Premier Farnell has scooped the Yorkshire Post Award for best Company with a turnover above £50m at the paper’s Excellence in Business Awards.  The awards, which celebrate excellence and high performance within leading businesses in the Yorkshire region, were held on Thursday evening at The Queens Hotel, Leeds.

Judges recognised Premier Farnell for the high levels of enterprise and competitiveness along with management, innovation, performance, customer service and employee motivation within the workplace featuring as key differentiators.

Particularly impressing the judging panel was the robust engagement programme the business has established which has an objective to make Premier Farnell a great place to work. The recent launch of the state-of-the-art gym facility at the Leeds based site, and the sponsorship of David Stone, the double gold medal paralympian who hopes to compete at the 2012 Paralympics, were other areas of success for the business.

“We are absolutely delighted to win this accolade and I would like to thank all our teams for making this happen,” said David Gaskin, Finance Director of Farnell Europe, who received the award from UK Deputy Prime Minster Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP. “This is a fabulous recognition for the organisation and its employees.”

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Adding to its depth of services for electronic design engineers, Farnell, a part of Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), today announced a collaboration with Eurocircuits to provide quick-turn bare board PCB prototyping services for its customers in Europe.

The PCB prototyping service will be available via the Knode on element14 allowing design engineers to quickly upload their design specifications for rapid turnaround of high-quality bare-boards. The service is also integrated with the CadSoft EAGLE PCB design tool – further increasing productivity and design flow integration.

Design engineers are always in need of a reliable, trusted PCB prototype supplier who not only has the technical expertise and dedicated equipment, but also the flexibility to handle time critical customer specifications and special design materials. As a specialist manufacturer of high-quality PCB prototypes, Eurocircuits is able to meet that demand while offering 48-hour turnaround at competitive prices.

“High quality, quick-turn PCB prototyping is a critical step in the electronics design flow and directly impacts the time-to-market and commercial success of a finished product,” said David Shen, Group Senior Vice President and Global Head of Technical Marketing at element14. “The collaboration with Eurocircuits allows our customers to quickly and easily create reliable, high quality prototype PCB boards and is another example of our commitment to continually expand our services offering and enhance the value proposition.”

“The cornerstone of Eurocircuits’ success has been our straightforward business terms, quick turnaround and absolute focus on quality and design integrity,” said Dirk Stans, Sales and Marketing Director at Eurocircuits. “We already serve more than 6000 customers in Europe, and the higher market penetration and visibility brought to us by Farnell and the Knode on element14 will increase our pooling efficiency and help drive a better deal for customers.”

The Knode on element14 is an intelligent online search and knowledge tool that helps design engineers select and buy the right solution for their design right from the start. It helps to improve speed to market, quality of both the design and prototype and provides a knowledgebase that helps engineers learn and design new technologies.

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Farnell is first European distributor to offer new designs from 1590 enclosure series

Farnell is continuing to respond to the growing European demand for new designs in small enclosures by extending its range of die-cast aluminium enclosures from Hammond Manufacturing. The additions to the range are from Hammond’s rugged1590 series and are available in a choice of vibrant colours or a natural finish.

The new styles include two sizes of trapezoid and octagonal shaped enclosures. These complement the extensive range of Hammond enclosures in standard rectangular format that Farnell already offers.

The 1590 series features a lap joint construction to provide protection against dust and moisture ingress and water splashes. The enclosures are rated to IP54; this can be increased to IP66 by utilising a gasket kit. The use of a lap joint also supports improved EMI/RFI shielding performance.

Farnell is the first Europe-wide distributor to offer the new styles from Hammond’s 1590 series giving designers the widest choice for their new equipment designs.

µC/OS-III source can be downloaded for free evaluation by design engineers, researchers and students

Premier Farnell plc, today announced an agreement with Micriµm, a leading supplier of embedded RTOS solutions, to provide free evaluation access to the source code for Micriµm’s µC/OS-III Real-Time Kernel through the element14 knode, enabling electronic design engineers to quickly develop new products. The move is in line with the Group’s focus on providing engineering design solutions, driving business to the web and growing sales in emerging markets.

Downloadable from the Operating Systems and Stacks room in the recently launched element14 knode, Micriµm’s ‘source-available’ model for µC/OS-III streamlines the path from evaluation to production. To help ensure that developers evaluating µC/OS-III make the most of the experience, the element14 knode also provides free PDF versions of Micriµm’s book, µC/OS-III – The Real-Time Kernel.

