The Monthly Newsletter - July 2023

July 2023 Newsletter:

1. What has been happening in the industry this month?
2. What are this month's opportunities?
3. Counterfeit Components
4. What differentiates MR-Solutions from other recruitment agencies?
5. Employee of the Month - June 2023

Industry News:

TSMC to Invest $7 Billion into Japan Facility - TSMC have plans to build a new manufacturing plant in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. They aim to begin construction in April 2024 and are likely to invest up to $7 billion into the plant.

Germany to Tap Climate Fund for €20bn to Subsidise Chip Projects - Germany is to allocate €20 billion over the next four years from its €177.5 billion Climate and Transformation Fund budget to subsidise chip production, reports Bloomberg.

EU Approve €43 Billion Chips Act - The European Union have approved a major €43 billion plan to help increase semiconductor manufacturing, aiming to double Europe's market share from 10% to 20% by 2030.

TSMC to Invest $2.9 Billion into New Chip Plant - TSMC are set to invest $2.9 billion dollars into an extended facility in Taiwan to meet the rising global demand for AI products. The facility will be a new development at the Tongluo Science Park in Hsinchu, near Taipei.

Active Opportunities:

UK Sales Roles:

(NEW) Vertical Segment Sales Manager - Franchised / Up to ￡60k + benefits / UK Wide

Field Sales Engineer (Power)?- Franchised / Up to ￡60k + benefits / UK Wide

Field Sales Engineer (Photonics) - Franchised / Up to ￡45k + benefits / UK Wide

Interconnect Specialist - Franchised / Up to ￡50k + benefits / UK Wide

Area Sales Manager?- OEM / Up to ￡44k + benefits / South West

Business Development Manager?- EMS/ Up to ￡55k + benefits / West Midlands

Business Development Manager?- CEM / Up to ￡50k + benefits / North UK

Business Development Manager?- Franchised / Up to ￡50k + benefits / North

(New) Business Development Manager - CEM / Up to ￡40k + Benefits / UK Wide

Technical Sales Manager?- Franchised / Up to ￡45k + benefits / UK Wide

Account Representative?- Franchised / Up to ￡40k + benefits / Hybrid, Buckinghamshire

UK Internal Sales Roles:

Key Account Manager?- EMS / Up to ￡40k + benefits / Internal, Berkshire

(New) Sales Team Lead - Independent / Up to ￡35k + benefits / West Essex

Technical Sales - CEM / Up to ￡35k / Internal, Warwickshire

UK Product Management Roles:

Head of Semiconductors?- Franchised / Up to ￡60k + benefits / Hybrid, Manchester

Head of Passives, Emech, Connectors?- Franchised / Up to ￡60k + benefits / Hybrid, Manchester

Product Marketing Manager (Opto/Semis)?- Franchised / Up to ￡45k / Internal, Manchester

Product Marketing Manager (Emech)?- Franchised / Up to ￡45k / Internal, Manchester

UK Purchasing Roles:

Purchasing Manager?- CEM / Up to ￡45k / Internal, Manchester

UK Engineering Roles:

NPI Engineer?- CEM / Up to ￡40k / Internal, Warwickshire

Quality Engineer?- EMS / Up to ￡34k + benefits / Internal, Berkshire

European Roles:

Regional Sales Manager (Iberia)?- OEM / Up to €80k + benefits / France

Lead Internal Sales Rep?- OEM / Up to €72k + benefits / Munich

Internal Sales Rep?- OEM / Up to €39k + benefits / Toulouse

(NEW) Regional Sales Manager (Italy) - OEM / Up to €70k + Benefits / Italy

US Roles:

Sales Account Manager?- Independent/ Up to $80k / Remote

(New) Sales Account Manager - Independent / Flexible / Remote (UK, EU, US)

Please Note: Any other roles posted during the past month that aren't on this newsletter are now closed.

If you are interested in finding out more about these roles, simply click on the direct link to the role or you can click on the link below to view all of our active opportunities.

Counterfeit Components

Counterfeit/Nonconforming components have been a continuous issue within the Electronic Component industry with 768 fraudulent components being reported in 2022 alone by the Electronic Resellers Association International (ERAI); this alone represents a 35% increase over 2021 (504 fraudulent components reported) despite semiconductor sales remaining the same. The common counterfeit components remain the same (Analog ICs, Programmable ICs and Microprocessor ICs) but only 80.5% of the parts reported in 2022 were new occurrences highlighting that there are some factors that are leading to an increase in these parts.

