Archives for April 2023

Global chip shortage causes shortage in PCMCIA and compact flash card market

The global chip shortage not has affected the automobile industry but the component industry and the production of PCMCIA ATA Type II and Compact Flash cards as well. These cards use both controller chips and NAND flash non volatile chips. Without both these chips military and commercial aircraft are grounded. Equipment in the textile, medical and industrial industries are offline. CNC machines cannot make new parts from CAD designs. Subway trains are taken out of service because their TOD and positive train control systems software cannot be loaded.

Legacy support of these systems is needed to maintain and support DOTs. The costs of new trains and planes are out of the scope for the budget of these entities. Their staff is scrambling to locate parts that are compatible with these older legacy systems.

Purchasing agents need to get accurate lead times for their parts. Place orders soon and not rely on Just-in-time inventory solutions. Rely on Just-in-case solutions to keep your production on schedule.