Below text is intended for local customers of The Component Man - please go to ”Suppliers” if you belong to that category.

DEVELOPMENT AND SOURCING OF ELECTRONICS OPTIMISED FOR NEEDS

Electronic engineering is not just about getting something to work - technically there will usually be many different circuits that could solve the same problem, but there will only be a few good solutions, where factors such as price, quality and logistics come together. At the same time, very few products are purely electronic - usually the product is wrapped in a kind of cabinet, and in most cases the electronics work together with batteries, lighting, speakers, motors or other electromechanical components. The prerequisite for creating a good product, is that electronics and all connected components are perfectly matched to each other.The Component Man's

experience within sourcing, development, quality and production, ensures that your product is optimized at the highest possible level - not just for the product itself, but also for the logistics and the processes accessible in your business.

ALWAYS 2-4 HOURS FREE
COUNSELING (Will sign NDA)

It is never easy to choose the right partner, so at The Component Man, you are always welcome to an informal and confidential chat about your project. In addition to the function of your product, we will also talk about the expected production volume, production site and other parameters that are important in choosing the right solution. Most often we can help you - otherwise, we refer to others who can. In any case, you are free to use the suggestions and ideas that come up during the meeting. Call +4520945039 and make an appointment!

NEW DEVELOPMENT / INVENTIONS

In the development of a new product, it is important that the considerations about the technical solution will start as early as possible in the process. For example, some features are easier to implement electronically than others, so it is an advantage with an early communication about which features are important and which are just nice to have. It is also necessary to know the physical size of all the components included before deciding on the final shape of the finished product.
Use your free counseling with The Component Man for a brainstorming session about the technical solutions for your future product. Call +45 20945039.

PRODUCT UPDATES

Denmark is dominated by companies working with niche products. This means that the products are often produced for many years with virtually no change, but with the very fast changes in the electronics industry, less than 10% of the components in a product that was "state of the art" 10 years ago, would be the right choice today. Therefore, our products slowly grow difficult and expensive to produce.
In niches where demand grows, it puts companies in a very dangerous situation, because with their expensive and outdated products, they have no chance against new competitors who bring cheaper, smaller and smarter product to the market.
The best solution is to start over and ask, "What would we have done if we were to make the product today?" It's not unusual that a new and better version of the product can be made 50-75% cheaper than the original, which enables the manufacturer to increase gross margin and / or keep new competitors from the market.
At the same time contemporary components and processes means that delivery and production times are typically halved. Use your free counseling with The Component Man to get an assessment of whether your product needs to be updated, and how much it will help your finances and logistics. Call +45 20945039.

COST OPTIMIZATION

Many companies have a very good purchaser with many years of experience in negotiating prices with suppliers, but in a running production this doesn’t change much, because you typically keep buying the same components from the same suppliers. It helps a little if there are several approved suppliers for each component, but it doesn’t solve the real problem: because of the fast changes in the component market, the same suppliers who five years ago fought for market shares of any given component, now prefer to make a new generations of components, which they show by letting the prices of the older generations increase.
At the same time there are new suppliers who want to take over the market, but this information will typically not find its way into the purchasing department. Many times, the components from new suppliers have other names, and are not immediately recognized as possible alternatives, and in many cases various suppliers describe their components very differently in their data sheets, so it often requires a very extensive and updated technical knowledge to be able to pick alternatives.
Because of the constant changes in the component market, it will often be possible for The Component Man to save 10-15% on the total component purchases in companies with an older product portfolio, even if the company has a competent purchasing department. Use your free counseling with The Component Man to get an assessment if you could benefit from moving your company's component purchases to other suppliers. Call +45 20945039. For pure cost optimization tasks we offer no-cure-no-pay. That way you can only win by cooperating with The Component Man.