In this section, we will be taking a closer look at how counterfeit components are purchased/what causes them to circle the market, the impacts these components can have on both the company and customers' behalf and how we can mitigate the risk of purchasing and using these components within our applications/catalogue.

What Causes Fraudulent Components to Circle the Market?

1. They are becoming increasingly hard to detect - The increasing technology within the market has made it increasingly more difficult to detect counterfeit components within the industry, paired with an already existing lack of visibility within the supply chain can increase the risk of these components entering the supply chain undetected until it is too late.
2. Chip Shortage - The chip shortage that followed the pandemic led to the rise in fraudulent components due to the increase in sourcing from alternative, non-traditional sources. Evertiq highlights that this is a continuing trend that takes place whenever there is a component shortage.
3. Online Marketplaces - Linking to the previous point, some of these alternative sources have been online marketplaces. This can increase the risk of counterfeit components entering the supply chain as throughout the shipment process they can be passed through multiple hands, making it more difficult to trace where they originated from. This can often impact the smaller establishments more so as they won't be sourcing the large quantities of components that larger establishments order.
4. Lack of Diligence - One of the biggest factors affecting this matter is the lack of diligence from sales representatives and purchases. Many sales representatives have been known to purchase counterfeit components despite having an incline that they were fake. An example of this is when BotMaker couldn't source any microchips so purchased from a non-traditional source, when these arrived the majority of them did not work. In addition, the lack of research into these alternative sources can also lead to the sourcing of fake components as a result of not looking into who you are buying from and where the components are coming from. An example of this is when an unidentifed group/individual set up 18 fake websites and more than 20 aliases to engage with Electronic Buyers; they made over $58,000 during one week in February 2021 and over $300,000 from manufactures.

What are the Impacts of Purchasing/Using Fraudulent Components?

1. Financial Implications - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that the costs of selling/using counterfeit components can add up to $500 billion a year across all countries and industries as a result of fines or losing out on sales.
2. Device Performance - The use of counterfeit components within electronic devices can often lead to recalls due to the device malfunctioning or not working at all as a result of the components not conforming to industry standards/specifications.
3. Human Life - Linking to point 2, using these components increases the risk of damage to human life especially when used in Hi-Reliability markets such as Aerospace, Military and Defence. An example of this is when a number of people purchased Lithium-ion batteries from Amazon which exploded causing chemical burns and property damage.
4. Brand Image - The use or act of reselling counterfeit components can vastly damage a company's reputation as a result of declining customer confidence and satisfaction as a result of manufacturers' and distributors' inability to fulfil orders. This can also link to point 1 with the financial implications of using these components.

How Can We Mitigate the Risk of Purchasing/Using Fraudulent Components?

1. Maximise Supply Chain Visibility - Only 45% of organizations today can see as far as their first-tier suppliers or need more upstream visibility entirely. This lack of visibility increases the lack of traceability meaning you do not know exactly where the component came from. Implementing IoT tracking solutions and cloud dashboards can increase the visibility and data consolidation organizations need to view their whole supply chain.
2. Understanding Whom You are Purchasing From - Ensure that you have done research into the company you are purchasing from especially if they are an alternative source. This can be done through a simple Google search or looking at the company's website/social media to see if they have any outstanding claims against them for fraudulent components but also to understand what specifications they are using, how their supply chain works and how visible the supply chain is.
3. Reconsider Supplier Options - There are four general sourcing options, OEMs, Distributors, Brokers and Catalogue Suppliers. It is best to source from original manufacturers and distributors as it simplifies the supply chain, brokers are often beneficial when needing to source obsolete/hard-to-find components but they buy excess stock from other organisations to resell meaning it can often be harder to trace compared to sourcing from the component making factories.
4. Inspect Component Shipments - Implementing monitoring systems to identify these components within shipments can help to mitigate the risk of sourcing these. This can be done simply by checking the labels for any spelling errors, incorrect company names or unusual date codes, alternatively you can complete more in-depth tests to identify red flags that are not visible to the naked eye. This can include Thickness Checks, X-Rays and Metallurgy Analysis.
5. Use BlockChain Tracking Solutions - Blockchain technology has recently emerged and uses a decentralized, distributed network of devices to host a ledger of encrypted records. This enables electronics manufacturers to provide transparency to all users as these records are virtually impossible to alter.
6. Be Diligent - If you believe something to be fake, do NOT purchase.
7. In-House Testing - If you find yourself thinking you have purchased a fraudulent component there are multiple in-house testing processes that can be completed to check this enabling you to detect these components early on. Alternatively, some companies offer testing kits or in-house testing services which can also support this step. Some of the tests include but are not limited to:

