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From: larwe on 14 Dec 2009 22:57 On Dec 14, 3:34 pm, Ulf Samuelsson <u...(a)a-t-m-e-l.com> wrote: > >>> I work for a multibillion dollar company and *I* still cannot get > >>> samples from Atmel. I get samples from the distributor, but I can only > > When such rules apply, there is generally a way to get more. > You just have to figure out how. Ulf, I call bullshit. I speak to someone with a @atmel.com email address copied on most of the correspondence with this distributor. When I send an email or make a call on these chips, I am never talking about fewer than 30kpcs EAU - usually 100k or more. If I can't get 20 free samples of a chip that Atmel is already selling to a different division of my company for $0.95/pc at a volume of 250-500k per year, then your sampling system is, quite frankly, fscked up.
From: Mike Harrison on 15 Dec 2009 05:19 On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:04:46 +0000, Peter <nospam(a)nospam9876.com> wrote: > >Paul Carpenter <paul(a)pcserviceselectronics.co.uk> wrote > >>MANY distributors are just turning into Freight Forwarders. > >Is this NEWS????? :) > >Here in the UK, distributors became totally useless about 20 years >ago. A total waste of space. The manufacturer may as well set up a >direct sales mail order shop. ...like Microchip did a while ago - many other makers should learn from this - I'm surprised there are still any Microchip distributors as I can't see what they could offer compared to MicrochipDirect. They have not only sorted out the supply side of things, but also a very cheap programming, marking and re-reeling service. >RS still offers a very good service but only to sell you a stock item. As do Farnell,Digikey,Mouser. If a part's not stocked by any of these it immediately goes waaay down on the design-in candidate list.
From: Mike Harrison on 15 Dec 2009 05:21 On Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:57:59 -0800 (PST), larwe <zwsdotcom(a)gmail.com> wrote: >On Dec 14, 3:34�pm, Ulf Samuelsson <u...(a)a-t-m-e-l.com> wrote: > >> >>> I work for a multibillion dollar company and *I* still cannot get >> >>> samples from Atmel. I get samples from the distributor, but I can only >> >> When such rules apply, there is generally a way to get more. >> You just have to figure out how. > >Ulf, I call bullshit. I speak to someone with a @atmel.com email >address copied on most of the correspondence with this distributor. >When I send an email or make a call on these chips, I am never talking >about fewer than 30kpcs EAU - usually 100k or more. > >If I can't get 20 free samples of a chip that Atmel is already selling >to a different division of my company for $0.95/pc at a volume of >250-500k per year, then your sampling system is, quite frankly, fscked >up. If you can't get 20 devices transferred inside your company, or ordered from a distributor, the same could be said about your company's organisation.
From: larwe on 15 Dec 2009 05:41 On Dec 15, 5:21 am, Mike Harrison <m...(a)whitewing.co.uk> wrote: > >If I can't get 20 free samples of a chip that Atmel is already selling > >to a different division of my company for $0.95/pc at a volume of > > If you can't get 20 devices transferred inside your company, or ordered from a distributor, the same > could be said about your company's organisation. I can't argue with that. But it is easier to die and be resurrected than it is to get a PO written for actual money, and there is no way of transferring assets between SBUs. I would need to cold-call engineers at a plant in China.
From: David Brown on 15 Dec 2009 07:43
Peter wrote: > Paul Carpenter <paul(a)pcserviceselectronics.co.uk> wrote > >> MANY distributors are just turning into Freight Forwarders. > > Is this NEWS????? :) > > Here in the UK, distributors became totally useless about 20 years > ago. A total waste of space. The manufacturer may as well set up a > direct sales mail order shop. > > RS still offers a very good service but only to sell you a stock item. Here in Norway, distributors do a great job. I often find it much easier to ask distributors when looking for components - they know what parts are /actually/ available, they know about alternative components that might do a similar or better job, and they know what particular parts have the best prices. There are perhaps four large distributors that I regularly deal with - each have good technical FAEs' who provide information, support, training, etc. My biggest problem is that there is often more than one that support any given manufacturer - choosing who to ask and where to buy can be difficult. Perhaps in the UK, the distributors have suffered in a race to the bottom on prices, taking quality and service down with it. I've certainly seen that in other fields in the UK (such as ISPs and telephone companies). |