Does video exist of inside the digikey warehouse? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 05:44:08 am
content: Like the subject says.Has anyone seen a video or documentary on the inner workings of digikey?Apart from the conveyer belt pic below i have no idea how they work internally and it would be quite interesting to see how orders are processed.Do they have robots that pick the needed bins of shelves for each order? etc.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 06:00:48 am
content: Quote from: Psi on February 06, 2012, 05:44:08 amNo video but there is the one still photograph.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 06:12:01 am
content: I've always wanted to do a blog tour of the Digikey factory.I've been invited to the Element 14 one here is Sydney, but never got around to it.IIRC Chris got an open invite to visit, and I'd guess by extension, me too.Slight problem of 14,000km or so...Dave.

author: mobbarley
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 08:14:45 am
content: you should definitely check out the back of e14 some day!

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 08:46:43 am
content: I want to see a digikey employee picking a single 0402 resistor to fill an orderWho knows, maybe they have a huge number of pick and place reel feeders that can electronically cut off X resistors.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 10:55:14 am
content: Turns out, I could be US west coast bound in April.If Digikey want to fly me half away across the country and back, I'll happily shoot a tourDave.

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 03:31:24 pm
content: Going to bring a few extra suitcases to Apex this time Dave?

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 08:58:07 pm
content: Quote from: Jon Chandler on February 06, 2012, 03:31:24 pmHe can bring them, but getting them out is a whole different problem.Improvised electronic devices are suspicious. Maybe they think we can make a remote controlled bomb. It could connect to a modified laptop: add XBee or something with a decent range to an expansion card, then a receiver and a huge battery to explode on the suitcase. The US migration security should have someone who can differentiate a potentially harmful circuit from a normal one. That guy could also check for modified electronics and chemicals and drugs. You only have to learn electronics engineering and chemical science.

author: harnon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 09:36:51 pm
content: I took a box of electronic bits in checked luggage from the UK to Aus and back again... nobody blinked an eyelid and it wasn't inspected. I did have a bunch of charger/usb cables pulled out and inspected one by one in my checked luggage once, but that was flying into Oslo just after the bombing.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 10:14:57 pm
content: Here is a pic on Google Images, not sure how old it is or how accurate it is.Looks like it is mostly hand picked...

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2012, 10:29:15 pm
content: Interesting, that's just a fraction of the size of the digikey building, so obviously a lot more goes on.But as you say, that area is hand picked.Containers come in on conveyer where they are remove, filled with ordered items and placed back on the conveyer.The container color maybe to signify if an order is now finished in that area of the building.The downward facing camera visible on the conveyer line probably detects when a new container has been added or an existing container removed. It also probably can tell from the color which containers are done with that area on the factory. So blue containers are looped around and around while red go to the next area which deals with other parts of the order.And there's also quite a few smaller conveyers at 90deg to the main conveyer from the other side, perhaps a holding area, or the first stage in the whole order process where new containers join the main line.

author: harnon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 07:17:42 am
content: Far more likely that the "cameras" are barcode readers. Changing crates to signify if a job is picked is potentially very ugly... Pick accuracy would be very poor and it would be time consuming.Perhaps the scanner reads the paperwork, and if there is something to pick near this station it stops the crate, otherwise it keeps going. That would prevent pickers walking all over the warehouse to find a particular resistor keeping travel time low and pick rates up. Of course that may be rubbish!Sometimes on manual pick stations they use cameras to detect when an item has been put into a tote and then they can double check the weight, but I don't think this is the case here as the camera is before the pick station and the parts can be very light!

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 09:24:27 am
content: it would be a candy store whoever gets in there and could take anything what he could carry with his hands

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 09:35:33 am
content: Quote from: harnon on February 07, 2012, 07:17:42 amWouldn't reading a barcode over that distance be equally has hard. If it was printed on some bit of paper left in the tray it wouldnt be very reliable.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 09:45:39 am
content: Quote from: harnon on February 06, 2012, 09:36:51 pmI've often taken all sorts of electronic prototype stuff in carry-on (not to US though), and not even had them open the bag - I think current x-ray machines are pretty good at discriminating explosives etc.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 09:49:41 am
content: Quote from: M. András on February 07, 2012, 09:24:27 amI'll take a half dozen ofthese guys, thank you very much.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 09:54:55 am
content: why a half dozen, bring in the suitcasenot to say i wouldnt even know where to begin using the capability of such an fpga, that thing is just... alot,