• (Optical) Light Microscopy
• X-Ray Inspection
• XRF
• Scanning Acoustic Microscopy

Do you think counterfeit component numbers will rise in the coming years or decrease?

What differentiates MR-Solutions from other recruitment agencies?

MR-Solutions Ltds main differentiator from other recruitment agencies is our niche focus on the Electronic Component industry; over the past 4 and a half years we have dedicated ourselves to building an industry-specific network which now includes over 58,000 people!

Our specific focus on this industry allows us to better understand our candidates and clients and also what is happening in the current market.

Here are some of the things we are doing to try and provide the best service possible!

Sourcing Candidates:

We do NOT headhunt our candidates, we work on a referral basis meaning that we reach out to our network asking for recommendations for various roles/companies we are hiring for. This is an integral part of our business process as we do not want to be seen as taking candidates from our clients, this way the majority of our candidates will have either directly approached us or been contacted as a result of being told they are open to new roles.

Understanding Our Candidates:

We take an extra step to ensure we understand our candidates, this does often mean asking a few extra questions which allow us to not only understand your expectations but your experience. Understanding your strengths and needs as a candidate often helps us find opportunities that they wouldn’t think of. This also links back to our niche focus on a single market, meaning we understand the company cultures and often how they operate. We don’t just match your experience, we match you as a whole.

CV Profiling:

We ensure that our candidates are represented equally by standardizing the format of all applications/CVs. We do NOT change your CV information but put it into our format which also includes a front-page overview of your expectations, work achievements and experience. We find that this gives all of our candidates an equal playing field as all applications are the same and your expectations are known before entering the application process.

Present to Clients:

The presentation of a candidate is extremely important when speaking to different clients as all clients have different communication styles and expectations. So how do we tackle this?

We have done some internal training to help us better understand these different communication styles and how to identify them, some want to hear about the candidate whereas others want to see all of their details before moving forward. Having this understanding of our client's communication styles often helps us understand how to present our candidates to them. In addition, by taking the extra time to understand who you are as a person, we aim to answer as many questions as our clients may have without needing to continuously confirm this with you. ???

Earlier this week, I did a poll asking my follower's/connections' opinions on what they think recruitment agencies need to improve on. The results are as follows:

1. Better Understanding of Roles - 55%
2. More In-depth Feedback - 34%
3. Relationship Building - 6%

As many of you chose “Better Understanding of Roles” here is an insight into how we tackle this issue:

Being a niche recruitment agency often allows us to build better relationships with our clients and understand their culture and processes. In addition, having these relationships within a niche market allows us to gather as much information about a role as possible. Internally, we ensure that there is a company breakdown as well as a role breakdown based on the information we are given by clients. This means that all of our consultants no matter how new they are to the industry will be able to give you an overview of who the company is and the role.?

Employee of the Month - June 2023

Employee of the Month for June 2023 is Natalie Muscat !!

Natalie has been an incredible support for the business each and every month and is the glue that keeps the business together, mentoring a lot of our staff to help improve our internal processes.

For more information about MR-Solutions or to speak to a member of the team, get in touch, our details are down below! ????

MR-Solutions Ltd -?+44 (0)1908 752 080

MR-Engineers -?+44 (0)1908 014 437

Michael Roberts?- Founder/Director - [email protected]

Lewis Macknight?- Commercial Director - [email protected]

Zoe Carter?- Delivery Manager - [email protected]

Marcus Jacques?- Recruitment Consultant - [email protected]

Richard Hepburn?- Recruitment Consultant - [email protected]

Jamie Bye?- Market Resourcer - [email protected]

James Neale?- Market Resourcer - [email protected]