The UK electronics industry has undergone many changes in the last few years. The last 12 months have been no exception and one of the biggest factors for change has been the implementation of RoHS legislation.

Assuming that manufacturers have moved their manufacturing of semiconductors to RoHS-compliant devices, the two biggest challenges facing distribution is to handle what is an effective doubling of the number of part numbers it deals with, and managing the ramp down of its lead-inclusive inventories.

Many OEMs who are nominally exempt from RoHS legislation may find it hard to procure leaded products since manufacturers may have discontinued them. And they may have to move to lead-free components regardless.

Distribution must balance the need to run efficient ‘asset management’ in terms of stock holding, and not forget that they need to hold stock to satisfy customer needs.

If a distributor ends up relying on ‘back to back’ ordering and cutting back inventory, they will lose customer orders to more flexible, service orientated ‘brokers’, who will search the world. The down side of buying parts via non-franchised sources is that parts may be of suspect quality, and have no manufacturers Warranty or Certificate of Conformity (which is required by RoHS legislation).

Seeding the marketplace with new technology and the latest products means providing customers with the means to procure small quantities for prototyping, evaluation boards, with short lead-times and without large minimum order quantities.

We use the Internet secure e-com route to allow customers to buy our complete range of products (both lead free and legacy leaded) with less than pack quantities, ex-stock, direct from the factory, using a credit card. This is a very popular route for customers needing parts for prototyping or to evaluate newly released products.

Customers requiring full tubes or reels, can buy direct with a credit account via our Linear Express arm.

The Internet and manufacturers websites are excellent tools for design engineers to check out newly released parts and download datasheets. For a knowledge-based economy like the UK, it is what is not on the web that design engineers need to know about, that is, manufacturers’ roadmaps. This means that the best support is still via technically competent field service engineers and ‘guru’ field application engineers.

Adaptation is the name of the game. If you cannot adapt, your business will not grow.

Getting to grips with RoHS is just one hurdle to overcome in adapting to the challenges facing the UK electronics industry as it moves to a non-UK manufacturing, knowledge-based sector.

Alastair Boyd is country manager UK, Ireland, Israel and South Africa, Linear Technology