"DISPLAY SOLUTIONS MADE EASY"
"Purchasing or engineering, designer or CEO, we speak your language.
We know what's important to you and your key objectives and we make quick work of helping you achieve them."
That's what we say on our web-site but why does this thinking matter now more then ever?
Its March 2021 and the electronics material market is unstable and volatile. Every aspect of business is affected. Buyers, engineers, folks in logistics, designers are all having to pivot and reac
t to keep business flowing, development in motion and objectives met.
Material shortages driven by real demand of consumer electronics as a result of upticks in WFH (Work from Home), LFH (Learn from Home), spending on personal entertainment experiences, written about spikes in electric cars futures or any host of other speculative or real explanations, the short and long term impact on OEM's is real, its now, but can be manageable.
Closer to home in the display and touch panel world, display driver and touch controller IC's are in short supply. One year lead times, 300% price spikes are not uncommon.
Manufacturers of touch panel materials like films, ITO, glass are at risk and base display cells used in LCD modules are experiencing shortages, price volatility and lead-time extensions like never before.
Adding to the challenge, the once simple and mostly affordable act of shipping from Asia to N. America has become an area of great expense and stress as grabbing affordable air and ocean freight space requires near full time attention. (that's another article)
"The short and long term impact on OEM's is real but manageable"
N. America OEM's desiring an Asia based manufacturing experience (result) ..... It could be the best time to de-risk your supply chain partnerships to continue meeting objectives
Quality, on-time delivery and most competitive pricing, once table stakes, must also be met with more supply chain value, more transparency, more risk mitigation options, more communications and more overall value to the OEM client to solve short term challenges but build stronger long term partnerships.
Consider these value added business proposition's, that should be basic 101 values but often aren't. Now more then ever they must be at the core of your supply chain conversations and partnerships.
Sole sourced? Is your direct partner multi-sourcing key components?
Has your direct partner developed multiple qualified auditable assembly partners?
Is your direct partner dialed into their supplier, sub-supplier and their material supply chain? In otherwords are they 3+ levels deep?
Do they have feet on the street in Asia advocating for you, reducing surprises, ensuring quality and steady supply?
Do they have a logistical team or partner that can navigate the current air/ocean shipping challenges?
Are they transparent, communicative and pro-active on topics important to your supply, your business?
Have they developed both short and long term pricing roadmaps?
Are they thinking and ACTING like an extension of your business?
There is all sorts of speculation as to when the market will "normalize". Q421, "sometime in 2022", "this is the new norm".. doesn't matter. Covid and these market conditions we face should be a wake up call that pushes us to define and identify what "great" is and demonstrate the real value of great supply chain partners. All suppliers are awesome when there are no problems right! A great supplier emerges when they solve problems during difficult times.
Yes of course there is an agenda built into this article! DCL Technologies has been adding value on all of these topics however some or all bullet points should be part of every buyer, engineers, designers talk with suppliers and potential suppliers.
De-risk your display solutions supply chain. __________________________________________________________________________