Fast samples from TI

I ordered some sample MSP430F437 chips from TI over the weekend and was amazed when they turned up today, the 17 November! Samples used to take a couple of weeks to get here (UK).

Leon

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Leon Heller, G1HSM
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Leon Heller
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I've always found TI really quick for samples (I'm also in the UK). NSC are also really good - I wish other companies like Philips would follow this lead, as it makes life very easy when evaluating parts and building prototypes.

Martin

Reply to
Martin Walton

NSC nor requires a fee for shipping and handeling, still not bad. I asked for a coupke of samples of a new SPI temperature chip and it cost me $8US.

Tom Woodrow

Mart> Le>

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Tom Woodrow

They are fulfilled from local distributors.

If you order TI samples here in the US, they are shipped from Digi-Key, with the Digi-Key logo cut off the corner of the invoice.

Reply to
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards

That sounds like a smart move on the part of TI. Why spend the money to build an infrastructure to efficiently ship two or three parts a hundred times a day when a proven expert in that field has the excess capacity available.

Can't hurt Digi-Key to be on the good side of a major supplier, either. Plus, I suppose they could track the requests to see which parts have the demand to become part of the regular Digi-Key inventory.

Mark Borgerson

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Mark Borgerson

Not in the UK. The samples came direct from TI in the US.

Leon

Reply to
Leon Heller

What was the address on the "TI" invoice? Thief River Falls MN?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
DanD

Personally, I'm a bit afraid that such a move might change the character of the company. I don't need mid-morning phone calls from a DK rep introducing himself as the area rep and wanting to send me a line card. When I call them, the people answering the phone at Digi-Key are polite, efficient and helpful. I don't think they need an autodialer to help them find new business.

In a busy year, I might ship a hundred of a particular product. During that same year, I'll buy parts in quantity 25 or less for a half-dozen prototypes and custom projects. Quantity pricing is not an issue for me. Heck, why should it be--- I'm giving UPS about $500 per year for 2nd day air! But there's a sacred place in my business model for a company that gives me confidence that parts ordered before 5PM (Pacific) will be here the day after tomorrow.

Up until last year, I used to have an informal rule: Don't design a part into a product unless it's available at Digi-Key. That rule was the result of some intermittent procurement problems for a number of ICs. To some extent, I've relaxed the rule because of the ability to buy small quantities from such companies as Linear Technology, Maxim, and Analog Devices, directly from their web stores. DK is still the first choice vendor, though.

Mark Borgerson

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Mark Borgerson

I saw Thief River Falls and thought that was an odd place for a TI facility. It was Digikey, of course.

Leon

Reply to
Leon Heller

In the UK it tends to be RS and Farnell that people use when choosing parts.

Leon

Reply to
Leon Heller

There's no good reason a UK company can't adopt the Digi-Key working model. They would have the advantage of greatly reduced paperwork and shipping costs. I know that every time I ship a $200 board to the UK, it costs me an extra 15 minutes of paperwork and it costs the customer about an extra $50 for 3-day shipping.

Mark Borgerson

Reply to
Mark Borgerson

Amen! I like distributors that let me pull parts rather than pushing them to me. But D-K *could* do this, in theory. What I'd like to see in my ideal universe is a system that turns D-K into the purchasing department for my small company. I submit my BOMs and they adjust my pricing based on mfg quantities. They might offer second-source alternatives where available.

All this is within the purview of a reasonably competent database operator...

Reply to
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards

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