This can – at worst – lead to shortages and production losses for their customers; e.g. the automotive industry. This problem arises because orders for passive components are placed increasingly short-term and little attention is paid to production and procurement cycles.

The strong decline in demand for passive components – due to the global economic downturn – has led the manufacturers to adjust their production capacity and to postpone the investment into new manufacturing lines. In addition, warehouse stocks in the entire value chain – from producers of raw material to OEMs – have dropped to very low levels.

The short delivery times (demanded by many) may be unrealisable – especially in the coming months – the ZVEI experts fear. Mostly affected is almost the entire range of passive components: capacitors, resistors, inductors, resonators, etc.

"To ensure a reliable supply of passive components, customers need to place early orders to give manufacturers sufficient lead time", said Christopher Stoppok, ZVEI Electronic Components and Systems.