µC/OS-III books, compatible evaluation boards, tools and projects are all available from the element14 knode. Developers start the evaluation process by downloading the µC/OS-III source from element14. Once they have decided to use the kernel for production, they can then purchase a license directly from element14 and leverage the fully featured and fully supported industry strength software. µC/OS-III is free to students, professors, hobbyists and professionals for non-commercial use.

“We are pleased that our source-available model for µC/OS-III will be a key component in helping design engineers quickly develop new products through the element14 knode, “said Jean Labrosse, founder, CEO and President of Micriµm. “We recognise the added value that the element14 knode offers to the designer and are excited to be a part of its continued development.”

Micriµm is a global RTOS leader and a top choice for embedded design engineers building microprocessor, microcontroller and DSP-based solutions. Applications include medical, military and aerospace, industrial, consumer and telecom.

“We are delighted to be working closely with Micriµm in the global roll out of their strategy for opening up µC/OS-III source for free evaluation and education,” said David Shen, Group Senior Vice President and Global Head of EDE and Technical Marketing of Premier Farnell.

“Our element14 community has changed the way engineers collaborate, and the element14 knode is changing the way engineers can quickly access and configure their design flow solutions. The initiative with Micriµm provides our customers with immediate access to the µC/OS-III kernel and fast, accurate evaluation is a critical step in reducing their time to market.”

The µC/OS-III source code and PDF copies of the µC/OS-III The Real-Time Kernel book can be downloaded from http://www.element14.com/community/community/knode/operating_systems

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Unrivalled range of innovative products and solutions for electronic design engineers
and maintenance specialists across the region
element14 (formerly Farnell), the industry’s first fusion of commerce and community supporting engineers and purchasing professionals worldwide, today announced the expansion of its inventory portfolio to over 130,000 products, doubling its product range over the past year to give customers the broadest electronic and maintenance products selection stocked in the region to ensure fast delivery to destinations in Asia Pacific. element14′s regional inventory, which comprises of products from 3,500 leading suppliers, is also complemented by its global network of distribution centres, giving engineers access to a wide array of solutions to overcome any challenges they face.

Based on Gartner’s latest Semiconductor report, Asia Pacific’s semiconductor market revenue is forecasted to grow from $181 billion in 2010 to $278 billion by 2015. The rising trend in electronic equipment demand and spending in the region reveals that revenue in Asia Pacific is expected to grow from $719.4 billion in 2010 to $1139.3 billion in 2015. These factors point towards an increased demand for a wide range of electronic production and component usage in the region. In addition, technology is constantly progressing and becoming more sophisticated as international and domestic designs converge in the Asia Pacific region to meet worldwide demands.

“As Asia Pacific emerges as the centre for electronics manufacturing, engineers face increasing challenges to create end products that are reliable, intuitive and technologically advanced,” said William Chong, Regional Director of Supplier, Product & Purchasing Management, element14, Asia Pacific. “At element14, we have bolstered our product selections and strengthened our partnerships with leading industry manufacturers to offer our customers unrivalled access to our extensive product range and services that support them from product conception to production.”

Stocked in its three regional distribution hubs in Singapore, Shanghai and Sydney, element14’s extensive inventory of 130,000 is positioned to support next day delivery to most cities in Asia Pacific for electronic components that range from connectors, passives, electromechanical, semiconductor to maintenance products. Within its inventory portfolio for semiconductors, the building blocks for electronic designs, element14 offers a wide spectrum of innovative products and technologies in analog, logic and discrete solutions that are complemented with critical microcontrollers, embedded solutions and developmental kits. These components provide engineers and purchasing professionals with immediate solutions for evolving market demands.

element14 also stocks critical PCB components in connectors, passives and electromechanical, providing total solutions that support all design and production requirements. Besides offering the best in class PCB connectors from leading suppliers, element14 made new grounds by offering the most advanced lighting connectors, green and miniaturised interconnect solutions.

