Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1466505
28 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2022 along with an assembly order. We'll check with our suppliers, get costs on most line items, but find that a few are not available and need subs. We'll send the list back to the customer, either with proposed alternates or with the request to give us alternates. Once we receive the updated BOM, we will requote and find that a hand- ful of parts that were available at the first go- round have since gone out of stock. is cycle can be repeated multiple times before we get a complete BOM quoted and approved. is can add days or weeks to the total build time. Sole-sourced or highly popular components can turn this difficult process into an impos- sible one. I could give you a long list of com- ponents that have lead times ranging from 52 weeks up to "you will never see this part again, so just give up." e manufacturing industry has had to look for creative solutions to keep the machines running. One of the most important improvements is automating the data connection with com- ponents distributors. By directly connecting an online BOM quote system with multiple vendors, much of that quote cycle I described above can take place before the BOM is deliv- ered to a purchasing department. Scream- ing Circuits and Macrofab have both recently announced an increase in the number of dis- tributors that are automatically queried during the online quote process. Transparency tools are also helpful aids. Our online quote system will list the maximum stocking quantity that we find and any minimum order quanti- ties (MOQ), then display icons to indicate if a component is out of stock or in short sup- ply. e short supply indication helps the customer determine the sense of urgency. Good sup- ply usually means that there are enough around so the risk of it going out of stock in the next few days is minimal. A low-stock indicator can be used to incentivise a speedier approval cycle. At high volume forecasted EMS providers, inventory holding costs become the major challenge. If three parts on a BOM are not avail- able, but the other 97 are, the supply uncer- tainties may dictate that a manufacturer, or the OEM client, buy as much of the available parts as possible. If they don't do that, many other components may become unavailable while waiting on the first three. is may lead to buying and sitting on a year or more of components stock with no ability to build and sell until the final components come in. Multiple product lines under the same con- ditions can lead to a financial burden that is simply untenable. e use of automated tools, like our in-house developments or those from external so- ware vendors, like CalcuQuote, go a long way toward easing the strain of extreme shortages. We are all competing to buy the same parts, but automation and faster communications between contract manufacturers, parts ven- dors, and OEM customers can make the differ- ence between shipping finished goods and sit- ting on WIP (work in progress) while the bank nervously eyes a decaying cash flow position.