Strategic obsolescence management.

The rapid spread of the Corona virus (Covid-19) puts a massive strain on both the German and international economies. Long before the current crisis, STW has developed a service that reduces the default risks to a minimum and guarantees long-term availability of STW components through component and obsolescence management. This means STW remains able to deliver its products.

As a manufacturer of electronic assemblies for tough and rough operating conditions, the long-term availability of products is essential. The STW product lifetime of more than ten years, for example, is well above the standard in the automotive sector.

Nevertheless, STW, like all other manufacturers of electronic assemblies, is affected by the changes in the electronic component market and – as can be seen currently – unpredictable crises. The ever shorter life cycles and faster innovation cycles of the manufacturers initially stand against the desire for long-term availability. In addition, some component manufacturers change their products over the course of their service lifetime in terms of e.g. color, shape, function, place of manufacture, test site, etc. Some products are discontinued completely and are then no longer available (obsolete). And in extreme cases, companies may have to shut down their operations completely due to drastic economic changes.

Updates on such changes reach STW in the form of PCNs (Product Change Notifications) or PDNs (Product Discontinuation Notifications).

For unprepared manufacturers, discontinuations in particular represent a major challenge. The effort involved in searching for a replacement type, the resulting redesigns or component storage mean high costs.

In order to be prepared for such challenges, STW's "Component and Obsolescence Management" intervenes at a much earlier stage.

Of course, stable processes within STW are indispensable for such a forward-looking approach. Further support includes access to a professional database and membership of COG Deutschland e.V. (Component Obsolescence Group), which has more than 150 members throughout Germany.

This way customers are involved in the life cycle planning of the future product from the initial project phase, where strategic component decisions are made to guarantee a long lifetime of the assembly group. Regular reviews during the product life cycle ensure that the risk of sudden component discontinuation is minimized. STW thus guarantees its customers functionality, quality and the ability to supply the products for years to come.

At STW, the currently unclear and critical situation due to the Corona pandemic is of course viewed with great concern. Up to now, STW has not experienced any economically induced delivery difficulties and is able to continue to offer its customers good and reliable service despite adapted working conditions.

#PAuto  #coróinvíreas #COVID19 #coronavirus @Sensor_Technik @PresseBox

Intelligent inventory management!

Anglia Components has launched a new intelligent inventory management service offering vibrant electronics manufacturers a flexible, instantly accessible inventory of commodity components on an invoice at usage basis to support their growth.

The new service aims to give SMEs the competitive advantage they need to compete with high volume manufacturers. Anglia 80/20 offers a new level of flexibility in the supply chain, which was previously only available to large volume users through consignment/Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI).  There is no start-up cost with the new Anglia 80/20 service. Participating customers receive an agreed level of inventory on their regularly used commodity components that are held on their site providing instant accessibility. The level of inventory is scaled according to the customer’s forecast demand, and is only invoiced as it is used. Customers can track component usage in real time through an intuitive web-based dashboard, eradicating the need for manually updated usage reports. Inventory can also be replenished daily, weekly or monthly with monthly consolidated invoicing if required. This simple but effective process is further complemented by a ‘single scan’ booking in system allowing users to book in a delivery containing multiple parts quickly and error free.

Commenting, Steve Rawlins, CEO of Anglia, said, “Anglia is investing for the success of its customers. Anglia 80/20 gives them zero lead-time, zero up-front cost and zero management cost. Using this new service, customers are able to grow quickly and scale rapidly to exploit demand spikes with an instantly accessible stock of commodity components on site without the need to commit valuable cash up-front. Anglia 80/20 is much more flexible than traditional VMI and available to a much wider range of customers. We manage the customer’s stock of commodity parts, reducing errors and streamlining the supply chain, reducing excess inventory and associated costs.”

The Anglia 80/20 web based management dashboard helps customers track stock and manage inventory in the light of changing demand patterns. High or low usage, leading to potential understock or overstock situations are flagged up using an intuitive colour coded system. An amber icon shows the customer that stock levels need to be reviewed and a red icon shows a potentially critical situation requiring immediate attention.

David Pearson, Technical Director of Anglia, added, “Anglia 80/20 goes beyond VMI. We track consumption and determine quantities and times of replenishment to make sure that customers’ production lines run smoothly, eliminating line stops and delivery returns. This is all supported with buffer inventories held in our UK warehouse and supplier pipeline. Customers get peace of mind, knowing that the components they need will be delivered at the right time in the right amount, to ensure that production keeps rolling without excess inventory.”

