In order to do that, companies must be very much more diligent in their forecasting, but I know that is more easily said than done. A new product launch can go much better than expected … or much worse.
in accordance with WEEE legislation, wherever possible, using facilities that can reclaim the precious metals. You can trace a lot of the problem of surplus inventory back to the big contract manufacturers in Asia, who routinely buy 20% more than they need, relying on the grey market to offload any unwanted parts. This makes it difficult to determine what the market demand really is. It’s very easy to get trapped into going round and round in circles. Big disties need to pay quarterly dividends, so they run lean on inventory. This creates shortages, so customers are forced to buy from non-authorised sources. This means that there is always a ready market for brokers. Because they can always offload into the grey market, big contract manufacturers over-order. This leads to poor market visibility and over- production. On the other hand, customers want stock that’s less than two years old and often have an imperfect view of their real needs. This leads to oversupply, e-waste, and potential counterfeit issues. And the need to give the stock market good news can also contribute to the confusion. Anglia categorically does not deal in excess inventory. We don’t buy it, and we don’t sell it. We only buy through authorised agreements. We appreciate that there are some very reputable companies that are set up to deal in
excess inventory, and currently, it’s a service that industry needs. But it’s not what we do. However, we are very well equipped to track shortages and price fluctuations, and we like to work very closely with our customers so that we can get the clearest possible picture of their requirements going forward, thereby ensuring that they don’t fall foul of supply chain issues.
Steve Rawlins, CEO, Anglia
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BUYING FROM SURPLUS INVENTORY SUPPLIERS IS A RISKY BUSINESS
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