PASADENA, CA – Supplyframe is celebrating 20 years of delivering forward-thinking solutions for the entire electronics value chain. Over the past two decades, Supplyframe has evolved amid a world of change and delivered innovative solutions for leaders in engineering, sourcing, marketing and sales; formed incredible strategic partnerships; and demonstrated unwavering commitment to its customers.
"The global electronics marketplace, and the forces impacting it, has gone through many changes since we opened our doors in 2003," said Supplyframe CEO and founder Steve Flagg. "But we were at the forefront of digital transformation when we started. Supplyframe has always been ready with innovative solutions to address the evolving needs of the electronics supply chain. And we thank our customers for their continued support."
The electronics supply chain has seen a world of change in the past 20 years
Over the past two decades, global gross domestic product (GDP) has grown and shifted, as almost every major industry has become electrified and digital innovations cycles continue to accelerate. The mix of innovators in consumer electronics has changed significantly, the electric vehicle space has taken off, and electronics and semiconductor suppliers have experienced a series of ups and downs.
New forms of intelligence are available and critical for the electronics supply chain
Over the last two decades, procurement and supply chain have benefited from a combination of digitization and new technologies that allow for better visibility, risk mitigation, and predictive insights. Artificial intelligence, big data, connectivity, and related technology have enabled innovations that allow organizations to sense new design cycles, map supply chains, make more informed decisions, and gather outside-in intelligence for engineering, supply chain and procurement teams.
All this, mounting support for digital transformation, and widespread globalization over the last two decades, means more information and intelligence are available to industry professionals than ever before, allowing for better cost and risk decisions and improved alignment to market demand.
Current supply chain intelligence is now critical because product innovation and complexity have translated into increased risk in procurement and supply chain activities. As a result, both must balance cost and risk tradeoffs going forward if they hope to succeed. Tighter integration across product engineering, supply management, and across the greater ecosystem is now also absolutely crucial.
Supplyframe has remained on the forefront of helping companies make intelligent decisions
When it first got into business, Supplyframe had just three people and an idea: to transform the way that professionals design, source, and manufacture their products. Despite its exponential growth, Supplyframe’s vision to serve the entire electronics value chain has never wavered.
In the last two decades, Supplyframe pioneered a transformation around digital engagement with design engineers on a global level. It accomplished this by working with distributors, suppliers, and semiconductor companies to expand their reach and seize new opportunities.
"Supplyframe has made remarkable progress in two decades as a key partner in helping organizations accelerate their digital transformation. Jabil looks forward to many more years of continued collaboration," said Frank McKay, chief supply chain and procurement officer at Jabil.
Evolving with the industry, Supplyframe’s solutions innovation drive transformation across the value chain
"Technology is a growing part of every human experience, and with the recent chip shortages and focus on the semiconductor industry, awareness of this industry’s role in those digital experiences is unprecedented," said Sarah Rich, vice president of operations and customer success at Supplyframe. "It’s exciting to see our industry change and become more resilient, and Supplyframe is dedicated to customer success and continues to grow with our customers."
The global DSI network has grown substantially over the course of Supplyframe’s 20-year history and encompasses sourcing and engineering professionals as well as strategic partners. Today, the Supplyframe DSI Network encompasses over 15 million engineering and supply chain professionals globally across a value chain that is valued at more than $1 trillion. Supplyframe leverages the data from this network in its platform and solutions, creating a unique ecosystem that consistently provides the latest outside-in intelligence to customers.
In 2021, Supplyframe was acquired by Siemens to become the nucleus of its digital marketplace strategy. Since then, Supplyframe has been integrated into the Xcelerator platform and joined other Siemens products to form a digital thread that spans the entirety of the product lifecycle. As part of the broader Siemens ecosystem, Supplyframe continues innovating as it introduces its DSI solutions to a global audience and shows them how Supplyframe joins seamlessly with their existing Siemens solutions to service yet another aspect of their product lifecycles.
Commodity IQ, Supplyframe’s latest solution, delivers connected, contextual, and forward-looking insights on market dynamics, pricing, lead time, demand, and design cycle dynamics impacting supplier, regional, and raw material trends related to electronics component engineering and sourcing strategies. Supplyframe introduced Commodity IQ to address the global chip shortage, which caused $1 trillion in lost revenue for nearly 70 industry verticals globally.
Entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, sourcing, marketing, and sales benefit from Supplyframe
Supplyframe also engages heavily with the engineering and maker community through initiatives such as The Hackaday Prize, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Winning projects from this annual engineering competition are world-changing ideas that could have measurable impact across the planet and related to the quality of life of people. The company is also making a positive impact with Supplyframe DesignLab, which brings together inventors and entrepreneurs to explore the future of how hardware projects are built and brought to market.
"We are incredibly proud of the communities we’ve built around Hackaday and the Supplyframe DesignLab. It is here where ideation and innovation happens every day within design and in prototyping," said Flagg. "Today, Supplyframe influences more than $2 billion of direct ecommerce transactions, but we are also actively helping global supply chains to improve risk and resilience at the point of design. Supplyframe empowers our customers to shrink their innovation lifecycles, become more agile, and improve their profitability while reducing risk. And Supplyframe has just begun to scratch the surface of the potential our intelligence offers."
Supplyframe DSI solutions allow organizations to "Shift Left" and focus on the beginning of the product lifecycle with new forms of outside-in intelligence. According to Supplyframe data, this allows teams to address up to 80% of a product’s lifetime risk during the design phase.
To learn more about the benefits of "Shift Left" and how Supplyframe’s transformative approach to design, sourcing, and procurement can deliver value for your business, visit Supplyframe’s recently redesigned website at www.supplyframe.com. Whether you are an engineer, designer, sourcing professional, or a marketing or sales representative for a component manufacturer or distributor, this website has something valuable for you.