The economic principle of supply and demand is more than just numbers on a chart; it's a daily reality causing huge pricing fluctuations in the electronic components industry. Richard Lodato, CEO of 1-Source Electronic Components, points to natural disasters as causing recent skyrocketing prices.

"Most recently," Lodato said, "we were featured in an article on how the floods in Thailand affected the hard drive market and the increase we've seen in hard drive procurement." This disaster came on the heels of Japan's 2011 quake and tsunami that brought production to a standstill.

"In response, we are constantly looking at ways to help with supply chain issues: re-forecasting, scheduling product, procuring excess inventory, turning to new franchised lines, and helping to find alternate products that can be spec’d in to keep costs down and production up," Lodato said.

1 Source supplies circular connectors, semiconductors, integrated circuits, as well as passive components to electronics manufacturers ranging from mom-and-pops to Fortune 500s in a variety of industries. "We sell to CMs, OEMs and government agencies," Lodato said. "We also sell to service companies and distributors."

When supply fluctuates, the ripple is felt throughout the economy. "Take our recent spike in hard drive sales," Lodato said. "The actual prices of the drives have gone up double or triple."

Being in an industry that often bears the brunt of economic cycles keeps Lodato creative about marketing, including opening offices in China and Central America to capture real-time global sales, and launching a new mil-spec and aerospace-specific website.

"Our goal is to create the curve. Look out for some exciting new launches in 2012 - including online pricing and shopping! "

For more information, please visit: www.1sourcecomponents.com