Digitising distribution
Five years on from founding a new type of component distribution model, Jens Gamperl is very much about the digital supply chain.
“We started integrating supply chain vendors into technology – the first step, the most successful, is SourceEngine as an independent e-commerce e-marketplace,” he said. “We have 2600 suppliers, manufacturers, direct or franchised distributors with real time access to inventory and pricing.”
“The company turns five years old this week and our goal is to provide technology for the whole electronics supply chain, from the manufacturers and franchised distributors, through to open market distributors and we have a lot of inventory through OEMs and EMS that the market tries to absorb,” he said.
This is now happening with Sourceengine providing the link between all kinds of databases and customers to offer bill of material (BoM) management functions, real-time data and a global database of parts with full traceability. Five years ago, Gamperl bought a small distributor in Miami, Florida, to get access to the basic API technology to connect to the databases of both chip and system manufacturers.
Since then the company has risen up the ranking of global distribution companies and this week is re-vamping its branding. “In the last two years we were in the top 25 distributors globally with over $125m with 90 locations,” said Gamperl. “We have 550m data sheets, lifecycle information, cross referenced so we give the engineer all the tools to provide access to a truly global supply chain in real-time.”
Next: Different distribution models
Alongside Sourcengine, Sourceability operates also Surcle, which combines professional matchmaking, crowdsourcing, and a global supplier marketplace to accelerate hardware development. Start-ups and medium-sized businesses can post projects to a global network of engineers and manufacturers who bid with solutions to help product managers adapt to shifting priorities, unforeseen issues and internal time-constraints.
“借助Surcle，并扩展了燃烧，我们的目标是从头到尾支持设计过程。预算很紧张，尤其是在较小的团队和企业方面。通过提供对其他创新者网络的访问，我们可以帮助公司在产品开发方面越来越多，并减少了上市时间。” Gamperl说。
新的BOM工具可以极大地简单地简单地简化了他说的采购过程，从而可以上传和采购BOM，以及可能要结束生命的零件的旗帜。然后，提出有关更多最新零件的建议。“ BOM工具允许您单击地源自2000个订单项 - 如有必要，我们对物流和质量控制进行合并。”
“我们对2018年在Electronica的发布有了很大的回应，但是客户在ERP和SAP系统上遇到了问题，我们必须将通过API可用的数据集成到ERP Systems，这是我们与目录相比的提升的地方。分销商。
“We’ve been doing this for three months – we have the API with one large semiocnductor conpany for example to expand their digital footprint and reduce their distributors by the end of 2020. Our platform gives them the opportunity to compare what’s happening in the market.”
But chip makers, system makers and customers are all at different stages of digital development. “Some suppliers have APIs for data but not for quoting, so we are giving our technology to the custom by delivering the API and the integration into the ERP and to the manufacture to take portions of our technology,” he said.
“在十大EMS（合同制造商）中，我们将API整合到4.中。他们都通过API将其集成在一起。他们拥有复杂的技术，因此可以在自己的世界内使用它，我们与这些家伙有长期的关系。” Gamperl说。
他强调说，大小的客户需要完全的可追溯性和与制造商的访问权限。他说：“我不是专营权，但我从他们那里购买并通过SourceEngine出售。”
While the API works for the large manufacturers, getting the data from the smaller ones needs a different approach. “We use the different platforms to create content and projects for small and medium manufacturers,” he said. “Then their data ends up in Sourceengine to be available for our customers.”
“Ultimately, we see ourselves as a tech company providing platforms that enrich the engineering community by giving every link in the supply chain the tools, solutions and network they need to do what they’re best at without being held back by unnecessarily complicated or inflexible logistics,” he said.
“让我退缩的是完整数字化的想法 - 许多制造商还没有，而一级分销商必须弄清楚他们是如何做到的。”