As the region shifts to more advanced electronic and equipment production, element14 is well-positioned to meet engineers’ dynamic requirements for passives, not just in general purpose capacitors, resistors and electro-magnetic components, but also in higher capacitance, robust high temperature and longer life capacitors, low ohmic, tight tolerance and high power resistors and inductors, all of which support the Bills of Materials for many manufacturers in the Approve Vendor List.

element14 has also expanded its electromechanical product offerings in the region, including critical components in circuit protection, thermal management, sensors and relays and switching solutions, and these components support key automation and control applications across multiple industries.

element14 constantly innovates to ensure that its products and services evolve with the growing needs of the design engineering industry in the Asia Pacific. Recent element14 initiatives include the element14 knode,acclaimed PCB Design software from Cadsoft EAGLE, and recent manufacturer partnerships with Pentalogix, Agilent Technologies and Johanson Dielectrics. These initiatives, which present their customers with a full suite of products and solutions, are proof of element14’s continuous commitment to its customers and their growing demands in the region.

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element14 (formerly Farnell), the industry’s first fusion of commerce and community supporting engineers and purchasing professionals worldwide, today announced the expansion of their 130,000 strong inventory with the addition of Tektronix precise and intuitive oscilloscopes. These high performance and easy-to-use solutions provide the maintenance and repair, and electronic design engineering sectors as well as aspiring engineers in schools with effective tools to measure and evaluate their designs.

As manufacturing industries around the globe continue to shift their operations to the Asia Pacific, this trend has created a rich ecosystem of technological sophistication that supports the production of a wide spectrum of electronics. As a result, design support and maintenance engineers are constantly challenged to find versatile analysis solutions that are capable of evaluating complex systems. There is also an increased demand for simpler tools so that engineers are able to apply these solutions more easily and proficiently across several product categories, thus improving time to market while supporting the development process from concept to end of life.

“As the world’s leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes, Tektronix is in the business of helping design engineers solve their day-to-day challenges,” said David Carew-Jones, Vice-President of Marketing, Service Solutions Organisation, Tektronix. “We do this by designing products that are easy to use and provide the highest level of precision, and it is important that our customers have the easiest access to the tools they need to do their job. Therefore, we are delighted with this partnership we have with element14 in Asia as their extensive network and logistical expertise help to ensure that engineers throughout the region can get easy access to our latest technology.”

“As the electronics manufacturing sector continues to expand in the Asia Pacific, there is also a corresponding growth in the number of electronic engineers the region. element14 understands that evaluating the validity of designs is an essential phase of design cycles,” says Marc Grange, Head of Product Management, element14, Asia Pacific. “New engineers can learn and build up their proficiency through Tektronix analytical tools which are specifically designed for learning purposes. In addition, element14 also offers 24/5 online technical support, relevant technical information and a complete suite of design software to help professionals, hobbyists and students to overcome any challenges.”

Easy-to-master measurement solutions with unparalleled precision and performance

One of the Tektronix oscilloscopes that element14 offers is the TSD1000C-EDU series that is designed for first time users. It features an intuitive interface that has dedicated per-channel vertical controls, auto set-up and auto ranging, making the oscilloscopes simple to operate to reduce the learning time.

Top-in-class precision and reliable performance

Captures signals accurately with at least 10X over-sampling on all channels, all the time with Tektronix’s proprietary sampling technology

Advance triggers – rising/ falling edge, pulse width, and video – to help identify and isolate the signals of interest

Advanced math capabilities and sixteen different automated measurements

Integrates USB port to enable users to save their instrument settings, screenshots and waveform data easily

Comes with an Education Resource CD that contains a library of information and guidance tools

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Through a single interface the element14 knode gives the design engineer immediate access to a world of electronic design solutions. Automating the creation of project design from initial concept to full realisation, increasing productivity and accelerating time to market as another unique aspect of the element14 global engineering community

In line with the Group’s focus on providing engineering design solutions, driving business to the web and growth in emerging markets, Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), today announced the launch of the element14 knode, a revolutionary online design platform that is exclusively focused on the needs of electronic design engineers. Unveiled today at the Design Automation Conference, San Diego, CA, the element14 knode provides one interface to a world of engineering design solutions. It supports the complete design flow from concept to final production and is unique in enabling engineers to research, design, develop and prototype manufacture in a single, intelligent environment. Products get to market more quickly, and by automating the configuration of product design flow solutions, valuable engineering resource can be increasingly focused on application design and IP creation.

