Sandsquid, a new tool for simplified electronic part ordering - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: roee
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 03:41:36 pm
content: Hey guys,Normally me and my partner develop embedded stuff, but last year we had some idea to solve how annoying and slow electronic part ordering is, so we developedwww.sandsquid.comin our spare time.It's completely free, and does automated inventory scanning, price optimization and BOM aggregation. Unlike octopart and findchips, it focuses more on complete BOMs and not so much on an individual part.It also deals with annoying stuff like price breaks. Some guys have been using it already with much success, and we thought we'd bring you the news too.We'd appreciate feedback! We want to make this annoying experience of buying parts as painless as possible, so lets all help each otherRoee

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 04:44:53 am
content: Sorry to dig up an old thread, but it looks like I'll be doing more purchasing coming up and this service seems really interesting.I gave it a shot on a test BOM and it came back with some decent results. It's not perfect, but it's better than searching findchips one part at a time. I really wish the output was better and it gave you more options for more data, but still useful.One thing I thought was kind of funny is that these guys posted the exact same message to pretty much every electronics or electronics related web forum they could think of when they launched. I won't hold it against them thoughThoughts?

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 05:43:06 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 09, 2014, 04:44:53 amThat's called spam and it's not funny.Quote from: Smokey on January 09, 2014, 04:44:53 amYou should.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 06:19:03 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 09, 2014, 04:44:53 amDoes the site actually work? I tried making an online BOM with just 2N3904, quantity 100... and nothing happened.

author: roee
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 08:38:30 am
content: edavid, the site is most definitely working (and growing!). I tried to run your parts (created an online BOM using the button):Works well here. I'd be happy if you mailed us.Quote from: LurchKeep in mind we're just people like you doing a fun project, we don't have any investors or revenue. It's our DIY websiteI don't think the intent was to be funny. If someone put up a free tool that helps them save time doing their forum-related activity, forum goersnormallydon't hold it against us unless they never buy parts and don't need such tools. It's not like we're advertising diet pills or penis enlargementSorry if you were offended, though. I'd be happy to hear if you have another idea of letting electronic engineers and hobbyists know the service exists

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 06:45:21 pm
content: Quote from: roee on January 09, 2014, 08:38:30 amOK, I didn't know about the step where you have to click on the unlabeled check box on the left side. When I do that, I get the screen below, where the circles go around forever

author: roee
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 07:21:26 pm
content: You don't need to click that part. Just put the part name and quantity in, then press the "done" button of the editor, and the big "NEXT" button to go onto the search.What browser are you using? Maybe it's a fault on our end.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 08:58:50 pm
content: Quote from: roee on January 09, 2014, 07:21:26 pmIf I just click the Done button, it doesn't fill in the first row of the BOM. Then when I click NEXT, it says there are "0 parts found".Same results with Firefox and Chrome.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 09:23:38 pm
content: When I ran my test BOM I created a spreadsheet based on their form with about 30 parts on it. The spreadsheet uploaded without any issues. I didn't manually enter anything. That worked pretty well.And It's not spam if it's relevant (and in this case useful). I only thought it was funny because Google showed up a bunch of results with the same wording.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 10:04:01 pm
content: Quote from: Lurch on January 09, 2014, 05:43:06 amIt's not like he's selling pots and pans. So it's hardly spam. It's free. Lighten up buddy.

author: peter.mitchell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 11:59:54 pm
content: so, I ran a test bom through it and it loaded up my items, i had a few items (3) that were "not found" so i clicked the box, clicked the supplier, clicked the parts that matched and nothing happened, when it went back it still said no match?

author: roee
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 10, 2014, 07:41:39 am
content: Quote from: edavid on January 09, 2014, 08:58:50 pmOh I got it. You're uploading a one-line file, so your part data is located where we look for column headers that are normally in BOMs. You can either:1. Put column headers in the first row of the BOM (such as Quantity, P/N etc - exact wording isn't important as you can always change the mapping in the site after you upload), which will push your part data to the correct second row; OR2. You can click the "Create a new BOM" button (without uploading anything) and click the fields to edit them. Then just input all the part information. This way you can create an online BOM in seconds, right there in the site. See here:Click the button:Enter part information into the columns (Manufacturer P/N and Quantity is the only things we need):And you're all set!Sorry for the misunderstanding, we really need to put up some instructional videos. We'll add a warning when a single line BOM file is uploaded as well.

author: roee
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 10, 2014, 07:47:49 am
content: Quote from: peter.mitchell on January 09, 2014, 11:59:54 pmCould you by any chance take a screenshot of what you're doing? It really helps us fix things.

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2014, 10:10:57 am
content: Nice tool, but the supplier list leaves much to be wished for by European users. I think you should include suppliers like RS components, Farnell, TME, Elfa-Distrelec. Importing stuff from US is the absolute last resort for most hobbyists or low volume manufacturers because of shipping rates and customs paperwork (especially the latter being pain in the ass).I find myself mostly designing circuits around stuff available from Farnell and TME.Well, newark and farnell are actually the same company, but is you but newark stuff through farnell, then you need to pay about 35€ extra for shipping from US.