Author: Cyclops Marketing

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Demand Electronic Components Lead Time

MLCC supply is beginning to tighten?

MLCC supply is beginning to tighten?

Memory suppliers to benefit from strong demand and supplier shortages

Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are used in many electronics from smartphone screens to laser guidance systems. There was a prolonged lull in demand for MLCCs stretching from 2019 through to 2020, however supply is now tightening and lead times for new components are extending.

This has caused some concern with those who use MLCCs to manufacture products. Will supply continue to tighten? When will it let up? These are good questions. The answer lies in understanding why supply is tightening.

Demand for MLCCs is tightening for several reasons:

  • Demand from the automotive sector is increasing
  • Demand from the communications and transport sectors is increasing
  • Global inventories are depleting
  • Supply chain challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic
  • Manufacturing bottlenecks due to facilities running at maximum capacity
Increased demand

The main reason for supply tightening is an increased demand from the communications and transport sectors. These sectors consume over half of the world’s MLCC supply and the rollout of 5G is accelerating demand.

The global automotive market is also a big consumer of MLCCs. MLCCs are being used extensively in modern cars. Applications include in battery management, chargers, heater controllers and energy converters. Electric cars use MLCCs because they are reliable and can be surface mounted directly to boards.

Inventory depletion

Inventory management has been a difficult task what with 2020 throwing COVID-19 into the works. This hit the MLCC supply chain like a train. Demand dropped off. This led to suppliers correcting inventory levels and sometimes overcorrecting. When demand increased towards the back end of 2020, supply chains got exposed.

It is difficult to correct inventory when not enough MLCCs are being made. For every 10 that are made 8 get put into use immediately. This leaves little fat left.

Increasing lead times

All of this means increased lead times for MLCCs. Many electronic components suppliers and distributors have them on back order. Some types of MLCC have lead times extending over several months (a long time in a supply chain).

For example, large case (≥ 0603) low-CV commercial grade MLCC lead times are around 22 weeks. This is a very long time. The only units that are in good supply are small case size (≤ 0402) low-CV commercial grade MLCCs which are available now.

How can you meet demand?

As 2021 gets underway, we predict that MLCC supply will tighten. Inventories will get stretched and manufacturers will struggle to get a hold of the components they need. Now that you know this, you can prepare.

The best way to assure a healthy MLCC supply is to work with a global distribution partner like us. When you need to source hard to find electronic components quickly because of allocation, long lead times, obsolescence, or quality issues, Lantek is here to help. We will work with you to source the MLCCs you need. View our home page to use our component search tool and enquire with us today https://www.lantekcorp.com/

We work with all industry sectors, including the communications, transport and automotive sectors, to source electronic components. We specialise in the procurement and delivery of electronic components and parts with on time delivery.

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Lead Time Forecast

2021 Top Manufacturers Lead Time Forecast

2021 Top manufacturers lead time forecast

 
Lead time forecast 2021 image
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Electronic Components Semiconductor Transistors

Chipageddon is upon us

Electronic Component

Chipageddon is upon us

Semiconductors go unseen yet they are at the heart of all our electronics. When supplies run short manufacturing lines slow down and the availability of products is affected. Last year had several examples, some of which may have affected you.

AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU was released in December but got nowhere close to meeting demand. Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X sold out immediately and are rarer than hen’s teeth today. Even Apple admitted that the chip shortage affected sales of the iPhone 12 because they had to stagger product launches.

Then, near Christmas, the word “Chipageddon” was used by an automotive industry insider to describe the chip shortage affecting the automotive industry.

Chipageddon

It’s easy to overreact about things, but today’s chip shortage is worth getting in a sweat about. Supply and demand is faltering, and manufacturers are genuinely struggling to get the chips they need to make products.

Supply and demand is a basic economics model linking the relationship between the quantity of a commodity available and the quantity people want to buy to price determination. When supply exceeds demand, prices increase. When the opposite happens, prices decrease. It’s easy enough to understand.  

