Season's Greetings and Best Wishes for 2014 from all at Atlantis Electronics

Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. We wish you well over the holiday season and New Year celebrations.

We will be closed for the holiday season from 4:30pm (EST) Friday 20th December 2013, reopening in the New Year at 08:30am (EST) on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

We will be ready and waiting to receive all your inquires and annual scheduling and please let us know if you have any excess stock, we wish you a busy and prosperous New Year.

Once again have a wonderful holiday season.

Research Starts for New Class of Disappearing Electronics

Photo Courtesy of DARPA

Microelectronics experts at Honeywell Aerospace are helping U.S. military researchers to develop electronic systems and other electronic components which are capable of decomposing in a controlled and triggerable manner.

Scientists at the U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), awarded a $2.5 million contract to the Honeywell Aerospace Microelectronics & Precision Sensors segment for the Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR) program. The goal of the contract is to develop electronic components that will physically decompose on command to prevent unauthorised use.

DARPA officials say that short-life electronics may enable revolutionary new military and medical capabilities. They state it is nearly impossible to track and recover every electronic device from the battlefield. With these new capabilities, once the device is triggered to dissolve it becomes useless, meaning the risk of environmental effects, counterfeiting and potential enemy use will be eradicated. Also, devices that resorb into the body may aid in continuous health monitoring and treatment.

The devices are intended to perform similar to commercial-off-the-shelf electronics, but with an ability to last only as long as they are needed. The trigger could be real-time via a signal or as a result of environmental conditions, such as temperature.

To find out more about the VAPR program, please visit the DARPA website.

Investing in Inventory is Not the Liability it Once Was

In a recent article in the CIE magazine, Adam Fletcher, chairman of Afdec and ECSN, talks about how the opinion on investing in inventory needs to be rethought as it's not the liability it once was.

It's a well known fact that excess inventory is a financial drain on any business. What's not as well known is that moving inventory (turning stock or consumed materials), is a real business asset for the electronic component supply network industries.

Commonly, manufacturers' inventory is measured as being below, on, above or grossly above target levels based on forecasting, results which purchasing departments then need to answer for. The disaster scenario is a 'stock-out' (no inventory) situation, generally caused by unforeseeable technical or supply problems or an unusual increase in demand. 'stock-out' situations have a knock on effect on sales targets and leaves managers wanting to know what went wrong and how quickly it will be removed.

Just-in-time, lean manufacturing is used in an effort to hold inventory in the range between 'below' and 'on' target levels. This approach works best when forecasting is accurate and stable and component lead times are low to stable.

For the last decade lead times for a wide range of electronic components have been low, typically under two weeks, but this has not always been the case. In 2011, when a natural disaster occurred, lead times rapidly increased from 6, to 12 and then to 16 weeks and remained at that level for several months.

During this time, companies reliant on lean manufacturing had to reduce their output in line with availability and faced a huge loss in revenue. Some even had to temporarily close down plants altogether.

Fletcher goes on to explain that authorized distributors support over 95% of electronic component requirements. One of the important but little recognized roles of a distributor is to aggregate multiple customer demand and put the necessary inventory in place to effectively buffer the customer from lead time fluctuations.

Atlantis Electronics, an independent stocking distributor also offers a free Scheduling Service which gives you complete piece of mind, improved productivity and cost savings.

To read about all the benefits of our Scheduling Service, please visit our website.

Or alternatively, give us a call on +1 905 290 1563 to talk through the options we offer.

Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Face Ever-Increasing Challenges

In a recent article, SGS report that we are on the 'tip of an environmental iceberg' when it comes to implementing processes to effectively manage the collection, risk assessment, and quality assessment of material data across the supply chain.

Electrical and electronics manufacturers around the world are facing an ever increasing demand to be held accountable for every molecule of material contained in their products which may impact the health of the environment, consumers and individuals responsible for manufacturing, recovery, recycling and disposal of end of life products.

The Challenges faced by electrical and electronics suppliers and product manufacturers today include:

• An ever increasing growth of global regulations: Back in 2002, there were about  25 regulations for substance restrictions globally, compared to around 200 presently in 2013. The products in scope of the regulations have also grown due to the impact of legislation such as RoHS and REACH.

• The complexity and volume of material identification and reporting: Materials and substances need to be identified and the data stored and be accessible to the company as well as consumers.

Steps To Help Overcome These Challenges

If you are a supplier of materials, you will need to identify and report the chemical composition of your supplied materials to the capacitor manufacturer. 

