We live in the age of electronics; life without electronic equipment cannot be imagined. All these inventions in the field of electronics make our lives easy and reliable day by day. However, these products' need for replaceability and repairability cannot be denied. Here we are emphasizing the importance of part replaceability in electronic products. Part replaceability not only prolongs the life span of electronic products but also by offering a more cost-effective solution builds customer trust.

Importance of Part Replaceability:

In the context of electronic components, when a component becomes outdated or fails it’s the ability to seamlessly replace the individual component. These components include a range of parts such as capacitors, resistors, transistors, integrated circuit batteries, and many other components that face wear and tear over time. The electronic products must be designed in a way that allows users to swap out parts easily without having technical expertise and tools. By this, we not only contribute to sustainability by lowering waste but also increase the usability and longevity of products.

In this article, we will comprehensively guide you about key factors includes one must consider while comparing different electronic components. From daily life, we have many examples of replacing components such as batteries of cell phones, laptops, and computers, integrated circuits for circuit boards of complex electronics equipment at domestic and industrial levels, and capacitor banks in high voltage and low voltage electrical power systems and equipment. All these and many other electronic and electrical components after a certain period must be replaced for the proper functioning of our systems.

I. Mfr.’s Part #

Mfr.’s Part #, also known as the manufacturer’s part/product number (MPN) is a type of alphanumeric code that is uniquely assigned by the manufacturer to identify a specific electronic component. One can compare or search for a part by entering an MPN into respective search bar. It’s also good practice to get a bunch of related parts that have similar parameters and applications by searching for a “basic” MPN (e.g. STM32F407 is a basic product number for STM32F407VET6) as they are likely to be included to a certain product series. The following figure below clearly illustrates how you can identify the manufacturer’s part number for a component.

In the above figure, the red arrow indicates the manufacturer’s part number of an STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6 integrated circuit. We can enter this manufacturer’s part number into the search bar of the comprehensive comparison tab to get all the details of the respective component.

Similarly, we can add multiple components to the search bar that help us in better comparison of our product as indicated by arrows in the diagram below

II. Manufacturer

The manufacturer of a component indicates that legal authority or the company that is producing designing and manufacturing these electronic components. In the diagram below the arrow indicates the manufacturers of our STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6 integrated circuit.

By clicking on the manufacturer’s name we can know the details about the manufacturer. Richard Electronics offers components from one of the top electronic companies around the globe such as

III. Inventory count:

The inventory count on the data below enables a client to know the exact amount of stock left for the respective component. For example, our STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6 integrated circuit has 5025 pieces left in the inventory. This helps clients decide the amount of order in a better way as shown in the diagram below.

IV. Pricing (in USD)

The pricing in USD is the amount of money in US dollars that a user is going to spend per piece in order to get the product. The prices are mentioned in US Dollars mostly. However, if prices are not mentioned one can inquire about prices of any component by sending a request.

V. RoHS Compliance:

RoHS compliance, established by the EU in 2022, regulates hazardous substances to protect human health and the environment. Manufacturers and distributors in the electronics and electrical equipment sectors must adhere to these regulations for products sold in the EU. RoHS restricts the use of harmful elements like lead, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, and mercury. Compliance is indicated by a logo in the product column, as shown in the figure.

VI. Package/Case:

The column showing the Package or case in the list illustrates the electronic component's type packaging or cover structure. This gives a general idea about the packaging, types, and application of the material used in the electronic components. So we can assess the properties of our respective electronic components by simply looking at the package type. For example, in the case of our STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6, the red arrow illustrates the Package/Case 100-LQFP, which is a low-profile quad flat pack for the integrated circuits. This LQFP is a thin version of QFP.

VII. Datasheet:

While comparing one or multiple electronic components the datasheets play a vital role in providing the necessary information about an electronic component. A datasheet is a PDF file document attached to each electronic component or product, like integrated circuits, capacitors, or batteries. This includes all type of information, specifications, tables, and charts that helps us in making a buying decision regarding a product the red arrow in the figure below illustrates the datasheet for our respective STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6 integrated circuit.

VIII. Number of Pins:

The number of Pins is a vital element in deciding while comparing different electronic components, many components are equipped with multiple functions nowadays, and they process multiple signals as their input and output signals. These modernizations require multiple numbers of pins in series or parallel. So as per our function and applications, we can decide our required number of pins, as indicated by the red arrow in the figure below for our respective STMicroelectronics STM32F407VET6 integrated circuit.

Conclusion:

All the above-mentioned factors play a vital in making a buying decision, there are many other considerable elements included in this process that help a buyer to compare several types of components of the same category as per the requirements and applications one must desire in his component.