We’re starting to get in some of the parts for one of our projects. Here we have some exciting battery holders (100 of them) with a selection of resistors. It’s scary when you start buy in quantities of 100 or 1000 or more. Jameco has some good deals on both.

In this business, like any other, parts cost is critical. Not from a greedy profit standpoint, but just trying to get this kits into peoples hands at a reasonable price. It’s not easy!

In the next box we have the Allied stuff. Need 500 audio amplifiers? Got ‘em. How about 1000 diodes. Yep. Couple hundred of this capacitor, a couple hundred of another. I order a lot of CMOS stuff from Allied since they stock quantities and have good prices.

It’s interesting to see how different suppliers pick & pack. Jameco is very manually driven, at least on their labeling. Everything is hand labeled. Allied seems more automated, and they are hard-core when it comes in packaging. Every collection of DIPs is packed in an antistatic tube/rail, and then put inside an antistatic bag. Then it gets a detailed label. I’m buying enough CMOS that some of my bags have the original Texas Instruments labels on them.

The nice thing about Allied, and other Texas suppliers, is that I can place an order up to 9 PM that day and get the package via UPS ground the next day. That’s very handy if you’re in a rush. Though, places like Jameco have great prices on some of their “ValuePro” line.

And all these parts? They are for ONE kit. It gives you an idea of how much you need to ramp up, and how using standard parts is CRITICAL for success. For example, we have standardized our board sizes to use the Jameco 4 AA battery holders (which have a cover and a switch). This gives us a nice base to mount the PCB to, and saves us the cost of an on-board switch. Project boxes are expensive! Heck, for most of these projects, the case is more expensive than the parts inside of it!

Standardization goes for discretes also. Stuff like resistors, diodes, and capacitors. We get standard sizes and ratings that can be used across projects. Anything unique to a project gets bought in smaller quantities, or “just in time”. It’s too costly to keep an esoteric part sitting on a shelf. Inventory management is very important, regardless of your business size. Learn from the big boys who do it well (ex. Walmart).