In the course of creating electronic products, design engineers visit multiple sites to gather relevant technical information and to begin assembling the correct hardware and software solutions for their design. The element14 knode is unique in providing a single on-line platform for performing all of these activities. Based on an engineer’s initial specification it automates the creation of explicit dependencies and inter-relationships with other system level components to quickly build a custom design flow – whether it be development kits, design tools, operating systems and stacks, Intellectual Property or services such as PCB design and manufacture. These have all been integrated into one convenient place: the element14 knode – KNOwledge for Design Engineers.

“The element14 knode offers a world of solutions in one single interface and is another exciting industry first for us offering a new and different approach to design solutions. Innovation is vital for design engineers and as their partner in innovation, we are re-defining the delivery of the solutions they need,” commented Harriet Green, CEO of Premier Farnell.

The services offered in the element14 knode v1.0 release include:

search automation and configuration for project specific design flows

development platforms and kits

operating systems and stacks

development and CAD tools

PCB services; and test solutions

an online ‘Learning Centre’

More exciting roadmap features will follow in future releases as the wave of innovation continues.

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Global agreement adds over 600 new parts from Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics available for next day delivery providing a comprehensive range of RF specific components.

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), in line with the company’s focus on Electronic Design Engineers (EDE), driving business to the web and growth in emerging markets, announces a global franchise distribution agreement with Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics, a leading specialist in the design and supply of ceramic solutions and a comprehensive range of RF specific applications.

Premier Farnell customers will now have global access to Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics’ expansive portfolio of high frequency ceramic solutions for cellular, WLAN, Bluetooth, RF/microwave, millimetre wave, and fibre optic applications, as well as custom high frequency ceramic solutions. Customers will have access to a broad range of multi and single layer capacitors, RF inductors, LTCC based chip antennas, baluns, balanced Filters, band pass filters, low pass filters, couplers, and diplexers, as well as other components.

In this agreement, Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics will extend their marketing support to Premier Farnell, and collaborate on new product information via element14, Premier Farnell’s innovative information portal and online community exclusively created for electronic design engineers to globally collaborate, share and access new information to support them in their design work.

Through Premier Farnell’s global distribution network and element14, Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics’ products can be ordered in bulk and are available for next-day delivery. Local language websites and regional offices ensure that Premier Farnell’s customers receive excellent sales and technical support on all its product lines.

“This global distribution agreement with Johanson Technology and Johanson Dielectrics is an integral part of our global EDE strategy to enhance the Premier Farnell value proposition by continually developing and growing our already extensive line card of leading technology suppliers to satisfy the evolving requirements of our customers worldwide,” said David Shen, Group Senior Vice President and Global Head of EDE and Technical Marketing of Premier Farnell. “We are very excited by the opportunity this new distribution agreement with Johanson affords us to attract new design engineering customers worldwide.”

“We believe this new partnership with the Premier Farnell Group of Companies strengthens our position in servicing design and development professionals on a global scale. It provides our customer base with a new global channel with access to a broad cross section of stocked Johanson products that are available for immediate delivery,” said John Petrinec, Johanson Technology CEO.

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Advanced sensing solutions to meet growing demand for high performance sensors across the different industries in Asia Pacific

element14 (formerly Farnell), the industry’s first fusion of commerce and community supporting design engineers and electronic component purchasing professionals worldwide today expanded its 130,000 products inventory with the introduction of cutting edge Xtrinsic Sensing Solutions from Freescale, one of the world’s leading innovators of sensor technology.

Sensory technology is currently one of the fastest growing semiconductor sectors. Research firm, Gartner has predicted that the sales of non-optical sensors will grow to $6.2 billion by 2014 globally. For engineers in the Asia Pacific region, this soaring demand also translates into a rising need for advanced sensing solutions that can provide leading performance across multiple applications.

“Sensors have become the key drivers for technological progression across many electronic categories, including smart phones and medical equipment. element14 understands that engineers are constantly being challenged to find smarter sensor components to support the cutting edge devices and applications designs that we have today,” said Marc Grange, Head of Product Management, element14, Asia Pacific. “In order to meet this challenge, we strengthened our partnership with Freescale, and introduced the Xtrinsic Sensing Solutions series. This series seamlessly integrates intelligent sensing capability and precision to enable engineers in the region to develop multifunctional, intuitive, and ultimately, more intelligent devices for the markets.”