Features to support customers in managing their supply chain include an auditing and stock take mode, allowing customers to periodically verify the inventory held on their site. This information is then transmitted directly back to Anglia eliminating the need for onsite stock audits required with a traditional VMI system. A management-reporting dashboard is provided that can be customised to provide the information and reports required by each individual customer. Anglia 80/20 offers full transparency of all aspects of inventory usage down to individual part number level with full lot traceability and includes an audit trail of all user activity on each part. Anglia 80/20 is multi-currency, and can handle a combination of Sterling, Euro and Dollar inventory.

Anglia 80/20 covers all of the commodity passive, electromechanical, connector and semiconductor components on Anglia’s 800,000 strong component line card. Customers are issued with a free starter pack including a wireless 2D scanner and barcoded user cards for security, which allow selective authority levels and auditable user information. Anglia 80/20 is free to use and complements the customer’s established business management system. There are configurable, downloadable reports in standard formats that can easily be imported/uploaded to the customer’s own system. Anglia 80/20 customers receive regular contract pricing reviews ensuring that pricing is always competitive.

@angliaLive #PAuto

Logistics management software optimises terminal movements & simplifies stock management.

Syncade Logistics management software v4.12, form Emerson, gives terminal managers improved control over terminal traffic and eliminates the need for specialised storage tanks for unique blends. With more efficient traffic and stock management, terminals can drive increased throughput and improved asset utilisation.

Truck schedule management can significantly impact terminal throughput. Syncade Logistics uses built-in algorithms to optimise movement scenarios and then automatically assigns trucks to gantry queues based on customer order specifications. This allows terminal managers to eliminate driver guesswork and measurably increase trip efficiency. With tighter control on terminal traffic, a terminal can increase throughput and react more effectively to schedule changes.

Stock management tools help operators maintain safe operations by accurately controlling transaction quantity and avoiding emissions. Syncade Logistics supports loading by weight for both metered and non-metered loads. Configurable capacity limits for loading LNG and LPG products prevent the release of vapours, ensuring safety and environmental compliance.

Syncade Logistics enables terminal managers to use their storage tanks more efficiently, reducing the inventory footprint required to support customer needs. Terminal operators can deliver automatic management of blend ratios, eliminating the need to build separate storage tanks for different blends. Syncade Logistics also manages multiple stock owners within a tank. Transactions are easily accounted for and reconciled with book inventory, delivering confidence in stock accuracy.

Too much stock for maintenance, repair and operations?

Lean Engineering and Training Consultancy MCP reports that its spare parts and materials’ management audits show average scores of around 55% when compared to world the class benchmark of at least 75%!

‘You can think of your MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) stores as a goldmine waiting to be tapped. A large company could save an investment of say, £10,000 one hundred times over in just two years. That’s around £1 million for a store issuing £200,000 (of parts) per year’, reports MCP’s MD, Peter Gagg.

‘Typically stock turns are around three to five times per year, when they should be nearer one. On completion of a parts and stores audit a company is likely to see savings of 10% per annum on the above figure, plus a one-off windfall of around 10-15% of total stock value, as we nearly always find that stock levels are almost always too high!’

A full audit will cover 4 days on-site with a one day strategy and briefing workshop with managers and personnel and is designed to assess the gap between current status and best practice. Amongst the benefits accruing from the spare parts and materials’ audit will be improved cost performance, reduction in inventory-replenishment purchase by up to 60% and lower storeroom inventories of at least 30%.

Resistors easy to access!

ARCOL Resistors now offers customers an online facility to locate and purchase their wide range of resistor products from their global distribution network.

The simple to use “stock locator” is easy to access from Arcol’s homepage and allows customers to find available stock of any resistor available via distribution. Powered by the proven netComponents global electronic component database, users may refine their search by geographic region and complete or partial part number.

Tony Daly, Sales Manager of ARCOL Resistors, comments; “We understand how important it is for our customers to have fast delivery of our resistors from stock and how time consuming it can be to make telephone or email enquiries around a number of distributors to find what they need. Our new, online stock locator will greatly simplify this process as all of our major franchised distributors will make their own stock available to the netComponents search-engine. From now on a single visit to our website should direct our customers immediately to the stock they need.”

ARCOL offer one of the widest ranges of resistors available to electronics designers and manufacturers including the market leading HS aluminium housed high power range, the MSR series of bare element resistors, the RWS precision power wirewound SMD resistor family, axial thin film, silicon coated types and precision passivated chip resistors and resistor packs.

