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March 29, 2005
BEGANTO SURVEY AT EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE REVEALS HOW SAMPLING IS EMBEDDED IN THE MINDS OF ENGINEERS
A “quickie” survey of engineers at the Embedded Systems Conference in March in San Francisco gives the industry quantified information not previously available about how designers access component samples to complete their design projects. Visitors to the Beganto booth at ESC were asked several key question about their sampling activities, including how often, how many, how they go about it, and how they feel about paying for the components they need.
Far and away the predominant starting point for sampling is the web site of the manufacturer of the needed component, selected by 55% of the respondents. And in clear second place, 32% of the respondents turn first to the local sales rep (but 25% of those have first to search for contact information). Based on aided recall, 11% reported going to one of the three major catalog distributors, DigiKey, Mouser, or Newark-in-One, and 2% to other distributors.
Just as half the respondents start their sample request process on the web, so too do more than half expect not to pay for the requested components. 58% pay for component samples rarely or never, 27% do so about half the time, 12% pay often and 3% pay always. Getting component samples free is a factor in the choice of where to order samples for 41%, but not for the other 59%.
How many projects for which samples are requested make it to volume production?
0-20% of the projects
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23% of the respondents |
21-40% of the projects
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22% of the respondents |
41-60% of the projects
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15% of the respondents |
61-80% of the projects
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15% of the respondents |
81-100% of the projects
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19% of the respondents |
| Don’t know |
6% of the respondents |
For almost 2/3 the surveyed engineers, ordering samples happens once or twice a month. Three to five times a month, report another 20%. Seven percent order more than five times a month, and the rest don’t order at all on a regular basis. When samples are needed, 40% order 3 to 5 components, 30% order just one or two, 24% order five to 10, and 6% order between 10 and 50.
The most important sampling problem for engineers is the need to navigate multiple web sites to make their requests, followed by getting real-time feedback on sample availability and difficulty in finding product information. Other problems, but of lesser importance, are difficulty in receiving budgetary pricing, having to submit the same request repeatedly, and for a small percentage, not having the budget to pay for samples.
In addition to getting a free t-shirt as a reward for participating in the survey, the preponderance of survey-takers got what they considered a bonus – they were made aware of Beganto’s web site, www.needasample.com. Learning of its capability of online sample ordering from multiple vendors, and its letting one order record be shared among customer, rep, and fulfillment, typical responses were “This sounds like a great service,” and “I could use this immediately.” Other appreciated features were keeping everyone simultaneously updated and eliminating confusion over whose court the ball is in, automatic involvement of the field sales rep, and the ability to include a favored distributor in the sampling process. Over 90% of the people Beganto surveyed said they would be telling their engineering colleagues about Need-A-Sample!
Using www.needasample.com is free to engineers and buyers who register as members of the BeON™ program (Beganto Open Network), and agree to report project progress. Despite its newness, over 20,000 people have used the program. Samples from over 700 companies can currently be supplied. For a product to be processed and a request fulfilled, the component must either be produced by a BeON™ member manufacturer, or stocked by a member distributor. Engineers don’t have to worry about sending the sample request to the right person, nor about following up – all steps are handled automatically.
The fully automated program starts when the BeON™ member engineer evaluating components clicks a Need-A-Sample® button, in any of a variety of places: the Beganto web site (www.beganto.com) or the Need-A-Sample® site (www.needasample.com), or on that of a participating rep, distributor, component manufacturer, or a cooperating publication. Participation is also free to reps and distributors; costs are borne by component manufacturers, who feel they are more than repaid by the ability to manage their sampling system better, leading to more design wins.
Complete information about BeON™ , Need-A-Sample®; , and Beganto will be available May 3-5 at the Electronic Distribution Show and Conference (EDS) in Booth 4712-14, or at www.beganto.com. Printed literature is available on request from Beganto, Inc., 48521 Warm Springs Blvd., #306, Fremont CA 94539, phone 510.687.5111, fax 510.226.6188, email: info (at) beganto.com.
About Beganto:
Beganto, Inc. (www.beganto.com) provides the electronics industry a sophisticated web-based system that gets industry participants needed information for selecting, sampling, sourcing, and tracking products through the supply chain. BeON™, the Beganto Open Network, welcomes engineers, buyers, distributors, and manufacturers’ representatives as members at no charge, and lets them enjoy the full features of the system. Component manufacturers become members of BeON™ through paid use of Design Winner™, which facilitates tracking component opportunities from sampling to the point of design win. The privately held company has its headquarters in Fremont, California, and offices in Seattle, India and Japan.
BEG5005,NR, Embedded Systems Conference survey
March 29, 2005
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