I used to share a building with a local arm of RAE electronics. An old set of squash courts filled with racks of long cardboard drawers of integrated circuits and stepper motors etc. I was always amazed at how old stock was still sold for many many years after manufacture It was treated like gold in the bank and chips counted by weight, with the inventory software a closely guarded secret.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
The number of unique active part numbers for components in the electronics
industry is in the tens of millions.
Some parts can be actively manufactured for a decade or more.
This presents challenges in inventory like few other industries.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) obtain parts in one of two
ways. With direct purchase from the part manufacturer or via wholesale
electronics distribution companies. The main players in the later category
are companies that few outside the industry have heard of but they are
multi billion dollar Fortune 500 enterprises.
Footnote:
In the industry, we always use the word "semiconductor" without it being hyphenated.
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