How to buy electronic components and select distributors efficiently
Purchasing electronic components professionally can make or break an electronics project. This video looks at a “semi-professional” electronic component supply chain for non-Mainland components, and also gives hints about what makes a good distributor. A separate video looking at components from the mainland will follow shortly.
Things have really changed, since I started buying parts, almost 60 years ago. There were a couple local distributors, who sold in two categories. OEM or Support. You had go go through a lot of BS to buy parts that weren’t available as support. One demanded a Dunn & Bradstreet number. Others wanted to verify your address was zoned for business. The alliterative was mail order from Allied or Lafayette. Both were quite slow, and often screwed up your order.
There were several large surplus dealers with military components, then Digikey popped uup selling a kit of parts to build an electronic keyer for Amateur radio. They soon started selling other components. They grew rapidly, because they were eager for any reasonable sized order. Other distributors noticed them, and stated to change, but it was too late for some of them to survive.
there’re many distributors now