Just a 'nosiness' question really 
We use reasonably 'large' quantities of specific sized 4 core cable - and it's getting more and more difficult to find it.
Originally we used to source it from RS Components (now renamed as just RS), it was often out of stock and was put on back order, then they discontinued it and we had to buy their replacement - then they discontinued the replacement as well.
So after much searching we managed to find a suitable replacement at Farnell, from AlphaWire.
Rather bizarrely this is dispatched directly from the US manufacturer, and comes 're-spooled' on either 100 feet small plastic drums, or 300 ft wooden drums - and the supply of this is rather spasmodic as well.
My question is simply, why do they re-spool the wire? - is it just kept on huge drums, and they re-spool to smaller ones as orders come in?.
Another interesting point is the cost - it's quite a bit cheaper to buy three 100 foot drums than one 300 foot drum - and as we cut it down to short lengths (just over 1 metre) it makes sense to order the smaller drums
Again, strangely, when you try and order from Farnell, either one or the other size drums might have longer expected delivery dates - so even though the 300 foot drums cost more, we sometimes order those in order to get them more quickly.
We had three 300 foot drums arrive yesterday, and are expecting 37 (some others came previously) 100 foot drums today.
Why is life so difficult buying something as simple as wire?.
We use reasonably 'large' quantities of specific sized 4 core cable - and it's getting more and more difficult to find it.
Originally we used to source it from RS Components (now renamed as just RS), it was often out of stock and was put on back order, then they discontinued it and we had to buy their replacement - then they discontinued the replacement as well.
So after much searching we managed to find a suitable replacement at Farnell, from AlphaWire.
Rather bizarrely this is dispatched directly from the US manufacturer, and comes 're-spooled' on either 100 feet small plastic drums, or 300 ft wooden drums - and the supply of this is rather spasmodic as well.
My question is simply, why do they re-spool the wire? - is it just kept on huge drums, and they re-spool to smaller ones as orders come in?.
Another interesting point is the cost - it's quite a bit cheaper to buy three 100 foot drums than one 300 foot drum - and as we cut it down to short lengths (just over 1 metre) it makes sense to order the smaller drums
Again, strangely, when you try and order from Farnell, either one or the other size drums might have longer expected delivery dates - so even though the 300 foot drums cost more, we sometimes order those in order to get them more quickly.
We had three 300 foot drums arrive yesterday, and are expecting 37 (some others came previously) 100 foot drums today.
Why is life so difficult buying something as simple as wire?.
