SILICA Rolls Out Power ’n More Design Support Strategy

Investment will boost technical support for power system designs at device and system levels across every phase of the design cycle

POING, Germany - Thursday, April 25th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SILICA, an Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) company, today announced a strategy to establish itself as the power experts in European semiconductor distribution. The new strategy is being rolled out under the brand Power ’n More, and builds on Silica’s strong ability to support end-to-end designs both at system and device level.

Explains Karlheinz Weigl, Silica’s regional vice president of sales for Central Europe and Executive Sponsor for Power ’n More, “With the continuing trend for energy saving in electronic systems, designers need more and more support to align with the relentless wave of new regulations and directives. To date, engineers have been hampered by a lack of in-depth expertise and know-how across the distribution channel.”

“Through Power ’n More we plan to establish ourselves as the ‘Power Experts’ among European customers and suppliers. To attain this goal, we have invested heavily in training and education to instill in staff at all levels a culture focused on a detailed understanding of the needs of our power customers.”

Training and education is just the start of an integrated approach that lies at the heart of the Power ’n More strategy. As power experts, Silica will develop the facilities to support designers from system specification, architecture definition and topology, through to assistance on best-fit device selection, PCB layout or EMC analysis. In doing so, the company is to put extensive resources at design engineers’ disposal providing its 14 dedicated power field application engineers with simulation technology, backed by five fully equipped power labs across Europe, which will be launched in 2013. As with the company’s successful Core ’n More microcontroller initiative, specific resources will be deployed in focus countries such as Germany, Italy, the UK, France and the Nordic region.

Silica application engineers will combine power expertise with their in-depth knowledge of specific application areas, for example in industrial electronics, home automation, identification, lighting and other growth sectors. This means that Silica’s technical support can guide customers from inspiration to production, regardless of the industry they work in. In-house resources are to be complemented by a ‘Platinum’ network of independent power systems consultants, each able to provide customers with turnkey solutions for power projects.

Power ’n More is fully supported by Silica’s extensive line card featuring most of the top 10 power IC suppliers, including Analog Devices, Diodes, Infineon, International Rectifier, Maxim Integrated, Microchip, NXP, ON Semiconductor, Renesas, Rohm, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. The strategy builds on Silica’s expertise in programmable logic, MCU/MPU, analogue and lighting design support.

About Silica

Silica, an Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) company, is one of the leading semiconductor distributors in Europe. Silica accelerates its customers’ success by connecting 25 technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 15,000 customers and providing in-depth design support and cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For more information, visit www.silica.com.

Contacts

SILICA (Avnet EMG GmbH)

Kerstin Kurth, Director Communications

+49 (0)8121 777-340

kerstin.kurth@silica.com