When you buy electronic components, the source matters almost as much as the part number. The same MPN can be: • safe and traceable from an authorized distributor, or • risky and counterfeit-prone from a random broker. This guide explains when to use authorized distributors vs brokers, how to decide quickly, and how to reduce…

Incoming Inspection for Electronic Components: A Practical SOP Incoming inspection is how you catch problems before they enter production: counterfeit parts, wrong substitutions, damaged reels, moisture exposure, mixed date codes, and parts that look fine but are not what your BOM requires. You don’t need a giant lab to do this well. You need a…

AVL (Approved Vendor List) Best Practices: How to Build One That Actually Works An AVL (Approved Vendor List) is how you keep production moving without breaking your design. A good AVL prevents the two worst manufacturing problems: 1. line stoppage (no parts available) 2. silent reliability failures (bad substitutions that “fit” but don’t perform) This…

BOM Substitution Rules: What You Can Swap Safely (and What You Should Never Touch) BOM substitutions happen in every production run—price changes, shortages, lead time issues, or vendor strategy. The difference between a good and bad substitution system is whether changes are controlled or random. This guide gives practical rules for what you can swap…

BOM Cost Reduction Without Breaking the Design Cutting BOM cost is good business—until it creates returns, failures, or delays. The best cost-down work is controlled: you reduce cost while keeping performance and reliability stable. This guide shows practical strategies to reduce BOM cost safely, what substitutions are low-risk vs high-risk, and how to structure an…

How to Read a Datasheet (For Buyers and Non-Engineers) Datasheets can feel like a wall of numbers. But for sourcing, quoting, and BOM decisions, you don’t need to understand everything—you need to know which 10% of the datasheet prevents 90% of costly mistakes. This guide shows how to read a datasheet quickly and correctly, especially…

Passive vs Active Components: The Difference (and Why It Matters for BOM & Design) If you’re buying, quoting, or building electronics, you’ll hear “passive” and “active” components constantly. The terms sound basic, but they matter because they affect: • cost structure in the BOM • sourcing risk and lead times • reliability and failure modes…

Obsolete Parts (EOL): What to Do When Your Component Goes End-of-Life End-of-life (EOL) components are a normal part of electronics manufacturing—but if you handle them badly, they become a disaster: production stops, redesigns get rushed, costs spike, and customers get angry. This guide explains what EOL really means, how to respond step-by-step, and how to…

Counterfeit Components: How to Identify and Avoid Risk Counterfeit electronic components aren’t just “cheap parts.” They can be re-marked lower-grade parts, reclaimed/used parts, defective rejects, or completely fake dies. The result is ugly: early failures, intermittent faults, safety risks, and huge warranty cost—often months after shipment when it’s hardest to trace. This guide shows practical…

Common Electronic Component Failures (And How to Avoid Them) Most electronics don’t fail because “the part was bad.” They fail because parts are stressed in ways the BOM didn’t anticipate: heat, spikes, ESD, moisture, vibration, inrush, poor layout, or wrong substitutions. This post covers the most common component failures you’ll see in real products—and what…