Defence industry new growth sector for electronics distributors

Many EMS companies now handle PCB assembly for the defence sector. Many distributors too have established divisions focussing primarily on these customers. TTI – for instance – began in this sector and expanded into the commercial sector later. Astrex – on the other hand – make a large percentage of their business in the defence and aerospace sector. The most obvious difference between both sectors is the mix they want to have: commercial customers require a low-part/high volume mix; defence customers on the other hand want low volume/high part count. Another factor to count in is that commercial customers have a reliable amount of part they need each week, whereas defence customers may require a lot of parts in a short amount of time. Additional to that, many defence customers also need an extra added-value, because many parts may become obsolete during the lifetime-cycle of the product. They therefore need to tools to help manage the issue, such as an end-of-life notice for instance.