Digi
How a global technology provider overcame supply chain disruptions, accelerated production, and improved customer satisfaction.
“Part Analytics provides the information we need to make faster, smarter purchasing decisions.”
Digi International (Digi) provides IoT connectivity products, services, and solutions for a wide range of industries and applications, from enterprise and industrial to transportation and smart cities. With over 35,000 customers across the globe, the next-generation technology provider needed a new sourcing platform to address time-consuming manual searches, disconnected and incomplete data sets, and skyrocketing costs from the lingering shortages of the 2020 pandemic.
CHALLENGES
Limited Tier II+ spend visibility and manual processes caused supply chain inefficiencies
Sourcing managers spent 75% of their time searching for parts one by one
Supply constraints led to broker buys with 5-10x cost increase
SOLUTION
A holistic sourcing platform that:
- Harmonizes internal, supplier, and market data
- Provides real-time visibility and automated alerts for new inventory and lead time changes
- Delivers real-time cost optimization and supply risk insights
RESULTS
Supported revenue growth by resolving critical component
shortages50% productivity increase by reducing time sourcing teams spent on part searches
Mitigated margin impact by procuring parts from authorized distributors at substantially lower costs
Disparate data and supply chain shortages required a new platform
Soon after launching with Part Analytics, severe chip shortages caused by multiple supply chain disruptions forced Digi’s team into labor-intensive, manual part searches, often taking the full workday of a senior sourcing manager. On top of that, these shortages were impacting Digi’s ability to meet customer demand and margins due to 5-10x increase in component prices from spot buys and broker buys. When Digi requested help to deal with these unforeseen challenges, Part Analytics built the Part Availability Insights module which Digi used to solve their critical chip shortages and mitigate price increases.
“During and post-pandemic, manual searches were basically impossible because of the volume and opportunity cost. With Part Analytics, we get daily part availability reports, and in a few seconds and with a couple of clicks, Part Analytics tells us what’s available, when, from which distributors, and at what price. It’s been a game changer,” explained Greg Snell, Strategic Sourcing Manager at Digi.
“We chose Part Analytics because we were immediately impressed with the platform’s capabilities to integrate with our PLM system, ingest CBOM data from suppliers, and add on the market intelligence to provide cost optimization and risk mitigation insights. Those core capabilities allowed our sourcing team to seamlessly collaborate, both internally and with our suppliers, and gave us the holistic sourcing view we needed.”
Faster, smarter sourcing decisions and a better bottom line for Digi
After implementing Part Analytics, Digi increased productivity by 50% by automating manual part searches, grew revenue in the middle of supply chain disruptions by resolving critical component shortages, and realized a significant reduction in costs by sourcing parts from alternate authorized suppliers. Most importantly, Digi was better able to accelerate production and improve customer satisfaction.
Having addressed critical semiconductor shortages over the past 12-18 months, and in efforts to continuously adapt to changing market conditions, Digi’s sourcing team is now leveraging the broader capabilities of the Part Analytics platform. They have automated the ingestion of BOMs and other critical supply chain data from their PLM system and suppliers to have a single source of truth for insights on cost optimization and supply risk, and to collaborate with both internal teams and suppliers.
“Part Analytics has been incredibly responsive and supportive,” explained Greg. “Building the Part Availability Insights module at our request so quickly was impressive, and having such a dedicated and flexible partner supporting our growth is very exciting.”
