Industry news and trends

Osram has found a new owner for the Siteco luminaires business in Stern Stewart Capital. Stern Stewart Capital intends to continue the current transformation approach. Separation from Osram gives Siteco entrepreneurial freedom. The cost situation is also improved with the elimination of previous Group structures. With the sale of the luminaires business, Osram is continuing its transformation to a high-tech company.

“Stern Stewart will be undertaking an entrepreneurial role and offers Siteco and its employees good prospects”, said Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG. “In this way, we can ensure strategic and operational continuity for Siteco, while Osram continues to sharpen its profile as a photonics champion.” From Stern Stewart Capital’s point of view, Siteco stands for innovative lighting technology engineered and made in Germany. “We are looking forward to providing entrepreneurial support to the highly motivated Siteco team and management", said Markus Pertl, Managing Partner of Stern Stewart Capital.

Both parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details of the transaction. In the previous fiscal year, the luminaire specialist based in Traunreut, Germany, employed about 900 people and generated revenue of more than 200 million euros. Thanks to its clear realignment, the company was in the black on an operational basis for the first time in years. The new ownership offers excellent prospects for the employees. In the course of the transaction, Osram and the new owner will ensure that the company has solid financial resources at its disposal. For this, Stern Stewart Capital has also given an assurance, that it will not take any dividends from Siteco in the next years. Stern Stewart Capital was founded by partners of the renowned strategic consultancy Stern Stewart & Co and is its investment arm. Stern Stewart & Co. has its headquarters in Munich, and has been supporting Osram on various projects since 2016, and on Siteco in connection with its transformation process since 2017. The luminaire specialist is therefore getting a new owner who knows the company very well and who has the expertise to make further contributions to its future success.

Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction leader that empowers innovation, is pleased to announce FORTE — Mouser’s intelligent BOM tool. FORTE is a comprehensive bill of materials (BOM) management tool designed to increase confidence, save time, and improve order accuracy in specifying and purchasing electronic components.

Access over four million part numbers in Mouser’s vast inventory. FORTE, free to anyone with a My Mouser account, quickly validates part numbers, product availability, and price, and recommends alternative products to reduce design and product lifecycle risks. FORTE evaluates the millions of daily interactions of purchasing professionals and engineers, and uses a unique relevancy engine that analyzes partial part numbers and descriptions to suggest the best options for customers — an industry-leading feature.

“At Mouser, we are always improving our tools to help buyers and engineers manage their specification and purchasing,” said Hayne Shumate, Mouser Senior Vice President, Internet Business. “Our original BOM tool was very helpful when customers loaded complete manufacturer's part numbers. With FORTE, customers receive intelligent advice even when they search for outdated or partial part numbers.”

FORTE offers expanded customization, added intelligence, and enhanced part match confidence that makes the BOM-building process faster, easier to use, and easier to share. The highly intelligent tool remembers users’ preferences, spreadsheet layouts, naming conventions, and previous product orders. FORTE also offers legacy features like translations for all of Mouser’s supported languages, support for the most common file formats, real-time product pricing and availability, and easy purchasing directly from the BOM.

“We also wanted to simplify the workflow to get the customer through the BOM task faster,” Shumate added. “The new tool can match a higher percentage of parts and help customers understand the confidence and risk of each part. With those thoughts in mind, we developed FORTE into what purchasing professionals really need in a BOM tool.”

To learn more about Mouser’s revolutionary new intelligent BOM tool, visit http://www.mouser.com/bomtool/

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

Egham, UK, and Munich, Germany 27th June 2017 – Future Lighting Solutions, the leading provider of solid-state lighting and supply chain solutions, and OSRAM Digital Systems, the leader in lighting technology solutions, have announced a new franchise partnership encompassing OSRAM’s comprehensive range of drivers, light engines and controls for lighting applications. The agreement covers Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.

The new OSRAM franchise brings a comprehensive new range of drivers, light engines, and controls to customers looking for high quality, performance and reliability in mainstream lighting applications. The agreement marks a new stage in the evolution of Future Lighting Solutions, which began at the start of the 21st century supplying LEDs to lighting customers, and has since developed into being a leading partner in the design and completion of lighting systems, with a full portfolio of light sources for LED lighting and smart lighting systems.

“Our focus is enabling customers to design their luminaires with market leading technology,” said Daniel Ford, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Future Lighting Solutions (EMEA).  “Combining OSRAM Digital Systems’ comprehensive portfolio with the expertise, design support services and global business solutions offered by our team, enables us to further enrich our commitment to our customer base.”

“Future Lighting Solutions has an outstanding reputation for providing OEMs with system-level technical design support and world class supply chain solutions,” said Martin Meier, Vice President Sales, OSRAM Digital Systems.  “We welcome FLS to our network and look forward to them delighting many customers with our products.”