How the New Mouser Website Additions Meet Engineers’ Needs

How the New Mouser Website Additions Meet Engineers’ Needs

BY MURRAY SLOVICK

As engineers we like to turn to empirical evidence (capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment) when possible rather than rely on theory alone or speculative or subjective analysis. To address the question of the importance of product and technology information to engineers, I turned to my copy of the Hearst Electronic Group’s 7th Design Engineer and Supplier Interface Study, an independent (vendor and distributor neutral) study which gathered information from design engineers regarding their need for product information and other services as well as when and how well they interface with suppliers.

First, a bit of methodology: over 2,300 U.S. engineers participated in this year’s web-based survey. The results are of those completed by March 2012.

When the study surveyed the need for engineers to keep up to date (see Table 1 ) looking at the “Very important” column New Technology and New Product information ranked at the top, with 52% and 51% respectively. By comparison, how to design and industry news trailed with 36% and 26% respectively. Adding “very important and important” together, new product information checks in at a whopping 88% of engineers closely followed by new technology with 87%.

Let’s look now at another question asked in the survey, namely “What is the single most important thing a component manufacturer or distributor could do to help make you more effective in your day-to-day work”? The top three answers in yellow below were: (1) Website, Search, Information Availability (26% in the 2012 study) Accuracy, Up-To-Datedness (datasheets, pricing, etc.), (2) Knowledgeability, Support, Communication (24%) and (3) Timeliness, Responsiveness, Speed (14%). Add the numbers up and the three categories total 64% of the engineers’ response.

Given the Hearst study data, demonstrating the importance of both new product and new technology information, it seems to me that Mouser’s newly introduced website elements — “Newest Products” pages to help component selection and “Applications & Technologies” providing useful information by application (see article on the opposite page) — head in the right direction in meeting the evolving needs of a discerning audience such as your good selves.

In particular, the addition of the Applications sections is worth a special mention. For years supplier and distributor websites have followed a pattern that’s about as regular as summer following spring — new products are arranged by product category. On Mouser’s site the pattern still holds, but they have added some pages distilling solutions-oriented product and product technology under the heading “Applications & Technologies.”

Generally, on the first page of a datasheet, a vendor will describe the functionality of a device, and provide its raw specs and packaging details. But raw details on functionality and setup alone cannot necessarily inform a developer how to use that part or its features in an actual application, which is important since many market continue to be application-driven (e.g., automotive, communications, medical, lighting, industrial and consumer sectors).

The new apps pages on the Mouser site feature block diagram navigation and such additional technical resources as articles covering industry trends and design issues, design notes, tutorials, white papers, videos, and other solution-based content to aid and speed the design process.

Take a look at the new sections. I think you’ll be pleased.■