It stands to reason that, within a set of components, some would have better and others worse than a sweet-spot price. “Sweet-spot” here means an appropriate, fair-market price level for the purchaser. If you normalized the sweet-spot prices so that different components could be compared, you would expect a distribution showing variance around that value. […]
Everyone Has Some Bad Electronic Component Pricing Read More »
There are just not enough hours in the day anymore. Perhaps there never were, but it seems to have become worse since the high-tech meltdown and subsequent financial crisis, followed by fiscal cliffs and sequestration. Yes, I am older now, and that may account for some of it, but I also believe that everyone is
Purchasing Best-Practices for Tough Times Read More »
In part 1, I talked about the influence design engineers can exert on procurement and the supply chain. This is often a negative influence that comes without proper education or information. What do I want top designers to know about supply chain design? Leverage Leverage is a critical factor in negotiations. Without it, you take
What Engineers Must Know About the Supply Chain, Part 2 Read More »
Accenture and others have reported that company stock prices can dropanywhere from 7.5 to 12 percent following severe supply chain disruptions. PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates this drop at 9 percent and says that, for two-thirds of those companies, stock performance will still lag competitors a year after the disruption. If this is the case, why do we
What Engineers Must Know About the Supply Chain, Part 1 Read More »
Most supply chain professionals would benefit from some training in accounting. I am surprised by the number of times I encounter people holding positions of responsibility who just don’t understand the numbers well enough. I must admit that accountants don’t make it particularly easy. Take cashflow calculations as an example. There are two ways of
Supply Chain Accounting 101 Read More »
I find one reality TV show interesting because it actually represents reality. …At least, it’s the reality that I see through the supply chain and procurement lens of Freebenchmarking.com and Component Cost Estimator as it mirrors typical purchasing negotiations. The show is Pawn Stars, about a family-owned pawn shop in Las Vegas. In this show,
Pawn Stars: Lessons for the Supply Chain Read More »