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 10:19:29 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 07, 2012, 09:49:41 am

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 10:32:21 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 07, 2012, 09:49:41 ami'd rather have this, it's more expensive and much more useful.http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/MSO%20104XS-B/MSO%20104XS-B-ND/2796165

author: ndictu
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 10:34:50 am
content: Quote from: Psi on February 07, 2012, 09:35:33 amStandard EAN barcode? Yes. Something like QR code? No problem. It can be easily found in picture even when distorted, parts can be torn out, obscured by dirt, etc thanks to a good error correction. I've written a qr code scanner few years back, as long it had about 1 qr code pixel to 1 camera pixel resolution ratio it worked perfectly, and that is not that hard to achieve.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 10:47:58 am
content: Quote from: Rerouter on February 07, 2012, 09:54:55 amWell, they only have a half dozen in stock. I know we're playing make believe fantasy and all, but I'm making a conscious effort to keep it real.Quote from: EEVblog on February 07, 2012, 10:19:29 am...or worse yet, if packers were actually held liable for ESD damage.Quote from: Psi on February 07, 2012, 10:32:21 amYeah, but you can only walk out with 2. If I sell 2 FPGAs at a reasonable half price, I can have my cake, experiment with frosting a bit, and still eat it too.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 11:02:29 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 07, 2012, 10:47:58 amSelling $20k FPGAs would be pretty hard.Anyone who needs that sort of IC isn't going to be looking for them on ebay.And an ebay auction would either look "too cheap to be real" or "too expensive to be worth the risk"

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 11:10:56 am
content: Quote from: Psi on February 07, 2012, 11:02:29 amIn my fantasy world, US$20k FPGAs sell like hot cakes....and while we're at it, I'm imagining eBay is backed by FDIC with a 100% money back guarantee.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2012, 01:16:35 pm
content: heh, $20,000 ebay dispute claim over a lump of black plastic.That would be an interesting conversation.i can imagine the ebay employee looking at the item and saying"unbelievable that this little piece of junk could be such a big problem"

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 09:08:19 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 07, 2012, 09:49:41 amthese would be some small "diamonds" cos i couldnt use them if i wanted to, i never learned programming so these microprocessors are out of my reach

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 09:55:02 am
content: Quote from: M. András on February 08, 2012, 09:08:19 amThey're impractically "out of reach" even for those capable of developing the device. Just to put it into perspective, it would cost a few thousand US dollars alone to manufacture a prototype PCB capable of supporting the device.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 10:15:21 am
content: just on the topic of that chip, does anyone know where such a beast is even used, a half million logic blocks must be near AI level stuff..

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 10:24:44 am
content: Quote from: Rerouter on February 08, 2012, 10:15:21 amI know of at least 3:1) digital ASIC design to simulate complex digital architectures prior to manufacture,2) military applications with respect to radar signal processing3) research in supercomputing and massively parallel architecturesP.S. It's to my understanding that the seemingly massive fabric resources in the largest FPGAs on the market today aren't enough to completely synthesize modern CPU architectures.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 11:48:23 am
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 08, 2012, 10:24:44 amThey might be large enough to test individual sections of modern cpus though.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 12:06:33 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on February 08, 2012, 11:48:23 amYeah. A handful of those bad boys are integrated on a custom in-house platform in a similar manner asNallatechdevices.

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 06:06:04 pm
content: Have you seen Digikey on Google Earth? It isn't that big. In fact it isn't even the biggest building on the block. When I was looking for their warehouse I automatically went for the biggest building in Thief River Falls (which to be fair is a two-horse town in the middle of nowhere). It turns out that their neighbours are Arctic Cat. All I can say is, business in sleds and quad bikes must be booming!I think I would need paying to travel all the way out there for a tour, there isn't a massive amount to see. Unless you are into rectangular farm fields for hundreds of miles, or want to see the Ralph Engelstad arena (no, I dunno either).Farnell's HQ is just up the road from me, maybe I should pester them for a visit

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2012, 09:12:27 pm
content: Quote from: slateraptor on February 08, 2012, 09:55:02 ami meant under "these" the cheap onc the few ten dollar versions of them too