Distributors have responded to the changing needs of design engineers by enhancing their websites with engineering support. Both large and small distributors have spent the past year adding new online features. All these enhancements serve one goal: to give engineers the product information they need in one stop online. In the past, users had to jump back and forth between distributor sites (to check price and availability) and supplier sites (to get the technical detail). Distributors have shortened that process by bringing the supplier information into the distributor website.
Newark has launched Electronic Design World, a portal for design engineers. TTI has created supplier microsites. Digi-Key presents online training modules. Allied has developed a Web-based version of its print catalog. Arrow provides test drives for new technology. Avnet has enhanced the search capabilities of its Design Resource Center. All these enhancements were prompted by engineering customers who are under accelerating time-to-market pressures. They need information fast and they want it online.
Avnet — Updating Design Resource Center
One year after launching its Design Resource Center (DRC), Avnet Inc. has enhanced the site to facilitate ease of use. The website is designed to give design engineers direct access to more than 150 offerings, searchable by manufacturer, technology or product. The DRC gives engineers access to electronic technologies and products, including reference designs, product briefs, user and program guides, schematics and application notes. The site also provides exclusive access to select evaluation and development kits created by Avnet design engineers and suppliers.
The site enhancements were designed to help design engineers more easily develop products. "The DRC's enhanced search engine speeds the design process by offering an array of practical solutions —resulting in quicker access to the information and design resources design engineers are looking for," says Marc Gsand, vice president of marketing for Avent Electronics Marketing Americas. "Avnet's DRC is truly a design engineer's one-stop shop when it comes to getting the design and product information they need."
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-614
Digi-Key — Product Training Modules
Digi-Key Corp. continues to add supplier training modules to its website. The goal is to make training self-service, on-demand 24/7. "We call these our virtual field application engineers," says Steve Tsukichi, vice president of marketing at Digi-Key. "These Web-based learning tools are hosted by Digi-Key to help engineers get an even faster time-to-market." At the product modules, viewers can see presentations that run from 10 min to an hour. The modules also include datasheets. Engineers can also check inventory and order parts for same-day shipping.
The training modules are part of a number of services Digi-Key has added or enhanced recently. Another is the phone support that is also designed to cut the time of waiting for an FAE appointment. "The phone personnel are in-house, factory-trained electrical engineers," says Tsukichi. "Customers don't have to fit into a FAE's schedule. If customers have a question on power supply, they can get it in one phone call, even if they have to talk with three engineers." Digi-Key also provides webinars and microsites for design engineers.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-613
Newark — One-Stop Portal for Design Engineers
Electronics Design World (ED World) is a new portal Newark has launched to save engineers time as they search for application notes, design approaches, solutions and products. ED World contains links to the latest application notes, white papers and block diagrams from leading manufacturers. The site is cross-linked to help engineers compare design solutions from multiple brands. "ED World is a portal of technical information, supplier training, solutions and applications," says Jim Nichols, senior vice president of sales at Newark. "It's a high service product that has well-targeted information and relevant content from suppliers."
At the portal's News Center, engineers can find industry news, including product launches. The site also has a Legislation Center offering guidance in compliance with worldwide regulations that affect the design process. Supplier reference designs will also soon be available with Newark-sourced bills of materials in downloadable spreadsheet formats to simplify prototype development, component selection and purchasing.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-615
Arrow Electronics — Test Driving New Technology
Arrow Electronics Inc. designed a tool called TestDrive that helps design engineers make the tool comparisons required to answer questions when moving to new embedded architecture. Engineers can contact Arrow with tool evaluation requests. The distributor will then set up the tool in the customer's lab and let the engineer take the technology on a "brief spin" to evaluate its usability and design capabilities.
TestDrive is designed to answer these questions:
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Are sufficient tools available?
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Are the tools that are available fully capable of taking advantage of the specific silicon features needed?
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Is the underlying technology as mature as the technical and sales literature would suggest?
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How difficult is it to implement this technology in practice?
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Are there other technologies that need to be considered?
TestDrive comes at no charge to the customer and offers hands-on exposure to design tools.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-616
TTI — Supplier Microsites
TTI Inc. has started to launch supplier microsites. The goal is to give design engineers a one-stop for detailed information on individual suppliers. This is part of the ongoing trend of providing engineers with quick-to-grab self-service data on parts while also providing an ordering function. "In the past, we used our website for general information," says Craig Conrad, senior vice president of marketing and strategic planning for TTI. "This past year, we got our site set up for more commerce and more robust product searches. We've also added supplier microsites." The sites were developed in conjunction with individual suppliers. So far, TTI has created microsites for Vishay, Molex, Kemet and others.
In addition to the microsites, TTI is adding training and product information for design engineers. "We're developing 15-minute technical product casts and they're in demand," says Conrad. "They're a great way for a supplier to launch new products." TTI has also produced product webcasts that go beyond the product casts. "They're focused on the engineer and they offer a way for our suppliers to reach engineers," says Conrad. "We keep the webcasts current enough so design engineers are getting good technical information."
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-617
Allied Electronics — Google Search and the Virtual Catalog
Allied Electronics Inc. has expanded its Web services for design engineers. The distributor selected Google Analytics as its Web analytics provider to better understand its website customers and how they utilize the Allied website. "Google Analytics will help us make website improvements that will most benefit our online customers," says Dan Stewart, director of e-commerce at Allied. "This service will also help make our marketing campaigns more effective and help identify ways to increase our online conversion rate." Allied chose Google's tool because of its accuracy rate with tracking and its integration with the Allied's AdWords campaign.
Allied also launched a virtual catalog on its website. The virtual catalog mirrors Allied's 2007 paper catalog. "Allied's new virtual catalog is just another interactive way for customers to quickly and easily find the electronic and electromechanical products they need," says Lee Davidson, Allied's president. "We want to provide customers with every available format to view and search our catalog." Online customers can navigate the virtual catalog using a mouse to flip through virtual pages and can turn to a specific product section or page number with one click.
http://rbi.ims.ca/5406-618
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