Online sample management proves popular

Where do engineers go first for reference information and sample procurement in the design process?

A Beganto survey reveals that manufacturer websites are the route of choice in both the search and sample processes - the place of first resort for 81% of respondents in data searches and 79% when it's time to request samples.

The August 2005 survey among more than 20,000 registered users of Beganto's NeedaSample online resource provides quantified information not previously available about how designers access component samples to complete their design projects.

Neck and neck behind manufacturer websites in the search for data were Google (69%) and distributor websites (68%).

When it's time to order samples, Google naturally falls out of the picture, and local reps - checked by over half the respondents - enter the equation.

Distributor catalogues are also on engineers' radar screens, with DigiKey most prominent, followed by Mouser and NewarkInOne.

Speed of sample delivery is an extremely important or very important concern for 73% of the engineer respondents (which half define as within a week, and another 22% as within a couple of days).

Other factors, in order of concern, are minimising the time required to order samples, ability to order multiple types of samples from one website and from a single source, cost of samples, and ability to track sample orders.

Beganto's online sample management application addresses all these issues, but, as automated as it is, it relies on "live bodies" to approve sample orders and to facilitate delivery.

A new partnership between Beganto and Mouser is a major step in that direction, with Mouser providing sample fulfillment on behalf of participating component vendors.

The primary goal of the survey was to measure satisfaction with the online NeedaSample process.

According to Aaron Graham, Beganto's Director of Marketing, the survey has provided invaluable guidance to the company in prioritising future enhancements of www.NeedaSample.com.

Although the survey studied satisfaction with the user interface, ability to track sample orders, and the responsiveness of the other players in the sampling chain, it confirmed that the secret to gaining greater usership lies primarily in building the number of component brands (currently over 1000) for which samples are offered.

"We have three challenges", Graham says, "increasing the number of engineers registered for our free service, increasing the frequency with which they use NeedaSample, and getting as close as possible to a universal sampling capability".

"Putting a NeedaSample button on the websites of more reps, distributors, component vendors will be a giant step towards accomplishing both, but the biggest hurdle is the responsiveness of all the human players in the sample management process", Graham said.

(For a component to be available through www.NeedaSample.com, at least one supply chain representative - manufacturer, distributor, or manufacturer's representative - must be registered a user of the system).

Using www.NeedaSample.com is free to engineers and buyers who register as members of the BeON programme (Beganto Open Network), and agree to report project progress.

Engineers don't have to worry about sending the sample request to the right person, nor about following up - all steps are handled automatically.

The fully automated programme starts when an engineer evaluating components clicks a NeedaSample button, in any of a variety of places: the Beganto website or the NeedaSample site, or on that of a participating rep, distributor, or component manufacturer.

Participation is free to reps and distributors as well as to engineers; costs are borne by component manufacturers, who feel they are more than repaid by the ability to manage their sampling system better, leading to more design wins.

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