Survey samples design engineers' preferences

How many projects does the typical engineer start in the course of a year, and how does the number of projects correlate with the number of samples needed to develop a design?

How many projects does the typical engineer start in the course of a year, and how does the number of projects correlate with the number of samples needed to develop a design?.

Those were among the questions asked in a recent survey among members of the Beganto Open Network who have used its NeedaSample application within the past six months.

One-third of the respondents inaugurate one or two projects a year, and just under half inaugurate between three and five - but 45% ask for samples once or twice a month.

The sampling process is reasonably selective, the survey results indicate, with three-quarters of the respondents limiting their requests to five suppliers or fewer.

Most (53%) request samples for five components or fewer, and 44% to anywhere from six to 25.

Consistent with a prior Beganto survey conducted 18 months ago, 78% go to manufacturers' websites to order their samples, but using NeedaSample ranked second at 61%, followed by the local rep (38%), DigiKey (35%), Mouser (19%) and Newark InOne (15%).

Manufacturer websites are also the first port of call for reference data, used by 86% of the respondents, but second most popular starting point is Google (70%), followed by catalogue distributor sites (61%).

Being asked to pay for samples will cause 29% of the respondents to take their request elsewhere, 51% said they don't like paying but they'll do so if necessary, and only 14% said they have no problem in paying.

The same%age (51%) expects samples to be delivered within a week, and 17% expect samples within a couple of days.

Several write-ins expressed annoyance at having manufacturers decline sample requests without notification.

Speed sells, the survey demonstrates.

Half the respondents concede that the first sample to arrive has the best shot at being designed in, and 42% augment that attitude by agreeing that a sample that's hand-carried in gets extra attention, because the engineer appreciates the extra attention from the rep; but several write-in comments suggest that engineers are impatient with delays in receiving a sample because the salesperson wanted to hand-carry it in.

Many of the other questions on the survey were NeedaSample-specific rather than dealing with the broad issues of the sampling process; and clearly the feature that engineers like best about using NeedaSample is the ability to group requests and not have to repetitively enter the same information.

Sunil Grover, Beganto's CEO, says the company uses online surveys to develop metrics relating to the search and sample process, to measure user satisfaction with its programs, and to identify problem areas not only in its own processes, but also in those of its component supplier customers.

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

The programme is funded by its sponsoring suppliers.

The buy side programme is supplemented by Beganto's Open Search Engine and by NeedInfo and NeedaQuote.

Sell side modules in the Beganto product suite include Design Winner and Global Tracker.

Over 5000 sell side users at component suppliers and their reps and distributors use it to track new business opportunities, design wins, and manufacturing destinations for production orders, the better to compensate the sales personnel for their contribution to the order.

Over 70,000 people have used the program, and Beganto has processed over 60,000 sample requests, which are estimated to have resulted in 6000 design wins and 600 volume production orders.

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