If you are the manufacturer you must obtain material composition disclosure information from your suppliers to pass on to your customers. If your material supplier cannot or will not provide the information you will need to take further actions such as removing the supplier from your Approved Manufacturers List (AML) or if that is not possible, having the material analyzed by an accredited materials testing laboratory.

If you are an original equipment manufacturer you will need to have a system in place to store, manage and make available, the data you received from your suppliers, and linked to your product bill of material. These data records, in the case of RoHS II would become part of your Technical Documentation File for your product and must be kept on file for ten years and made available to an EU member state enforcement officer when requested.

To read this article in full, please visit the SGS website.

Reduce Costs with Atlantis' Scheduling Service

So far in 2013, we have seen manufacturer lead times and electronic component prices fluctuate over the months. With this in mind, we recommend to plan ahead wherever possible if you want to beat component shortages and rising costs.

When an unexpected crisis occurs, it can led to manufactures having no choice but to put production on hold. In some cases, they may even close down plants all together, as they struggle to obtain critical electronic components. One such disaster was the devastating Japanese earthquake in 2011 which saw electronic component lead times jump from 6 weeks to 16 weeks and remained at that level for several months.

That's why here at Atlantis we offer our free of charge Scheduling Service.

Our Scheduling Service allows you to manage productivity and cut costs. We also offer a stock holding facility and if you forecast what you will be buying in the next year, we can quote you on 12 months worth of stock.

This enables us to obtain you a better price for the higher quantity. We can then hold the stock here in our environmentally controlled warehouse and ship the parts out to you as and when you require them, just in time. Meaning that if a crisis occurs, you won't be affected.

Here are a few benefits of the Atlantis Scheduling Service....

It will boost manufacturing productivity and capacity utilization, by having the parts readily available as and when you require them

Orders can be scheduled up to 12 months in advance, so you get fixed prices which have no surprise fluctuations!

Reduce order to delivery lead time by more frequent & closer-to-delivery scheduling.

By ordering in bulk you can receive a high volume discount which will assist you in keeping your production costs to a minimum

Helps with accurate budgeting as you only pay for the parts you require, when you require them!
 
To find our more about our Scheduling Service, contact us on  ++1 905-290-1563 or visit our visit our website here.

Can DNA Help Combat Counterfeits?

Counterfeit electronic components are continually edging their way into the US military supply chain. Previously, specific missile systems, aircraft, and combat support systems had all been identified by the Senate to contain counterfeit parts.

In 2012 the Senate approved an amendment that requires large defense contractors to establish systems for detecting and avoiding counterfeits, in the hope that this will help deal with the crisis.

Applied DNA Sciences, a security technology firm based in New York, have patented a technology called SigNature® DNA in which real plant DNA is used as a unique and fool proof way of verification.
 

The plant DNA is used to create a unique mark on the component which cannot be copied and will not wash off, even in aggressive industrial treatment baths.

Applied DNA Sciences state that “hundreds and of millions of Signature DNA marks now exist in the public domain on items ranging from consumer product packaging to microcircuits to guitars and none have ever been copied.”

SigNature® DNA is currently the only anti-counterfeiting technology currently funded by the Defense Logistics Agency, the agency that manages the military supply chain.

Let us know what you think, can DNA testing path the way for combating counterfeits?

To read the article in full, please click here.

Koch Industries To Buy Electronics Firm Molex

In a recent announcement, Koch industries have confirmed they are to buy global electronic components company Molex, for $7.2 billion.

Koch Industries are one of the world's largest privately owned companies and currently own a highly diverse group of firms ranging from refining and biofuels, to fertilizers and commodity trading.

Koch Industries has agreed to pay Molex's shareholders $38.50 per share, for a total equity value of approximately $7.2 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year and will see Molex become a standalone subsidiary of Koch. Molex will continue to be operated by the company's current management team and will also keep it's existing name and head office, located in Lisle, Illinois.

Martin Slark, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Molex said, “this transaction will allow us to build on Molex’s proud past and strengthen us for a powerful future. We are excited to work with Koch to continue our track record of growth and investment in people, innovation and technology.”

Charles Koch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Koch Industries, considers Molex “an exciting acquisition which provides a significant new platform for growth”.

To read the article in full, please click here.

Visit our website to search for Molex parts using our online database.

Explosive Fire at Hynix DRAM Plant

South Korean owned Hynix, said production should resume shortly after an explosive fire broke out at their China based memory chip plant in Wuxi.

