source for low cost parts in the 1000 - 5000 piece range

I find different sources vary on different parts - often times Digikey IS the best price (they have a rep for being expensive, but they beat many others prices on lots of parts, such as Atmel microcontrollers - nobody else comes close).

For passives like resistors and caps, I have had good luck with TTI. Stuff like diodes and BJT's I usually quote them through Arrow, Future and Digikey.

For 1k to 5k pieces, you're not going to get these guys to really work with you on the pricing, especially for parts like resistors and caps where the giving an additional 10% might only be $5 or so.

On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 19:13:55 -0600, "Mook Johnson" Gave us:

The thing you seek is commonly referred to as a schlock house.

The alternative is liquidation auctions and commissions sales show floors.

Do not expect to conform to mil date code guidelines with short quantity part sources. What you really need is to fine factories that have shut down, and get in on an auction of goods. Industrial liquidators usually run this sort of business in every major city or nearby town. There are some really good deals at those spots. Still talking about all new components too.

When dealing with 1M plus parts purchases, a firm schedules production around all their orders and your parts arrive in lots. You get good prices.

With off the shelf, you pay for that middle man a bit more so than normal (if any of it is normal). Not only that, but to find the bulk you want all in one place is not always easy. That is why there are these schlock houses that buy up short stock lots from folks like digi-key as date codes are expiring (a solderability issue). They then lie in wait for unsuspecting victims... AHEM... err... customers like yourself to come along and want a small lot quantity of a part and no wait for its production.

Trust me, the hardest thing you will have finding in your quest is the low price portion.

Otherwise, you should have no problem.

You should talk to a person that has worked for years in purchasing. Recent work preferably. They have the best source lists.

On 2 Jan 2007 17:26:04 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com Gave us:

They really are doing the small guy a favor when they scurry around gathering up short lot purchases for them. The price isn't really that much more. For a first production run, a few hundred more spent on lots of raw goods that were not exactly at the preferred price should be a given. Budgeted for even. Once you turn your first run product, and go for a subsequent run, you should start thinking about your success projections, and buy accordingly.

If growth beyond small lots isn't projected, you'll never get that golden price you want. There is a reason the big players get bigger, so once you succeed with even a high dollar COM first run, you should project your success level, and step up to the pump, forgetting completely that you ever had a concern for the added cost low count raw goods purchases incurred.

In 1k - 5k, Digikey usually is the best price. On passives, that's like 1 spool - and is still low quantity. I generally bounce between Digikey and Newark with the bulk going to Digikey. You have to figure the cost of shipping into the equation as well.

I spend alot of time comparing pricing and this is the unfortunate reality for prime parts.

Chris

If pricing is that tight, better to look at your marketing strategy. Aged markets, highly saturated markets are places you don't want to be anyway. Well targetted products have a lot more margin, 300% not being uncommon. Scraping pennies out of the bottom line is rarely successful or profitable long term, and doubtful short term.

Whenever I've looked for pricing on PICs in that qty, buy.microchip.com have been the cheapest, slbeit sometimes only slightly. Microchip's programming service is a very cheap way to buy preprogrammed parts, which may save you some money on production - cost is of the order of 10 cents for the smaller parts.

For passives etc., there is usually a significant saving for buying whole reels, if for no other reason that it gives you a wider choice of distributors.

been the cheapest,

parts, which may save you

parts.

Microchip is heavily pushing the direct route (and de-emphasizing distribution). I think you'll see more and more of this going on. The chips are actually stocked offshore (in Asia, of course) and are (transparently) shipped direct to the user.