NRwell Global

 

Welcome to our News Page!

Keep up to date with the latest company news and product information from NRwell.

Please feel free to contact us if you require any further information regarding any articles posted.

 

 

 

NRwell Wins International Trade Award!

We are very proud to announce that NRwell won the International Trade Award at the Staffordshire Business Awards 2022. 
The award recognises companies that excel in exporting, whether that is one product or service to a single overseas customer or numerous product lines to multiple continents.
What a fantastic achievement and well done to all of the team at NRwell.  

Category: News
Posted: July 21, 2022

NRwell Celebrates it's 5 Year Anniversary.

NRwell had such a great time celebrating it's 5 Year Anniversary.

We are one team and one big family.

Thank you so much for all our team's hard work and we look forward to going even harder next year.

Category: News
Posted: June 13, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are grateful for the support of our customers and partners this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving on behalf of everyone at NRwell Ltd.

Category: News
Posted: November 25, 2021

Manufacturers Face Extended Lead Times Due To Micro-chip Shortage.

Technology is changing how we live and work. From the smartphones in our pockets to datacentres powering the internet, inside are tiny pieces of tech that make it all possible: semiconductors. Tiny electronic switches, also known as transistors, run computations inside our computers. Manufacturing transistors out of silicon allowed them to be made small enough to fit on a microchip, resulting to a rush of gadgets and tech products that have become smaller and smarter by the year.


Why is the world short of Microchips?


Demand of the semiconductor chips has now exceeded supply, affecting more than 169 industries. This has resulted in major shortages, long lead times and queues for video game consoles, graphics cards, cars, and many other products.The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a supply/demand imbalance. The global lockdowns led to chip production facilities being shut down, leading to the depletion of stocks, just at the time people had to stay at home and upgrade their electronic devices, such as computers and monitors to work from home.


What made matters worse in 2020 China's biggest chip manufacturer, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) was faced with US government restrictions which then in turn made it harder for them to sell to companies with American ties. This resulted in companies using other manufacturing plants that were already at maximum, such as Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). In 2020, TSMC alone accounted for more than 50% of the global market of semiconductor chips, whereas according to the Semiconductor Industry Association the US now only accounts for 12 per cent of global manufacturing of chips. Just to make matters worse, natural disasters struck earlier this year and Taiwan experienced its worst drought in more than half a century, which led to further problems among the chip manufacturers as they use large amounts of ultra-pure water to clean the factories and wafers containing crystalline silicon. Texas factories were also forced to shut down due to a winter storm earlier this year and a fire at a plant in Japan also caused similar delays.

 

What does the foreseeable future look like?


Governments globally are promoting self-sufficiency and are investing more into semiconductor manufacturing and research.  US President Joe Biden is looking to secure $50b in government funding and seeks partnerships with the largest manufacturers, TSMC being one of them. Biden also has the difficult decision of targeting which industries require the money. Car makers in the U.S warn of a potential devasting shortfall if their industry is not given priority.

The European Union also has plans to develop and manufacture the world’s most advanced semiconductors by 2030. Whilst mature semiconductors are already produced in Europe, officials want the region to manufacture chips that are faster than the most efficient currently made by industry leaders.

Marvell Technology CEO has stated that the global chip shortage could extend through to 2022 if it stays business as usual. Although, chip manufacturers are also tackling the shortage head on. Intel announced in March 2021 ‘it would double down on manufacturing and invest $20 billion in two new chip factories in Arizona.’ Whilst several chip factories have plans to extend the factory capacity, many plans may not take effect until 2023/2024 as in some cases it can take 18-24 months to begin a new factory plant.


What industries have been affected?


Automotive Sector


The automotive sector has been hit the worst. Cars account for 15% of global chip production. Sales of used-cars are up globally, for instance, because new vehicles on average have 1,400 and 3000 chips which are now in short supply. Car manufacturers such as Toyota, Ford and Volvo have temporarily halted or slowed production at their factories due to the semiconductor shortages. Ford expects to lose 1.1 million units of production in 2021 as a result of the semiconductor shortage. Companies such as Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover have also shut down factories, laid off workers and slashed vehicle production.

 

Appliance and Technology products


Samsung announced that the chip shortage is hitting television and appliance production, while LG admitted the shortage is a risk. The shortage is also to affect production numbers of toothbrushes, tumble dryers, washing machines, as well as many other products that we rely on such as smart phones. Mobile manufacturers are now starting to feel the impact of the global chip shortage with Apple warning that the shortage could affect iPhone sales, who stockpiled critical components earlier on. As for gaming consoles, who knows how long gamers will continue to struggle to get their hands on the new Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5 systems.


Utility, Oil & Gas and Rail Industry

Microchip technologies support shipping, trucking, and storing of raw materials. The industries also use microchips for microcontrollers (MCUs), sensors, memory, automation, and navigation. New microchip technologies help with automation, electrification, digital connectivity, safety, and security.