The fire started at around 3.50pm local time yesterday during chip equipment installation and was extinguished in under two hours. Luckily no one was seriously injured in the fire, Hynix  stated that there was only one minor injury and the fire was not as severe as it might seem.

Photos taken at the scene by local media show thick, black smoke billowing from the plant,  but Hynix assure that because the fire was concentrated in the air purification facilities, that are linked to the rooftop of the fab, the smoke seemed much worse than it actually was.

Photo courtesy of chiphell.com

Hynix are the worlds number two maker of DRAM chips and fears that the fire could increase prices yet again (please read our blog post Dram Prices Set to Rise in 2013) are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Their Wuxi plant produces around 40-50% of their total DRAM output, so suspension of this plant could lead to a shortage in an already tight market.

Hynix has stated that there is currently no material damage to the equipment and therefore they expect to resume operation soon, so overall production and supply volume will not be affected. We will bring you news on this issue as it happens.

To read the article in full, please click here.

Have you thought of scheduling parts to avoid lead times? At Atlantis we offer a free Scheduling Service which will give you complete peace of mind when shortages or long lead times occur as your order can be scheduled up to 12 months in advance, this also helps keep the cost down too.

For more information on our Scheduling Service, please visit our website.

Toshiba Announces the Opening of New Thai-Based Semiconductor Facility

Toshiba have today announced that their Thai-based Group company, Toshiba Semiconductor Thailand (TST), has completed its relocation to a new semiconductor manufacturing facility.

Situated 140km north-east of Bangkok, this state of the art facility has already started mass production, marking the company's recovery from the devastating 2011 flooding.

Construction of the plant began in July 2012 and limited production started in April of this year, the facility is now operating at its current target capacity and is 1.4 times the size of the flood damaged plant.

TST carries out back-end processes, the assembly and packaging of small signal devices and photocouplers, both product areas where strong demand growth is expected. Small signal devices control current and voltage in digital consumer products and are essential components in products such as smart phones and tablets. Photocouplers are widely used in industrial products, including inverters.

To read the press release in full, please visit the Toshiba website.

DRAM Prices Set to Rise in 2013

According to semiconductor market research company, IC Insights, DRAM average selling prices have increased each month throughout 2013. The price jumped an estimated 42% in quarter 2 2013, compared to the same period in 2012 following a 22% rise in quarter 1 2013.

IC Insights forecast that the DRAM average selling price will grow to $2.53 by quarter 3 which will be 50% greater than quarter 3 2012. It is then expected to decrease slightly in quarter 4 to $2.52. Please see image below.

IC Insights believe that one contributing factor to the increase in DRAM price is that fewer suppliers are participating in the DRAM market today compared to 2010. Also DRAM capital spending as a percent of sales has declined from 31% in 2011, to 19% in 2012 and is forecast to be only 12% in 2013.

With a reduced amount of new capacity being added, the supply-demand balance is now favouring DRAM suppliers, as demand is beginning to overtake supply, resulting in the increase in price.

Also with the computer industry moving more towards smart phone and tablets over the traditional notebook and desktop, most suppliers have scaled back their output of lower priced PC DRAM and transitioned to higher priced mobile DRAM.

To read the article in full or to download the report, please visit the IC Insights website.

If you are being affected by price increases, why not try Atlantis' Scheduling Service. Your orders can be scheduled up to 12 months in advance, so you get fixed prices, meaning no surprise price fluctuations!

6 Substances Added to the SVHC Candidate List

In June 2013, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) updated the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) to include 6 more substances. The current list contains 144 substances which will be added to over time. Follow this link to see the SVHC list in full.

According to the draft multi-annual work programme 2014 – 2018 which was published back in May of this year, ECHA expects to receive 50 substance proposals per year in this five year period.

The table below shows the new additions to the list. To read this article in full, please visit the SGS website. The notification deadline for the 6 new substances added to the Candidate List is 20 December 2013. 

Welcome to Atlantis Electronics' New Blog!

I would like to personally welcome you to Atlantis' new blog where we intend to post news, updates and information regarding the electronics industry and to keep you up to date with what's going on here at Atlantis.

We strongly believe in sharing industry information openly and freely with our customers and anyone within the electronics industry. We will aim to regularly post about topical industry news, including any updates on counterfeiting, shortages and lead times.

We intend this information to be informative and relevant and by no way just a sales pitch. We would also love to hear your comments and feedback, so I encourage you to leave any comments in the box below.

Also if there is anything you would like us to write about or research, any topics that are worrying you or any problems you encounter, please get in touch and let us know!