How is AI changing the electronics industry?
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have created an inflection point in product design. For two decades we have seen an exponential increase in data creation. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a big part of that, but companies like Avnet have been creating their own data for much longer.
Now, AI and ML are providing a viable way to make more use of it.
Avnet Senior Vice President Rebeca Obregon and Chief Information Officer Max Chan provide some insights into how distributors need to think about AI. They also talk about how distribution will react to the increasing demand for AI and ML hardware and software solutions.
How does AI fit into distribution?
AI may be unique because it is impacting every aspect of a technology distribution business. Part of that impact is at the product level. Demand is coming from customers developing new solutions that leverage AI and ML at the core and the edge of the network. And from a different aspect, AI is changing the way businesses respond to new trends and demands for their products and services.
The demand for products that can realize AI and edge ML is coming from small, medium and very large OEMs. The hardware and software used to enable AI and ML is developing rapidly. Those OEMs rely on companies like Avnet to provide guidance, support and fulfillment. Many of Avnet’s Field Applications Engineers (FAEs) are actively developing their AI skills and working with customers on product designs that harness ML.
Large distributors like Avnet have thousands of customers and many years of data. But despite the current interest, using AI as a business tool is not new. “AI has been leveraged across Avnet for multiple years,” said Max Chan, Avnet’s CIO.
The continued and accelerated adoption of AI is still apparent. “We’re incorporating digital transformation and AI into the core elements of our business strategy,” said Rebeca Obregon, SVP, Strategic Business Engagement & Supplier Management.
This judicious application of AI will benefit the entire industry, as Chan explained: “Avnet is in a unique and privileged position because it is at the center of the supply chain.” AI is bringing better services for all stakeholders.
“Being at the center of the supply chain means Avnet has a lot of access to data, from our customers and our suppliers,” Obregon said. “We can take our 30-plus years of data and layer on market trends. Using AI, we’re able to infer that when the market did this, that is what happened with our customers and suppliers. Now we can connect those trends and project forward to predict demand.”
“Now we can connect those trends and project forward to predict demand.”
Rebeca Obregon, SVP, Strategic Business Engagement & Supplier Management
Although product designs vary, they create design trends. Analyzing these trends can help develop inventory optimizations, ensuring the supply chain keeps moving. Using AI to infer a bill of materials (BoM), and then analyzing many hundreds of those BoMs to reveal trends accelerates what would otherwise be a very manual process. “It’s utilizing that data to provide predictions to our customers, taking us from being reactive to more proactive,” Obregon said.
Generating these demand insights benefits customers and suppliers. Component production schedules, particularly for fab-lite semiconductor vendors, are often set months or even years in advance. Building reliable predictions based on good data can help everyone in the supply chain.
“Our data connects the demand signal and the supply signal, allowing us to create insights that we can mobilize for customers and suppliers,” Chan said.
New AI tools from Avnet
Part of digital transformation involves creating new ways to do old tasks. Distributors that provide design services can leverage generative AI to help make design recommendations. Many people are using AI for human tasks, such as contract summarization. Avnet is looking at how AI can be used in a more holistic, end-to-end way.
“MyDA is Avnet’s customer-facing tool available in EMEA today that uses AI to look at customer requirements based on their purchasing history,” Obregon said. “We are looking at rolling MyDA out across other regions.” It provides guidance, which is one way AI is making a positive impact in the design community. But it is important to recognize its limitations. “AI is making the predictions; it isn’t taking autonomous action,” Obregon said.
Design Hub is a new tool from Avnet, part of its continued digital transformation. Engineers can consult Design Hub to find block diagrams and reference designs for end applications. It includes many reference designs that leverage AI.
Behind the user interface, Design Hub already uses AI in a simple way, but there is potential to increase the use of AI and the assistance provided to engineers starting new projects. “Avnet uses AI to help customers find the right component for their design, with the right go-to-market offering,” Chan said.
“Avnet uses AI to help customers find the right component for their design, with the right go-to-market offering,”
Max Chan, CIO
Chip-level developments
Many of Avnet’s suppliers are already offering semiconductors and software targeting AI and ML. Avnet’s FAEs, who work closely with our suppliers, are helping customers develop new applications based on these solutions.
In parallel, there are many exciting startups entering this market. New architectures to execute and accelerate neural networks and deep learning algorithms are emerging all the time. This is another area where distributors add real value by bringing new solutions to a wide customer base.
Avnet is actively evaluating these new technologies and the suppliers behind them to deliver the latest solutions to its customers.
AI in the cloud
IoT and AI are becoming synonymous. Machine learning at the edge will play an important role in the future of IoT applications. A lot of the data generated by billions of IoT devices will be further analyzed in the cloud.
IoTConnect©, Avnet’s end-to-end IoT software solution, integrates with the leading IoT cloud platforms and provides high-level abstraction into the latest cloud-based AI features. Avnet is a trusted partner of AWS IoT and Microsoft Azure. This tight integration is enabling OEMs to leverage the latest AI features both at the edge and in the cloud.
Conclusion
AI has reached an inflection point. Research that started many decades ago has been democratized and is now available to all. Avnet is both a supplier and consumer of AI technologies. It is using AI and ML to transform distribution.
Avnet continues to invest in new business technologies that will benefit its customers. “We have pilot programs running with customers to learn how AI can optimize the design and purchasing processes,” Chan said.
There is no denying that AI is changing how we work. “Leveraging analyzed data and the personal relationships Avnet is known for will be the future of distribution,” Obregon said.
About Author
Philip Ling
Philip Ling is a senior technology writer with Avnet. He holds a post-graduate diploma in Advanced M...
silica content library/articles/how-is-ai-changing-the-electronics-industry
How is AI changing the electronics industry | Avnet Silica