If you’re still with us, the chip shortage has had two main impacts:

  • Fewer chips are available
  • Prices for chips are increasing

This is a double whammy. It means manufacturers are making fewer products and paying more to make them. These costs DO get passed to you, the consumer. It’s the reason why you see random 10% increases in smartphone prices.

You also have the issue of foundries running at max capacity coupled to the low number of foundries that manufacture the newest wafers.

Industries worst hit

By far the worst-hit industry by a chip shortage is the automotive industry. The world’s largest carmakers are facing a critical shortage of semiconductors at a time when demand is increasing, and cars are getting smarter.

Today’s cars have as many as 50 semiconductors that run a variety of systems. In a few years, this number is expected to increase to over 100. 60 million cars are produced each year worldwide. It means the industry needs 3,000,000,000 semiconductors, an enormous number whichever way you look at it.

Another industry hit hard by a chip shortage is consumer electronics. Smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung are struggling to meet demand because there are not enough semiconductors to go around. Sony and Microsoft can’t manufacture as many game consoles as they need to because of lack of supply.

What’s the solution?

Chipmakers need to expand capacity and build more factories. Manufacturers need to consider alternatives to primary component suppliers. The issue is that chip fabrication plants take two years to set up and a low-quality chip can stop an expensive product from shipping. This is as much a quality demand issue as a supply one.

One way you can make sure you have the chips you need is to partner with an electronic component distributor like us. We specialise in the procurement and delivery of electronic components and parts for a wide variety of industries.

Call: +1 973-579-8100

Email:sales@Lantekcorp.com

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Electronic Components Technology

New construction of the smallest microchips using graphene nano-origami

electronic components

New construction of the smallest microchips using graphene nano-origami

Material science and clever engineering have cut the space between components on microchips to nanometres. This has led to significant performance benefits because more components can fit on the chip.

However, there is a limit to how small things can go with the current chip design. 7nm is as small as chips will go from here based on existing technology. Why? Because 7nm is the gap between components on a chip. This space is tiny. Going smaller isn’t feasible because we’re working with spaces that are too small.

It’s also incredibly expensive. Prototyping a 7nm chip costs around £80 million and there are only a handful of companies that can do it.

Graphene ‘nano-origami’ to the rescue

Graphene is a nanomaterial one atom thick. It has been talked about as a revolutionary material for over a decade and now experimental researchers have used it to develop the world’s tiniest microchips using a form of ‘nano-origami’.

The world’s tiniest microchips are 100 times smaller than silicon chips and thousands of times faster. The way they work is instead of having transistors on them, the graphene has kinks in the structure and these kinks act as the transistors.

On this breakthrough, Prof Alan Dalton in the School of Mathematical and Physics Sciences at the University of Sussex, said:

“We’re mechanically creating kinks in a layer of graphene. It’s a bit like nano-origami. Using these nanomaterials will make our computer chips smaller and faster.

It is absolutely critical that this happens as computer manufacturers are now at the limit of what they can do with traditional semiconducting technology. Ultimately, this will make our computers and phones thousands of times faster in the future.”

Is graphene the future of microchips?

Researchers are calling this breakthrough nano-origami technology “straintronics”. It uses nanomaterials as opposed to electronics, eliminating the need for electronic components on the chip. This makes the chips 100 times smaller.

Another benefit to graphene microchips is speed. Graphene conducts electricity 250 times faster than silicon. In fact, it conducts electricity faster than any known substance. It truly is a ‘space-age’ nanomaterial for today.

Instead of building microchips with foreign materials like transistors, researchers have shown another way of doing things. By creating kinks in graphene, structures can be made that replace electronic components including transistors and logic gates.

Another benefit to graphene nano-origami is sustainability. No additional materials are added during the manufacturing process. Production also takes place at room temperature as opposed to high temperature with silicon chips.

