The sourcing of electronic components is a topic that causes worries to companies all over the world since years. Covid-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine and the following economic impacts are intensifying the situation. The availability of parts is getting more and more difficult – while prices as well as delivery times explode in almost all industrial branches – for electronic parts delivery times from 25 to 52 weeks are normal nowadays.

Shortage of components for the entire supply chain

As people were forced to stay at home and many entertainment businesses were closed, Covid-19 led to a boom on electronic devices, especially for entertainment electronics. Also the rise of e-mobility led to a further demand on electronic parts.

So the demand rose a lot while the production capacities were and are limited. It is not possible to increase production capacities in the same speed as demand rose. And in the typical production countries, companies had to be closed because of Corona cases in their staff and also logistic chains were interrupted – for example less planes meant less volumes for air cargo.

The next important problem is the explosion of energy prices caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. That means, not only the energy prices for production increased, but also the prices of pre-products rose dramatically.

And now this winter we also have the problem, that high sickness levels lead to interruptions in the value chains.

It is expected, that also in the coming year 2023 the situation will stay difficult. MOBA is in the lucky situation to have a very high in-house production rate, so that many parts can be produced in-house in one of our worldwide facilities. Yet, of course the raw materials and parts that have to be purchased result in difficulties that also MOBA has to deal with.

Our purchase and sales departments cooperate closely with distributors all over the world and do their best to purchase critical parts and materials in a reliable price and delivery time frame. Delivery capability has priority for us and we will join all our forces, to maintain delivery capability and reasonable prices.

Phased out components

Another huge challenge is the rising number of phased out components. That threatens projects and can lead to extreme costs for redesign and purchase of alternative parts.

During the last months, many component manufacturers have cleared up their portfolio and phased out components because – from the manufacturer’s view- the demand is too low or because new process technologies came up and allow a more cost-effective manufacturing. For industrial products with life cycles of several years or even decades, that means a big challenge. That is why obsolescence management plays a more and more important role and is thriven forward at MOBA. We offer our customers a process for phased out components that guarantees product availability, the minimization of quality problems and the reduction of additional cost for unplanned redesign or component purchase on the broker market. Minimized in-time analyses of need and long-term and close cooperation with our customers and suppliers guarantee a reliable supply chain.