Munich, January 19, 2022 – FRAMOS, a global leader in machine vision systems, is well placed to respond to rising demand in the vision market despite upstream product shortages (e.g. semiconductors), or pandemic-related supply chain delays. FRAMOS expects to continue to fulfill customer orders on time and in budget during these difficult times and throughout 2022. FRAMOS is helping its customers achieve their development goals while meeting their time-to-market and cost targets with its managed supply of key products.
More Than Just Semiconductors In Short Supply
These are challenging times for the industry: global supply chains are strained by compounding material shortages, for example, the general scarcity of semiconductors and a lack of microchips due to unprecedented demand and growth in IoT and 5G (e.g. smartphones). On top of that, carmakers are switching to electric vehicles and, of course, the global COVID-19 pandemic have brought further challenges for logistics besides worker shortages. This has had a trickledown effect that was even felt by retailers having to cope with shortages during the past Christmas season. An assessment by FRAMOS indicates that the vision industry will not see any noticeable improvement during 2022.
Impacts on Embedded Vision Component Availability
A lack of key upstream products, such as semiconductors, will make things difficult for many industries. Having initially impacted the automotive sector, ongoing supply difficulties and rising costs are now affecting the vision industry too – products that are in particularly high demand like lenses manufactured in mainland China and rolling shutter image sensors in limited supply. Scarcity in the semiconductor market may lead to shortages of microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors (MPUs), graphics processors (GPUs) and FPGAs (integrated circuits) adding further strain to manufacturers. All these components play an essential role in the development and production of embedded vision systems and cameras.
FRAMOS Mitigation Plans
The vision market is expanding and offers good growth opportunities, so it is vital to maintain the ability to deliver components and products. Ron Low, VP Partners and Channels at FRAMOS, says: “FRAMOS has optimized warehouse inventory management systems and made preparations early on pre-pandemic to maintain optimum service levels to customers. Current strategies extend well beyond warehousing and include proactive forward planning, a well thought out and running procurement methodology coupled with many years of experience and feel for developments in the vision market. As a result, the company is in an excellent position to respond to the existing challenges and minimize procurement risk for those more particularly affected product areas”.
In recent years, both Sony and Intel® have worked closely with FRAMOS worldwide to meet customers’ ongoing need for vision components during the pandemic. The vast majority of customers have not experienced any delivery delays thanks to strong partners and in-house efforts. They were comforted in knowing that they could rely on FRAMOS to uphold its service levels even when the supply situation, component availability and demand requirements changed considerably.
Delivery Reliability – The Foundation for Trust and Cooperation
FRAMOS’s stable product supply, excellent communication and good reputation in the vision market led many new customers to partner with FRAMOS in 2021. These relationships enabled customers to meet their development schedules and time-to-market targets while securing market share. Preserving our delivery capability on stable terms for our own products in the FRAMOS Sensor Module Ecosystem and for imaging components from an international network of well-known partners is immensely important to our customers. It is also one of the keys that will lead to further growth and success for FRAMOS in 2022 and beyond.
About FRAMOS
FRAMOS® is an imaging expert, trusted advisor, and vision solutions provider. Since 1981, FRAMOS implements the best current and emerging imaging technologies to address specific customer requirements and applications. FRAMOS meets these requirements with advanced and proven imaging components from a global network of renowned partners and with FRAMOS IP.
More than 180 FRAMOS employees world-wide are passionate about the unlimited potential of imaging and help customers achieve the optimum results from every possible scenario. FRAMOS drives and ensures the entire product development journey from POC, through prototyping, to mass production. FRAMOS carefully selects imaging components, like image sensors, lenses, or various 3D technologies, and offers custom developments tailored to individual needs and time frames. FRAMOS listens and understands customer challenges. With innovative solutions FRAMOS ensures successful project outcomes and develops long-term customer relations.
For more information visit: www.framos.com, Twitter or LinkedIn.