The truth is that silicon microchips cannot feasibly go below 7nm. The next step in performance evolution with silicon chips will come from heat management and power density. Graphene is smaller, faster and just as capable. The next step is for manufacturers to develop the technology and take it to market.

Overall, while the immediate future is silicon, we are in no doubt that graphene is the future of microchips. It has too many performance advantages to ignore.   

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Covid-19 Electronic Components Supply Chain

Electronic component supply chain efficiency. Will we see another increase in supply and demand due to COVID-19 this year?

Electronic component supply chain efficiency. Will we see another increase in supply and demand due to COVID-19 this year?

Supply chain efficiency: Will there be another demand increase due to Covid-19 this year?

In 2020, the electronics components industry saw both increases and decreases in supply and demand depending on where you look.

For example, demand for semiconductors that enable servers, connectivity and cloud usage skyrocketed due to stay at home workforces. Meanwhile, demand for semiconductors used in the automotive industry declined as car sales fell.

In other words, the supply and demand for electronic components was different across various sectors. Now that 2020 is behind us, 2021 is looking to follow much the same path as we continue to contend with COVID-19.

However, there will be one big difference – most of the sectors that had reduced demand for components in 2020 will ramp up their purchase orders in 2021. This is the result of economies opening up and companies getting back to operations.

Supply and demand in 2021

We believe the electronic component industry will witness a significant increase in supply and demand in 2021. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that most industries hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic will open up. Car manufacturing is the big one. This will fuel a surge in demand for semiconductors and sensors.

2021 will also play host to cyclical sectors and several tailwinds. 5G, Wi-Fi 6, AI, robotics, cloud, communications, edge computing and AR / VR are the big ones. These technologies will fuel demand for new electronic components.

Supply constraints will persist

Factories will have to ramp up production to meet demand. 2019 was a bumper year for electronics and a lot of infrastructure was built to meet demand. 2020 stuck a fork in the road, placing higher demand on certain components. In 2021, demand will return to a form of previous normality, increasing supply constraints.

We expect supply constraints of components to grow in 2021. Manufacturers will struggle to get a hold of the parts they need.

This will increase the need for partnerships with electronic component distributors like us who are ingrained into the fabric of the industry.

Things will get better over time

With the global rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in place and manufacturing sectors protected from Government shutdowns in most countries, 2021 should be a year where we see supply constraints reduce over time.

Supply and demand will get back to 80% normality toward the end of 2021. 2022 should be much better. This assumes we get to grips with this horrible virus.

In the meantime, tailwinds will continue to fuel demand for electronic components in sectors like AI and edge computing. COVID-19 has only accelerated digital transformation in most sectors. This is a powerful tailwind.

Ultimately, the demand for passive and active components will increase in 2021. You can make sure you have access to the components you need by partnering with us. We specialise in the procurement and delivery of electronic components and parts for a wide variety of industries from the world’s leading manufacturers.

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Electronic Components Environment

How does recycling electronics help create sustainability within the industry?

How does recycling electronics help create sustainability within the industry?

How does recycling electronics help create sustainability within the industry?

Thanks to advancements in material science and recycling technologies, it’s possible to recycle around 80% of most new electronics. For example, the smartphone in your hand or pocket has around 80% recyclable components.

The most valuable components in electronics are rare and precious metals. The quantity of these metals in your phone is tiny but the number of phones (and other electronics) that enter landfill is huge. This creates a lucrative opportunity for recyclers to invest in processes that can extract the most valuable components efficiently.

Recycling in the electronics industry

Recycling electronics is important to not only reduce e-waste, but also our dependency on the mining and manufacturing of new materials. 

The electronics industry is at odds with environmentalists because the industry that’s pioneering solar and renewable energy technologies generates a lot of e-waste. You can’t have it both ways. If you want technology to fight climate change, it first has to advance to a point where it becomes neutral and self-sustained.

