AI will not replace the field application engineer

The markets are very healthy. Still the numbers are correct.- The EMS companies, distributors and manufacturers did something which I call double dipping. Actually, I think there was a lot of triple dipping, especially by the EMS houses. And it´s not just to have products as soon as they´re needed, so they placed orders in someone like Mouser and someone like Digi-Key and someone like Arrow, and whoever was able to supply those products quickest they would take those products and cancel elsewhere.

That´s why a lot of distributors started to take in orders with no change of canceling. At the same time they did take in orders and had to accept cancellations. We´re no different. We´ve had lots of cancellations, but it is different from an Arrow or an Avnet. Getting a cancellation on a thousand dollar order is a lot different from getting a cancellation of a Million dollar order.

- I know that there is a lot of inventory out there. I know that there are still shortages. I´m confident that the demand is still there. I think we´ll see a recovery of bookings at the end of the year.

For Mouser inventory is king. If people need something, especially in small quantities, they come to us. And we´re still up from last year, by they way. We were forecasting a very small, couple of digits growth this year and we were even worried that we´d be below last year but that’s not been the case. Only recently we´ve gone below double digit growth this year, so it´s been a very good start for the year.

Photonics Is A 2 Billion Euro Business In Finland

According to the recent Photonics Industry in Finland survey, the industry’s estimated turnover in Finland exceeds two billion euros. Compared to the previous study conducted in 2020, the photonics industry has grown by more than 50 percent. There are about 300 purely photonics companies which employ more than 6,000 experts in the field. -> etn.fi/15054

QUANTUM-AS-A-SERVICE?

Unless you´ve been hiding under a rock you have heard about OPenAI´s ChatGPT which will revolutionalize most of the service sectors and professions. But AI cannot replace the fiels application engineers, says Graham Maggs, the marketing chief for Mouser EMEA.

- We are fully aware of ChatGPT, of course. We´re certainly keeping a close eye on it. We are not utilizing that AI process except in small marketing applications. And even at that we´ll have a human edit involved. We are not creating content using AI and we have no plans to.

business, Maggs emphasizes. - They are production engineers, design engineers, component engineers manufacturing engineers, quality engineers all wrapped up into one person.

This doesn´t mean that Mouser is not investing in automation. If the company spend 80-90 Million dollars in a new building, they invest 120-150 Million into automation within that building.

WithSecure’s USB armory is the world’s smallest secure computer. It’s used in many different applications by organizations all over the world, and now, beyond.

quantum cryptography for secure key exchange in a trusted execution environment running on a USB armory.

UK-based quantum computer developer OQC will install its hardware in an Equinix data center, allowing direct access to OQC's quantum computer using the Equinix Fabric service. Finnish customers will be able to run complex algorithms and test different use cases remotely, without direct access to the hardware itself.

-> etn.fi/15047

AMD: SPARTAN 6 EXTENDED UNTIL 2023

AMD reports, that the Spartan 6 FPGA devices will have an extended lifecycle through at least 2030. All speed and temperature grades are included. Spartan 6 with high IO-to-logic ratios in small form-factor packaging, continue to be well suited for customers in industrial, medical, vision and automotive markets as well as other markets, like communications, where simple bridging is required. Customers in these segments require extended product longevity, typically requiring product lifecycles of 15 years.

Maggs maintains that there are restrictions on what you can use AI for.We´re not into simplistic ways to create content. We want our customers to be sure in the quality of the content and the material we are using. The content has to be significantly better that with using AI.

- Whether AI in ten years´ time is going to be significantly different from what it is today, who knows. AI by nature is a selflearning process. As it learns, it should be improving. At this time it is not our plan to utilize AI.

Engineers today are a great deal more trained in the multi facets of their

But that will not remove the individual from the warehouse.- We´ve actually doubled the number of people working for Mouser during the last five or six years. So we´re adding people throughout the company, but we´re trying to make the system and the process much more efficient.

- Automation only goes so far. It’s the human with those robots, that makes the difference. You can put as much automation into the system as you want, but if you don’t have the correct human interface, then it falls down.

Self-inflicted problems?

At the end of 2022 the EMS companies had component stocks worth of 17.5 Billion euros. Is the whole question of availability a self-inflicted problem?

- I´ve been in this industry since 1978. I´ve been on the road as a sales person since 1982. There has always been peaks and drops in this business. This is no different.

- Yes, the supply chain is full with the exception of specific components which have had a huge backlog in capacity caused by specific demand and specific shortages of materials.

Demand is good in all industries around the world, Maggs reminds us. --->

MAPHEUS, or Material Physics

Experiments in Zero Gravity, is a program operated by the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Materials Physics in Space and Aerospace Medicine institutes, and the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA).

Their latest mission, MAPHEUS-13, was launched on May 22, 2023 to conduct experiments on 3D printing components made of metal in zero gravity, the response of molten alloys to weightlessness, healing processes in the central nervous system or brain in reduced/increased gravity, and more.

Included in the mission as a part of Experiment 007 EV2 was WithSecure’s USB armory to assess its security framework and capabilities for protecting data produced by experiments. Specifically, it aimed to assess post-

- We were looking for a solution to extend our real-time systems in Experiment 007 with a secure compute system that allows us to integrate computing power for more advanced algorithms, data analysis, and standard software in a neat, lean, and secure way. The USB armory proved to be small, versatile, and powerful enough to fit our requirements. In the long run we will extend the use of TamaGo, GoTEE and Linux to enable complex data analysis and AI/ML use-cases for the scientists at DLR in-flight,” said DLR partner and Chief Security Architect at adesso SE Christian Kahlo.

The USB armory is an open-sourced, single board computer with a unique form factor and capabilities. It has been used in a variety of applications, including encrypted storage solutions, hardware security modules (HSM), enhanced smart cards, electronic vaults key escrow services, and more.

Renesas Acquired Panthronics

Renesas has completed the acquisition of Panthronics AG, the Austrian fabless semiconductor company specializing in NFC solutions. The acquisition provides Renesas with in-house capability to instantly capture the growing market opportunities for NFC. -> etn.fi/15044.

Secure Linux To The Edge

NXP Semiconductors has announced the i.MX 91 applications processor family. Building on more than two decades of developing multimarket applications processors, the i.MX 91 family delivers an optimized blend of the security, features, and energy-efficient performance required for the next generation of Linux-based IoT and industrial applications. The i.MX 91 processor features an Arm Cortex-A55 running at up to 1.4 Ghz plus support for modern LPDDR4 memory and dual Gigabit Ethernet for gateway applications.

-> etn.fi/15024.