an integrated RTC with dedicated pin-for-battery operation, 32kHz oscillator, and four low power modes.