ABOUT THE COMPONENT MAN

The company "Komponentmanden" was established in 2004 and is still managed by Karsten Pedersen. The jobs have always been divided about 50-50 between freelance consultancy in large Danish and international companies on one side, and development and sourcing tasks for inventors, entrepreneurs and other Small and Medium Enterprises on the other side. This website focuses on the work with SMEs. The name "The Component Man" was selected because the development of good and reliable electronic circuits requires a solid knowledge of the properties of all the different components.
Too many products break down because some of their components are misused, or used in places where they shouldn’t have been used. At the same time, many products are too expensive, because the developers didn’t pick the right solution due to poor component knowledge. Karsten Pedersen's many years of work with development and component quality ensures

The Component Man's customers access to electronics development with focus on quality, reliability and cost. Direct sourcing from component manufacturers ensures access to the latest technology and the best prices. For SMEs without their own electronics department The Component Man can be involved all the way from the idea to finished product, including start-up of subcontractors and construction / commissioning of test equipment.
Cooperation with new customers always start with a free, confidential and informal meeting where the task is clarified, and we make an estimate of the scope of work. If the customer decides to continue the cooperation, we continue working based on time consumption and costs. The Component Man will usually not take the role as a manufacturer of the finished product, because it would soon transform us into a logistics office, but we are happy to help select suitable subcontractors. Contact Karsten Pedersen on +45 20945039 and make an appointment!

WHAT DOES KARSTEN THINK ABOUT...

NETWORK

Almost all my work comes through friends or friends of friends in the electronics industry, Inventors' Association or any of the other more or less formal networks I participate in, so I'm definitely PRO network. My attitude is that you have to use your network for it to have any value, and by that, I’m talking about both giving and taking - if I get the feeling that someone from my network can benefit from each other, I’ll always help creating contact between them - obviously it’s not every time something comes out of it and it is very unlikely that I’ll benefit directly, but I believe that if you are active and help where you can, then eventually something will come back - I call it "networking karma".

OUTSOURCING

It can’t be denied that "everything is cheaper in China", and there are clearly many types of components and sub-assemblies that should be purchased in the Far East. At low volume and branded products, I prefer the Danish distributors, but otherwise I use old and new contacts in India and China. Some I have worked with for over 20 years, and they help me to create overview and find other qualified suppliers if I have to enter a new component area. One area where in most cases it is no longer worthwhile purchasing in China, is PCB assembly - the price is still slightly higher in Denmark, but that is balanced by the disadvantages of transport times and inflexibility. Moreover, most of my PCBs are almost exclusively fitted with SMD, so there is very little of the manual work where the Chinese are still stronger.

COOPERATION

Not many can do everything, and even fewer are good at everything - that’s why cooperation is important. Although it is always interesting to learn something new, I don’t believe that customers should pay for that, so I use my network diligently, and distribute tasks that others can solve faster / cheaper than I. For example I always use subcontractors for mechanical design, PCB layout / assembly, and programming of microcontrollers. Most of my cooperation partners are self-employed with a private company, while others are project staff at The Component Man. I am always interested in getting to know new potential subcontractors, just as I always like to meet others who think that I can contribute to their projects. Call +45 20945039.

QUALITY

If everything in a product is "as good as possible", the product will surely cost more than most customers are willing to pay. The end customer for example, will hardly pay more for a utility meter, just because it has a 10" color display, or because the cabinet is made of brushed aluminum. In other words, the good quality is all about fulfillment of the end customers expectations. Therefore at the beginning of a project, it is important to realize what the function of the product should be and how it should look to best meet the end customer's needs and expectations. "Nice-to-have" features should only be included as long as the project owner is convinced that the price premium can be justified. Success is not about having the best product possible, but about having the one that best suits the market. Unnecessary features, whether they are technical or aesthetic will only eat margins and competitiveness.

RELIABILITY

Reliability is the ability to maintain the good quality, meaning that the product continues to function properly throughout its expected lifetime. Larger companies may sometimes choose to expose new products to long-term life tests, but usually there is neither time nor money for such tests in SMEs. The cheapest method is to design for good reliability by ensuring that all components "feel good". Components that are too hot, or otherwise work near or beyond their specifications, will sooner or later cause failures. Also, you can not buy your way to good reliability by buying more expensive or more sophisticated components - on the contrary - standard components made by the millions each day are more thoroughly specified and characterized. Therefore good reliability is best secured by making a proper design work based on good knowledge of components and sensible derating of critical parameters.