Components and Suppliers - Information Management for SMART Sourcing: Part1

Introduction In these series of articles, we will be covering some of the fundamentals of component sourcing/procurement in electronic design and manufacturing companies. The component procurement engineer can save huge time and money by using smart sourcing strategies. It's not just saving of time and money even more important aspect of smart sourcing is ensuring component reliability and overall quality of the end product. Along with buying skills the technical knowledge of procurement specialist plays important role in selecting complex semiconductor ICs and other such high-tech components/chips and devices.
The success of electronic system design and manufacturing companies, small or big, largely depend upon the success and effectiveness of their various functional teams such as design and development, sourcing and procurement, manufacturing and distribution, marketing and sales, etc. The company as a whole and the individual teams need to have a reason, plan and, action aligned to the company's goals and objectives, "the mission", for their continued success and growth. It's about start doing the task and learning by doing it using a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. The company, at all times, with effective systems, processes, expertise, software/applications, etc., can control the product d...