Mass recycling is the process that will enable this in the future. For now, it is a stop-gap to minimise the electronics industry’s impact on the environment. And it’s working, with 15% of e-waste recycled globally in 2019. This figure is rising by 2-3% per year. In 2030 we expect the global e-waste recycling rate to hit 50%.

European legislation requires every manufacturer and producer to arrange and finance the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). This is a positive step. In the future, we want to see 100% recycling efficiency, although this will require different materials to those used today.

Excess inventory management

Another area of the electronics industry where recycling is important is excess electronic components. These components are not assigned for manufacturing and have no purpose in production. They take up space and are depreciating assets.

These components tend to be discarded and written off. However, recycling is not the best thing for them. The best thing for them is putting them back into production. The old phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” springs to mind.

This process is known as excess inventory management and it requires an electronic component distributor to purchase unwanted stockpiles of components. These stockpiles are then re-sold through a distribution network.

This provides a few benefits to the seller:

  • An instant, positive cash injection
  • Reduced stockholding costs
  • Reduced time spent managing surplus stock

For example, our excess inventory specialists purchase and manage stock that has been identified for disposition. This process turns unwanted electronic components into cash and introduces new revenue streams into existing businesses.

Where does excess inventory end up?

Most excess inventory ends up on the production line with manufacturers and OEMs to create new products. This puts the components into production and significantly increases the time from manufacture to end of life.

Other components can find no end user. In this case, the components are sent to specialist recycling centres who purchase the components as scrap. Around 10% of excess inventory is sent on for recycling. The majority enters production.

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Electronic Components

What does 2021 hold for the electronic components industry?

What does 2021 hold for the electronic components industry?

The coronavirus pandemic hit the electronic components industry like a freight train, knocking supply and demand for six. Now that 2021 is upon us, economies are starting to open up with pinned hopes on vaccines. This could be a banana skin, but 2021 should be a calmer year overall. The world should get back to business.

2021 in a nutshell

The avenues shut down for raw materials and shipments of electronic components will begin to open back up in 2021. This will create a healthier supply and demand market than 2020. Some issues will remain. Component shortages are likely, and this is especially true of newer parts that are found in connected devices.

Semiconductors will lead demand

The semiconductor industry saw a significant increase in global chip demand in 2020 and this will only continue in 2021. Cyclicity driven by 5G and Wi-Fi 6 upgrades and tailwinds like edge computing, AI and AR / VR will fuel demand.

Who will benefit most? Our money is on Broadcom, Arm, Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, Nvidia and Skyworks with TSMC winning on the foundry side.

DRAM will follow the path of semis

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is as essential to connected technologies as semiconductors. 2020 saw a sharp increase in recovery from the first quarter, and 2021 will exhibit a similarly healthy supply and demand situation.

Who will benefit most? Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix, who are the first, second and third largest manufacturers of DRAM respectively.

Shutdowns will continue

The risk of shutdowns of component production because of the coronavirus will remain in 2021. This will create extended lead times and supply issues. Governments may be forced to shutdown factories in localised areas.

The good news is this will become less common as the year goes on. The pandemic’s impact on production will reduce over time.

Tailwinds will fuel more demand than cyclicity

When evaluating electronic component demand, cyclicity and tailwinds are often pitched against each other. In 2021, we expect tailwinds like AI, edge computing, robotics and VR / AR to fuel greater growth than cyclical upgrades.

This is a sign of the times. The world is getting more connected and smarter. Innovation will fuel tailwinds and create booming tech sectors.

Counterfeiters will grow more prolific

One of the sad realities of electronic components is counterfeit components. They are becoming more sophisticated. As manufacturers clamber to get stock in this year, they are at a high risk of being targeted by counterfeiters.

Companies should rigorously control purchase sources, conduct quality inspections and use a trusted distribution partner to combat these risks.

Looking to the future

In 2020, the electronic components industry handled the coronavirus pandemic in an efficient and calculated manner. Supply and demand issues hit the industry, but they were solved for the most part in good time.

