Alternate Component Look Out

Some one please give me some links to check for the alternate components with same characteristics and package..

I'm working for cost reduction so I want to search for some low price components.. Manufacturer is not a concern for me.. I need to reduce whole project cost.. So any manufacturer is fine from my side..

Cost reduction? Simply buy cheap Chinese parts from ebay. Some of those parts might work. It might cost more to remove and replace all the bad parts.
Instead why not make all circuits work properly by using genuine parts from reliable manufacturers and distributors? Good reliable parts are inexpensive.

If you are doing 'VALUE ENGINEERING' of a component, you have to check and compare each and every specifications from different manufacturers manually. It will give valid output. One to one manufacturer part mapping is somewhat difficult to get.

Just check the following links, it may be useful for you.

http://www.eeherald.com/section/sourcing-database/component_cross_referencePage89.html

http://www.analog.com/cpsearch/crossreferencesearch.aspx

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jeevaaraam said:

If you are doing 'VALUE ENGINEERING' of a component, you have to check and compare each and every specifications from different manufacturers manually. It will give valid output. One to one manufacturer part mapping is somewhat difficult to get.

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Yes I Know.. I need to do compare each & every specifications. So to find the alternatives with lesser price is some what tougher for me.

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Audioguru said:

Cost reduction? Simply buy cheap Chinese parts from ebay. Some of those parts might work. It might cost more to remove and replace all the bad parts.
Instead why not make all circuits work properly by using genuine parts from reliable manufacturers and distributors? Good reliable parts are inexpensive.

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I want a website which can able to provide the suggestion on alternative available for the given part. Not a website where I can purchase the components. First I need to compare the compare the components in terms of specifications then I will go for the pricing. So it will be better if you could provide the websites links to search for the same.

Audioguru said:

Cost reduction? Simply buy cheap Chinese parts from ebay. Some of those parts might work. It might cost more to remove and replace all the bad parts.
Instead why not make all circuits work properly by using genuine parts from reliable manufacturers and distributors? Good reliable parts are inexpensive.

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This is all very profound.
I bought some Chinese voltage regulators from e-bay, none of which worked.
but they were really cheap.

Obviously rejects from final testing destined for the rubbish tip and rescued from the dumpster by some really enterprising person like yourself.
The main motivation in some peoples lives is only to make money.

I wish you luck in your endeavours.

Audioguru said:

Cost reduction? Simply buy cheap Chinese parts from ebay. Some of those parts might work. It might cost more to remove and replace all the bad parts.
Instead why not make all circuits work properly by using genuine parts from reliable manufacturers and distributors? Good reliable parts are inexpensive.

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I am not a Chinese seller but I consider your criticism misplaced. Well, some of the chinese parts and components may be substandard but many are good. Many of the American brand consumer items are made in China. And that may include the iPhone and the Desktop computer.

Many famous US companies make instruments that cost a fortune (I am reluctant to name companies and brand here) and when a small part (perhaps a capacitor or a transistor) goes bad they charge- hold your breadth- USD 1000- and that is not a typo. Most of the US equipments typically lasts 1-2 years.

High tech Japanese equipment cost about 10-30% less. There are not many high tech Chinese instruments. Korean instruments are still cheaper. And better.

US instruments have short life by design. My Moto G (mobile phone) did not last even one year.

Even fake Chinese products are quite good- almost perfect.

If you really want to buy the lowest cost cheapest parts, and don't care where they came from, you will be scammed every single time.

If you have integrity, and wish to build a successful career on that integrity, you will be very cautious about where very low cost parts come from.

There ain't no free lunch.

Its one thing to take a chance on low dollar stuff for a hobby, you will probably come out in front 95% of the time.

Quite another to base a business on shifty practices to sell to someone else..
It will turn around and destroy your reputation eventually, absolutely guaranteed.

I am not a Chinese seller but I consider your criticism misplaced. Well, some of the chinese parts and components may be substandard but many are good. Many of the American brand consumer items are made in China. And that may include the iPhone and the Desktop computer.

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You are missing the point. Yes, most Chinese manufacturers (and those from other countries) make good quality products, it is in their best interests to do so. The problem is that in manufacturing there is a test process that confirms the part is functional and meets it's documented specification. Most parts will conform but inevitably there is some 'fall out' that fail to meet the required standard. Lots of the 'cheap' parts, whichever source you buy them from are those rejected in test. They are exactly the same part as a good supplier will sell you but have a defect inside them. They may still work, thay may not work at all, the best I can describe them is 'they may not work properly".

In some applications the defect may not cause problems, for example you have a microcontroller that is specified to work down to 2V supply but it fails below 3V. You are running it at 5V so you never see the defect. Or you might have a device that failed at very low temperature but you are using it at room temperature. The problem is the end user may be expecting the part to work at low voltage or low temperature and although a genuine part is guaranteed to work, your replacement won't.

Brian.

Usually the savings are not so much in the parts anyway, but in clever design.

Sometimes you can replace that expensive log amp with a transistor or two and an opamp from a quad that you were not using anyway, sometimes an extra winding on the flyback transformer will make that annoying 60V @ 10uA bias supply you need without needing a separate switcher. Both of these things will save you whole dollars of BOM where substituting grey market or third tier manufacturers will save you cents and stands a good chance of stuffing you on reliability at some point.

Reducing assembly steps will usually save you more then picking rohm instead of tdk, as will minimising the number of BOM lines, design for test has big savings as well, in that if you can boundary scan the whole product at the same time as you load the firmware then you are catching faults before they ship the boards.

The other big win is parts (and particularly sub assembly) commonality, it increases your order volumes and there are big savings there.

I would also note that for things like jellybean Rs and Cs you can if you like just list them as generic, but I would at least list the acceptable suppliers, otherwise you never know quite what you will get. Things like polarised caps and critical parts in high ripple or precision applications should always be spelled out explicitly, never let the assembly house pick the electrolytic cap manufacturer.

Finally, what is cheapest depends on both where the assembly is being done and the volume, talk to your assembly house, they are quite used to helping with this stuff.

Regards, Dan.

The post is getting deviated from where it was started.. Also please give suggestion what I have asked..

You asked for links to alternate components for "cost reduction" but you forgot to tell us what kind of components.

E-bay is probably the best place to buy very low cost parts both new and used.

The parts probably work, but do not be too surprised if you buy a bag of one hundred parts and find not a single one works.

You just need to be philosophical about it, and move on.

Warpspeed said:

You just need to be philosophical about it, and move on.

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So true.

My first scope was a tektronix for which I paid USD1500. My first DMM was a beckman for which I paid about USD200 (slightly less). I was so upset when they stopped working (that was lot of money in those good old days).

Alibaba is also a good source. But perhaps you will encounter more dead souls there.

Audioguru said:

You asked for links to alternate components for "cost reduction" but you forgot to tell us what kind of components.

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I need to check for the alternatives for IC's first then for passive components