Manufacturing Industry


The manufacturing industry also has been impacted by the shortages and the ever-increasing lead times within the industrial automation market are not showing any improvements. Industrial Automation manufacturers such as Allen Bradley, Schneider, and Siemens face quoting lead times of over 52 weeks on new items.


Semiconductors are used in virtually all graphics cards, temperature and safety sensors, high-end CPUs and even some power supplies. Without the critical semiconductor, many PCB’s cannot further in assembly production, many are put on hold because of the shortage, leaving many businesses and machinery lines without the critical electrical components.


A recent survey by the UK machine health monitoring specialist, Senseye revealed that machine failures are causing industrial facilities to lose an average of more than a day of production a month, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year.  Keeping stock of critical components to keep machinery up and running, and an updated review of inventory management, is required now more than ever with electrical component shortages. Businesses face costly breakdowns and machinery downtime by not holding back-up surplus items ready to install.


At NRwell, we experience this situation daily and we aim to provide spare parts and repairs as quickly as possible to minimise downtime. The issue of not holding surplus items that are critical to production is only made worse when the components are obsolete and hard-to-find.


We understand the stresses and costly situations of downtime machinery breakdowns can cause and the pressure put on maintenance teams to resolve them. Being specialised in the obsolete market, we make it is easier for companies and locate the hard-to-find spares for them. We want to prepare businesses for unwanted production down time and we advise companies to determine surplus relative to budget and scale and how likely a particular component may let you down.


The bottom line is: this will not get sorted overnight. With the pandemic accelerating the demand whilst in the middle of tech boom, for now we just cannot keep up. We now must adapt to the shortage and focus on purchasing surplus to keep the business running as usual.


Contact sales@nrwell.com  today if you need help sourcing surplus stock.

 

Category: News
Posted: October 26, 2021

Congratulations Charlie

Congratulations to Charlie, who has recently completed the final assessments of her Business Administrator Apprenticeship here at NRwell.

We are so proud of you!

Category: News
Posted: March 19, 2021

Locating obsolete Industrial Automation Spares

NRwell Ltd specialises in supplying obsolete spares to industries such as Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Transport, Food & Beverage and Plastics & Packaging. But just how important are the obsolete spares in the industrial automation market?

Check out our recent article 'Locating obsolete Industrial Automation Spares' in the latest issue of Worldwide Engineering magazine.

Locating obsolete Industrial Automation Spares — Worldwide Engineering Magazine (worldwide-engineering.com)

 

Category: News
Posted: March 03, 2021

NRwell Prepares for Brexit Transition

We are pleased to announce our preparations in order to support our customers during the Brexit transition.

We want to ensure our trade partners that there will be no immediate impact upon our services.

As of January 1st 2021 all goods to be delivered to Europe and other countries that the UK has yet to sign an agreement with, will be expedited from our warehouse in Portugal. This will avoid any interruption to services, such as custom delays and unwanted tax liabilities.

Please be assured that as more information becomes available, we will continue to review our position and share any further updates.

Our number one priority is supporting our customers and we will continue to deliver a high-quality service.

If you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We thank you for your on-going support and look forward to continuing to work together.

Category: News
Posted: December 07, 2020

Congratulations to Diogo

Congratulations to Diogo, who has recently completed his Business Adminstrator apprenticeship here at NRwell.

We are so proud of you for passing your final assessments! 

Category: News
Posted: November 05, 2020

Leave a review on Trustpilot

Your experience is important to us, and we would love to hear your feedback of our services.

Leave a review on Trustpilot of your experience using NRwell and receive £50/$50 off your next order!*

*Terms and Conditions: Promotion valid only for 1 order and can only be redeemed once per customer.

£50/$50 off redeemed only on orders over£500 (excl. VAT)/ $500.

Customers must publish their review on Trustpilot only.

Review must be entered and valid on Trustpilot first, to redeem discount on next order.

Promotion valid on quotations issued from 1st September until 31st October 2020.

Category: Offers
Posted: October 01, 2020

Order Siemens products today and receive your FREE face masks!

From the 25th September  2020, there is a manufacturer price increase on Siemens products.

All quotations of Siemens sent before this date, will need to be re-validated if you are placing your order after the 25th September.

We offer various solutions such as new, refurbished and obsolete Siemens spares!

  • SIMATIC Industrial Automation Systems
  • SINUMERIK CNC Automation
  • SIMOTION Motion Control Systems
  • SIRIUS Industrial Controls
  • PROFINET & PROFIBUS Communication
  • SITOP Power Supplies
  • Integrated Drive Systems

We have thousands of parts available in-stock, which are all dispatched same-day!

Place your order of Siemens products today and receive FREE face masks!*

*Terms & Conditions: Free Face masks supplied with any orders of Siemens products placed before September 25th. Subject to availability. Masks may be KN95 or 3-ply disposable. Masks are for non-medical use. Quantities may vary.

Category: Products
Posted: September 07, 2020