2021 will be calmer for several reasons: 1) We now have a lived experience of the coronavirus and know how to manage shutdowns efficiently, and 2) There is an increased need for us to get back to work and get on with our lives.

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Electronic Components Environment

How Lantek help tackle environmental issues in the electronics industry

Climate chnage

How Lantek help tackle environmental issues in the electronics industry

There’s no industry as polarising as the electronics industry when it comes to the environment. This is the industry that generates 70% of all toxic waste on the planet, yet it’s also the industry that’s pioneering renewable energy to address climate change.

The best way to look at the electronics industry from an environmental point of view is as a work in progress. We know that the industry is facing several environmental challenges now and in the future. The question is, how should we respond to them?

We are a global electronic component distributor, supplying electronic components to global customers. Our position in the industry has given us a unique perspective of the environmental challenges it faces. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the challenges we are facing and how we are addressing them.

Improper component storage

One of the biggest problems in the electronics components industry is the lack of environmentally-controlled storage facilities.

The biggest danger to electronic components is humidity which has to be controlled to ensure the components do not degrade. Problems like moisture absorption and contact corrosion have to be considered in storage.

Lantek only operates environmentally-controlled storage facilities. Our facilities are designed to ISO 9001 standards. ISO 9001 is the international standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system.

Delivery emissions

Electronic components and electronic devices are shipped via land, sea and air. Some packages find their way in transit covering several countries in a single day. This generates unavoidable emissions as a natural by-product of operating.

These emissions can be reduced or offset in a few ways. The simplest way is to always use the most efficient transit methods and logistics firms that offset their emissions. This means the sender doesn’t have to offset their own emissions.

We go with this method because it allows us to meet our environmental obligations while also ensuring a high-quality delivery service.

Electronic waste (e-waste)

Electronic waste is the biggest issue facing the electronics industry. Only around 20% of e-waste is recycled each year. The rest enters landfill. It accounts for 70% of all toxic waste on the planet, which is an astonishing figure.

Lantek is helping to reduce the amount of electronic waste that enters landfill by putting components that would otherwise enter landfill back into use.

You’d be surprised by the number of components we save that are new old stock. We save hundreds of thousands of components each year. Many of these are rare legacy electronic components that are no longer being made.

Looking ahead

The electronics industry gave you the smartphone in your hand and the internet that connects you to this article. There’s no denying it’s an immeasurably valuable industry and our future will have more technology. That’s a certainty.

As civilisation becomes more reliant on technology, we will develop technologies that address the industry’s biggest environmental challenges. In particular, we hope to see a significant reduction in e-waste and emissions soon. For now, the future is what we make of it, and we’re optimistic about what the future holds.

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Electronic Components

How to avoid counterfeit components with Lantek

Avoiding counterfeit components

How to avoid counterfeit components with Lantek

Counterfeit electronic components are a plague on the electronics industry and they are an ongoing problem with no solution. The companies behind counterfeit components are unstoppable because their factories rise faster than they can be shut down. The market is set for them to continue operating forever.

Counterfeit components are problematic because they are more likely to malfunction than genuine components. They can also be dangerous.

Looking at the bigger picture, eliminating counterfeit components from your supply chain is important for social responsibility and corporate governance.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to reduce and eliminate counterfeit components in your supply chain. Here’s where we would start:

  1. Partner with a trusted electronic component distributor

Electronic component distributors like Lantek, verify the legitimacy of electronic components before payment. By using us or another trusted distributor, you can assure the legitimacy of the components in your supply chain.

Another benefit to using Lantek is we can find hard-to-find components in countries where counterfeits are common. Our ability to source genuine parts in haystacks of counterfeits makes us a valuable partner.

  1. Rigorously control purchase sources

If you don’t use an electronic component distributor, you should still rigorously control your purchase sources. Your sources should be vetted, and new sources should be verified, to ensure they are reputable and reliable.