Typical applications include traction, snubbers, switched mode power supplies and non-inductive resistors for high frequency and pulse applications,

Ultimate Storeroom Control And Information

The latest version of its Pro-Pod automated storeroom portal, which uses advanced RFID (radio frequency identification) technology and incorporates twin interlocking doors for enhanced control and performance was launched recently by Propeller GB. Used as the entry/exit point for an enclosed storage area of any size, Pro-Pod Version 7 restricts access to the stores area and tracks users, automatically captures stock movements without need for physically booking items out, provides instant status reports on inventory within the area and allocates withdrawals to specific cost centres. This in turn ensures fully automated parts re-ordering and eliminates stock-outs, downtime and delays.

Developed in-house and built in this country, this solution is considered the best of its type on the market and forms part of a suite of products that can be networked together, including Propeller’s lineside industrial vending machine, Pro-Vyda. ‘Access anywhere’ web-based software enables current stock levels to be viewed and interrogated remotely, making Pro-Pod ideal for large manufacturing or service sites, multi-plant operations and global enterprises. Installations of earlier versions have achieved 99.976% stock accuracy, 87% faster parts retrieval times and stock checks of 15,000 line items completed within 2 hours.

Developed over a four-year period to meet customer demand for greater control over stores facilities and improved inventory management information, the Pro-Pod series was launched in 2007 and has been installed at a number of client sites across Britain, notably in the automotive, electronics, engineering, food and pharmaceutical sectors. Attachable to any size of store, each portal incorporates the very latest RFID Generation 2 hardware that, unlike barcode readers, provides data capture at a distance, without line of sight or human intervention, and the capacity to read literally thousands of transponder tags simultaneously, enabling truly automated inventory tracking.

Industry-standard Squiggle inlays allow the RFID-enabled tagging of any asset, either incorporated in header cards, bags and cartons or embedded into products, making the technology suitable for tracking MRO (maintenance, repair and operation) consumables, engineering spares, PPE, electronic equipment, hospital supplies and pharmaceuticals, and all types of inventory held in controlled storage areas.

As part of an ongoing inventory procurement contract, Propeller provides the Pro-Pod and installs purpose-designed high density racking in the customer’s stores area, for optimum visibility of stock. It ‘bags and tags’ items in anti-static, food safe or other appropriate packaging and attaches RFID-enabled header cards to each, then subsequently replenishes the stock according to reports generated whenever transactions occur.

The latest of seven different Pro-Pod models, which variously feature rotary turnstiles, telescopic elevator-style doors and pass-through configurations to suit different footprints, the new model features a two-door ‘airlock’ arrangement and a fully enclosed Faraday cage to shield the interior from RFID signals within the main store. Thus, unlike other RFID systems that read more than just the required tagged parts, the patented Pro-Pod V7 reads only those items that have been picked, greatly accelerating transaction speeds and maximising data accuracy.

In operation, authorised users gain access by means of a proximity badge, swipe card or biometric reader, external status lights indicating whether it is free to enter. Inside the well-lit Pro-Pod portal, a touchscreen search facility enables users to rapidly locate and retrieve stock, with prompt menus aiding selection, parts locations flashing up on screen and picking lists printed out for multiple items.

Once stock has been located and removed from the racks, the user exits the stores area and Pro-Pod automatically captures the data held on each RFID tag and decrements the inventory levels, with stock reordering reports generated for customer approval. Once through the portal, the user accesses the spend allocation interface where, using a graphical plant layout, parts are allocated to the appropriate sector or cost centre, providing valuable data on spend and usage down to individual asset level. In addition, Pro-Pod is bi-directional, so that stock deliveries by Propeller or other approved supplier are automatically booked in, quickly and efficiently.

The system is highly secure and very cost-efficient, with RFID tags recycled and reprogrammed for further use, with scope for recoding up to 10,000 times. Stock movements are updated ‘live’ and reordering reports automatically generated, with parts deliveries scheduled accordingly; this results in improved ‘physical vs system’ stock accuracy, opportunities for cost savings through optimum purchasing, and the elimination of downtime relating to non-availability of parts.

Propeller’s bespoke web-based software, advanced ‘cloud computing’ technology and ISO 27001 certificated cluster of dedicated servers, enables customers to interrogate stock data remotely from a desktop PC or tablet, anywhere in the plant or indeed anywhere on the planet.

“Pro-Pod is a British-made and developed automated stores management system that is the most advanced of its kind in the world,” says Propeller’s CEO, Tony Goodwin. “It is capable of controlling an infinite number of stock items within a stock area of virtually any size, providing complete scalability. It restricts removal of inventory by unauthorised individuals and provides up-to-the minute management information via our unique web-based platform, reducing unnecessary travel time to verify inventory availability and enabling full stock checks in a matter of hours.”