It’s no longer news that lead-times are increasing and supply chains everywhere are it seems feeling the strain. With raw material price increases, freight costs spiralling and various components coming under the looming threat of allocation from many manufacturers it’s not surprising to find that lead-times for many power supply manufacturers are also causing problems for end users.
We are seeing these changes also, and with many of our customers are running stock holding plans which assist in times of scarcity. However, some manufacturers are running with lead-times that are not as long as others in the marketplace which means that for some customers, we have been able to assist them in solving this issue. Some recent success stories are below.
Case Study 1 – test & measurement company
One of our customers has on an old running design, a configurable power supply from another manufacturer, this company is now quoting around 36 weeks for supply which would have meant a long gap in production. They called one of our power specialists and asked if we could assist.
They checked on the power required and offered a solution from Enedo Power, the RCB600 series, which we have component stock available in our UK based configuration centre. We supplied a first off unit for testing and approval within 48 hours and the customer approved this as suitable within the week. We have managed to arrange for components and have then within 2 weeks supplied a small batch of units and taken further orders to keep the customers production running for the next 6 months.
Case Study 2 – rail monitoring equipment
Another client we have had an issue with a dc/dc converter that was normally purchased through many broadline distributors. The product in question became scarce and lead-times that were normally 4 to 6 weeks at worst, increased to around 20 weeks. We were asked if we could supply an alternative. We spoke to P-Duke and explained the situation, they had a small qty available for sampling and could supply initial production quantities in around 6 to 8 weeks. The customer responded quickly in approving the samples and got product in time to finish their order. They now have 2 sources of supply on their BOM in case this situation arises again.
We have long term relationships with many of our manufacturers at senior management level and can sometimes offer alternate solutions to assist. Now might just be an opportune time to check if you are sole sourced on key power supply products and ask our power specialists if we can help