Professionals in the electronics industry can purchase Freescale’s Xtrinsic Sensing Solutions with ease and flexibility for purchase via multiple channels with no minimum quantity or value, and next day delivery in most cities in Asia Pacific. 24/7 customer service telephone support and 24/5 online technical support are also available. In addition, customers can also visit and engage with the element14 online community to research, consult industry experts, and collaborate with design engineers and electronics enthusiasts around the globe.

Heralding a new age of sensing experience
Freescale’s Xtrinsic Sensing Solutions feature intelligent contextual sensing which enables sensors to have decision making capability. This innovative feature creates and manages a diverse portfolio of sensors that provide multiple inputs and extract maximum amount of information from the environment.

These multiple sensor types coordinate their data coherently through advanced, modular integration. This intelligent integration allows the right combination of leading sensor types, logic and other building blocks to produce smarter and more relevant data to solve case needs efficiently. These sensing solutions also make sophisticated calculations and decision based on the context of their environment through the use of algorithms, providing engineers with interpreted sensing information and control over sensing decisions to innovate and maximise the efficiency of their designs.

Versatile, intelligent and energy efficient
MMA8450QT, a member of the Freescale’s Xtrinsic Sensing Solutions family, is a smart low-power, accelerometer that provides 12-bit data with first in, first out (FIFO) to accomplish complex gesture recognition and position detection. It has two programmable interrupt pins that allow the independent monitoring of the two functions.

In addition, this component’s embedded FIFO buffer enables a more efficient analysis of gestures and user programmable algorithms. This function ensures that no data is lost on a shared I2C bus and enables system level power savings of up to 96% of the total power consumption savings by allowing the applications processor to sleep while data is logged.

More about the MMA8450QT:

Access to both low pass filtered data as well as high pass filtered data, which minimizes the data analysis required for jolt detection and faster transitions.

Configured to generate inertial wake-up interrupt signals from any combination of the configurable embedded functions, thus allowing the component to monitor events and remain in a low power mode during periods of inactivity.

Wide range of application, including static orientation detection, real-time orientation detection and activity analysis and motion detection for portable power saving.

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Service provides design engineers and enthusiasts with instant quotes on element14’s global community and quick delivery of manufactured boards

To further support the design process from concept to prototype, element14, the first collaborative engineering community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts, today announced a partnership with leading printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer Pentalogix, to offer its PCB Fabrication Service on element14’s electronics community. This cost-effective service, available at www.element14.com/pcbservices further streamlines the design cycle for engineers and electronics enthusiasts, offering instant, customized quotes and fast, high-quality board delivery for prototype PCB implementation.

“The landscape of electronic design and production has changed dramatically over the past several years, with increased competition leading to shorter development schedules, forcing design teams to find ways to cut development time and costs,” said David Shen, Senior VP, Global Technical Marketing, Premier Farnell. “We are excited to partner with Pentalogix to provide design engineers and enthusiasts an integrated and streamlined process for PCB implementations.”

The Pentalogix PCB Fabrication Service delivers quick turnaround time on project deliverables, enabling engineers, buyers and hobbyists to upload their design files with a few simple clicks, instantly obtain online quotes for their prototype PCB implementation, and receive their boards in one to two days. In the past, fabrication quotes alone could take the same amount of time. Available globally, 24 hours per day, seven days a week, this unique service also allows for boards to be tested in advance at no extra cost, ensuring the highest quality and accuracy.

“element14 consistently demonstrates its commitment to supporting design engineers at every stage of development, and the Pentalogix service enhances that level of support to its global community,” said Agustin Araujo, President, Pentalogix. “The collaborative nature of element14 and its audience of professional design engineers, electronics buyers, and DIY hobbyists make it an ideal platform for the Pentalogix service, and that’s why we chose them to be our exclusive partner”

Pentalogix provides expertise in Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) and Design for Manufacture (DFM), and strives to deliver continued evolution of technologically advanced and affordable solutions to PCB designers and manufacturers. One of the most unique features of the service offered through element14 is the use of the Pentalogix ViewMate with SmartDFM technology for processing board files, which allows for accurate PCBs. This service is also included in CadSofts’s award-winning EAGLE PCB design software, streamlining the entire process of building a PCB board.

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