Celebrating 20 Years of Supplyframe

This month marks Supplyframe’s 20-year anniversary. Looking back, it’s clear the vision of our leadership has kept us in lockstep with the industry as a whole, but in several cases, we were also ahead of the curve.

Believe it or not, there are quite a few moments in our history where we’ve told the future— as if our team had access to a magical crystal ball. But actually, this was only possible because of our vision to service the entire electronics value chain. We’ve learned the balancing act of engaging everyone throughout the value chain— including manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and everyone in between, because it takes strategic partnership and collaboration to truly make an impact. 

These things lead us to, more accurately than not, predict market and supply chain trends with precision. As we look back to celebrate our victories over the last two decades, we also celebrate the teamwork and collaboration that brought us here, and look to the future to continue growing and evolving alongside the greater industry. 

Six Milestones From Our 20-Year Journey (And Counting)

Over the course of the last two decades, Supplyframe has grown immensely and adapted to an ever-changing industry. As our global network, platform, and solutions evolved, so too did our capability to accurately predict what would come next. 

From the beginning, the combination of a strong team and an unwavering vision from our leadership led us to stay at or ahead of the broader curve across global electronics. Here are six milestones from our journey through these last twenty years.

2003: The Digital Disruption

In the early 2000’s after the dot-com bust, electronics were the primary driver of industry growth. 2003 marked the launch of Tesla and the debut of the first Apple iPhone. Standalone DVD players were the fastest growing technology at the time, and flat panel televisions became the new sought after item. 

CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro stated, “Despite economic uncertainties, consumers are finding compelling reasons to upgrade from analog to new digital products.” A trend which would continue across industries.

It was this which set the scene for Supplyframe’s founder, Steve Flagg. He decided to create a digital first platform, one that pushed against conservative hesitancy, charting a path forward for the global electronics industry. The semiconductor market is projected to reach $515 billion in 2023. It was only half this size in 2003. 

2004: On the Cloud Before the Crowd

Cloud native SaaS solutions have been a part of Supplyframe’s vision since the beginning. Just after the first SaaS company was founded in 1999, we launched QuoteFx. This unique digital platform showcased the benefits of switching to an online, connected, streamlined solution and proved that we were ahead of the broader industry trends. 

It also linked engineering through procurement and made quote response more intelligent for global electronics as a whole. While this could have been seen as a risky move to some, we believed the future was online. 

This year also marked the introduction of the 90nm semiconductor process node. Introduced by AMD, Infineon, Texas Instruments, IBM, and TSMC, in 2023, 3NM are now in place. The launch of Facebook, Skype and the introduction of the Motorola RAZR flip phone also defined this monumental year. 

2010: Finding Crucial Parts Made Simple

A few years later, it came to our attention that the industry needed a better way to find and identify electrical components for new designs. This drove us to acquire a small, but well-known search engine that was developed by a scientist at NASA—Findchips.com.

At the time of acquisition, the site received 100,000 unique visitors per month. We saw this as an indicator for immense growth potential. Today, the site continues to be a thriving hub for engineers seeking parts.

This same year, a photo sharing app called Instagram hit the scene for the first time, and the first model of the Apple iPad debuted for consumers everywhere. In 2010, the global connector market had also reached $46 billion, but in 2023 it is projected to reach $84 billion. 

2020: Confidently Innovating During Uncertainty 

In a time where uncertainty and risk defined global supply chains, due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Commodity IQ Demand Index, sourcing actions fell year-on-year by 8% in 2020. 

Among these shifts, we launched Design-to-Source Intelligence (DSI): an entire suite of SaaS solutions powered by our industry-leading global network and platform. 

These solutions served global manufacturers, as well as component manufacturers and distributors, allowing them to engage with design engineers on a global scale, across a wide range of electronics industry verticals. 

2021: Risking it All by Going Digital Before the Industry

Ahead of our time, Supplyframe represented an end-to-end, all-digital ecosystem that was poised to aid global organizations in a time where in-person events and sales activities had become impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shock of global component shortages also created a powerful use case for Supplyframe’s capabilities. 

We stepped in front of supply chain shortages by creating Commodity IQ— a platform that provides organizations with accurate decision support and supply chain insights, which inform current and future sourcing strategies.

The Commodity IQ Demand Index surged by 32% from 2020 to 2021, a spike in demand due to pandemic shelter-in-place edicts. Meanwhile, global chip shortages took hold as everyone from automakers to game console manufacturers vyed for the same chips. 

2023 and Beyond: The Mysterious, But Predictable Future 

Already this year, we’ve put our future telling skills to good use and have been able to pinpoint problems in the market. 

This April, we predicted ChatGPT would drive up sales of AI processors like GPU’s, a specialized processor originally designed to accelerate graphics rendering. A month later, in May, it was confirmed in a DIGITIMES article by Digitimes.com.

Additionally, after a sharp downturn in the first half of the year, the Supplyframe Commodity IQDemand Index showed signs of market demand bottoming out. Two months later, the U.S. memory chip supplier Micron confirmed this in their quarterly earnings announcement. 

These are just a few examples of our future predictions coming true, but there are many more. With our acquisition in 2021, we also became part of the Siemens Xcelerator digital business platform. Supplyframe joins other solutions as part of a digital thread that connects all stages of product development, design, and manufacturing.

While risks, pressure, and uncertainty persist, our outside-in intelligence helps you define a path forward. As our solutions continue to evolve and grow with the industry, we thank you for your support and are incredibly grateful to our customers and partners. We’re excited to see what the next 20 years hold.

If you’re not familiar with the power of our insights, Commodity IQ is a great place to start to see how predictive insights and forecasts into key metrics like lead times and pricing can transform your sourcing strategy. Learn more today!