Rebecca said:
Pete,
I don't mind hearing constructive criticism. I understand your
frustration, or at least I try to. I am not an engineer, but of course
in my position I speak with customers who have elevated their issues to
me because they are in dire need. As a stockholder and employee I am
very sorry to hear that we have lost so much when we lost your
business. Right or wrong, it is equally disheartening just to have a
customer (many customers) feel such anger and betrayal towards our
company. It is especially hard for me to hear, because I wonder if
there wasn't something that could have been done to salvage the
situation/relationship. Look at this email thread. I have been
provided with two different customer needs, one for 1 part and one for
4 parts. ALL of which I was able to provide from inventory with almost
no effort. And yet these customers believed there were no parts to be
had. I realize this will not always be the case, and I am not trying
to pretend there are never delivery issues. As I have said before, and
as I read more and more I feel more and more strongly about it,
customers need to be educated about MDD. Distributors absolutely add
value. But MDD has the relationships, expertise, and drive to do
everything in our power to ensure customers have Maxim & Dallas parts
when they need them. If nothing else comes from this usenet thread
(other than the 2 customer's whose problems I have solved), I hope
people are at least aware of MDD and if they are in need of Maxim or
Dallas parts they will contact the manufacturer directly. We will
accept orders for 1 unit or 1 million units. I'm not here to change
your mind, but I am very sorry to have lost you as a customer.
Sincerely, Rebecca
Hi Rebecca
As I noted, you are braving the den here, but if you read very early in
the thread you will find I have had direct chats with Maxim on a number
of occasions, and each time those chats (including the statement from
me that they would lose the design win) never dented the attitudes I
found.
I would *love* to use Maxim parts - there really are some high drool
factor parts in the catalog and some that would be a perfect fit for
me.
As to the ultimate reason I decided to drop Maxim completely, it's
quite simple. As a designer, I need to spend my time designing (and of
course debugging). I simply do not have the time to chase recalcitrant
suppliers.
The facts speak for themselves, in my case. I have been burned too many
times after hearing Maxim promise they had mended their ways, and yet
when it came time to run perhaps few hundred units, I ran into lead
times of 16 - 24 weeks, after being assured these were 'standard'
parts, always kept available.
I am sure you too are a busy person; indeed, with the industry feeling
toward Maxim's delivery, I am sure you are intensely busy. Just like
me, you would not want to have to keep chasing someone who said they
would deliver something and then at delivery time told you it would be
another 4 months. You'd drop them as a supplier if they kept doing it.
It's got nothing to do with part quality and everything to do with *my*
product availability.
As I have also noted, when I *see* Maxim mend their ways (and I will
hear about it, have no doubt - the engineering grapevine is like no
other) I'll start dropping their parts back in. Until then, they are,
unfortunately, persona non grata in my designs.
I will also note I have nothing against Maxim - I have stated
repeatedly that they have some great parts, but there is nothing they
make that others do not provide solutions for (albeit slightly
differently, but at original design that's really not a major issue - I
am free to design the most appropriate solution). With that backdrop,
Maxim really needs to go the extra mile. Get stuff on the shelves. Get
stuff in distribution. Get parts out there. Do no-hassle sampling.
(See any of On Semi, TI, AD, National and Freescale for what I mean by
'no-hassle').
When a customer asks about a part, ask about expected usage (you do
already) - if it's 5k/year go ahead and quote it *and back it up with
on-time shipment*. I have some smaller (more specialised really)
designs in production of just about that quantity, but I schedule the
build on them 3 months early as they *do* have Maxim parts in them,
among others who are starting to garner a less than stellar reputation.
They too will feel my wrath by being banished from my BOMs if they
don't shape up. It's nothing personal.
That early build costs me extra money as I have money tied up in
product not yet sold from my shelves.
Do the right things, (and many have given sound advice here) and we'll
start to buy Maxim parts again.
Cheers
PeteS