We strongly recommend working with industry leaders where possible. If you have to use smaller suppliers, this is fine so long as you can trust them. Either way, it’s crucial for your sources to have full security over their products.

  1. Conduct your own rigorous quality inspections

One of the mistakes companies make with counterfeit components is assuming that the genuine shipment hasn’t been tampered with. It is common practice for counterfeiters to intercept and replace genuine components with fakes. The main reason they do this is so they can jeopardize the reputation of others.

We recommend conducting your own quality inspections when you receive your products, which may require you to test bulk batches.

Some of the common giveaways of counterfeit components include:

  • Color variances
  • Misspellings and incorrect labeling
  • Mismatched date codes
  • Duplicate date codes and labels
  • Missing items
  • Poor packaging and quality control
  • Font variances
  • Country of origin problems
  • Signs of “resurfacing”
  • Failure in tests and performance issues

Click here to view Lanteks 8 Step guide to avoid Counterfeits

You can use this list to check your own components.

  1. Source components from ERAI members

ERAI (Electronic Resellers Association International) is the world leader in counterfeit components mitigation. Members of this organization are required to be legitimate with a minimum of 10 trade references and no unresolved complaints.

The ERAI has a database and ERAI supply chain risk mitigation solutions. This means the distributors have specialized training and systems to detect, report, and deal with counterfeit components.

If you are concerned you have counterfeit components in your supply chain, we’re happy to provide advice. Email us at sales@lantekcorp.com or call 1-973-579-8100

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Electronic Components

The Benefits of Electronic Component testing

Benefits to electronic component testing

The Benefits of Electronic Component testing

Electronic component testing is an essential stage in your supply chain to ensure that the components you purchase are genuine and perform as expected. Without testing, you could end up with any old components.

Testing will safeguard you from counterfeit goods, prevent costly recalls, and help assure your manufacturing capability.

We provide electronic component testing as part of our service, inspecting and testing components upon delivery to us and prior to shipment to you. We do this for a few reasons, which we’ll take a closer look at below.

Testing prevents counterfeit components from entering your supply chain

One of the biggest challenges the electronic components industry faces is the increasing number of sophisticated counterfeiters. These counterfeiters build factories faster than they can be shut down, creating a problem that gets bigger over time.

As an electronic component distributor, we source components for our customers. This means we are at a high risk of counterfeits. There are several ways we mitigate this risk, and the number #1 way is with electronic component testing.

Component testing takes place within our own warehouses. We only use ESD-qualified personnel and procedures set out by ISO9001:2015. We also use a variety of procedures, including IC testing using a sentry machine which tests the electrical signature (PinPrint) of components to ensure they are genuine.

Testing ensures that the components you receive function as intended

One of the great things about modern manufacturing techniques is the quality of components is consistently high. Sure, you get bad batches now and again that lead to recalls, but by and large the components from top OEMs are consistently good. This is why we like to source components from leading manufacturers.

Of course, some components will be duds. Testing helps to catch these duds, so they don’t enter your supply chain. This is critically important if you don’t conduct your own testing, so that product recalls as a result of dodgy components don’t happen.

Testing is a key part of circuit design and this is especially true of PCBs and integrated circuits. Not all components need to be tested, but those that are prone to interference and damage from external elements should be tested.

Testing saves you from costly product recalls as a result of bad components

Leading on from our points about testing with regards to product recalls and counterfeit components, it is a fact that bad components (be them malfunctioning or counterfeits) are bad for business. They will cost you money.

At Lantek, we specialise in testing electronic components to ensure they are genuine and function as intended. We conduct these tests as part of our service, acting as a component distribution partner to other businesses.  

Our ties with leading OEMs and distributors means we can source electronic components from all over the world, including end of life and rare components. The quality of our work and our network means we can offer a 1-year quality guarantee. This is a guarantee that we will replace components that fail manufacturer standards.