18 Manufacturers’ Part Numbers, Decoded: How Crossing to Walsin Actually Works

A cross reference to Walsin matches an incumbent specification against Walsin’s published
catalogue and names a compatible Walsin part. Two tools do it. Walsin’s own search asks you to
pick the vendor from a list of 22 named manufacturers plus “Unknown”. VenaMatch identifies the
manufacturer from the part number itself, without being told. Both end at a candidate for
evaluation.

Two design choices, one job. Walsin Technology (Walsin) built a manufacturer’s tool; Venatech
Limited, an authorised Walsin distributor in Hong Kong, built a distributor’s tool. Walsin does
not sell direct, so naming a compatible Walsin part is the whole of what the manufacturer can
responsibly do. Ours carries the same answer into a quantity, an RFQ line and a person. Division
of labour, not deficiency.

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What does a cross reference to Walsin actually mean?

It means taking the fields that describe your incumbent part and finding Walsin part numbers
that carry the same fields. Nothing more. The output is a specification match against a
published catalogue, offered as a candidate for evaluation — not an approved substitution, and
not an opinion about your circuit.

That definition matters because it sets the boundary of what any cross can deliver. A cross can
tell you that a Walsin part carries the same case size, dielectric, value, tolerance and
voltage. It cannot tell you whether the part passes your qualification plan, survives your
depanelling process, or fits under your shield can.

Both tools say so in their own words. Walsin’s cross-reference preamble reads: you must evaluate
the suggested replacement and conduct necessary tests before proceeding with mass production.
VenaMatch prints a standing disclaimer to the same effect on every result it returns.

Which manufacturers can be crossed to Walsin?

Walsin’s own cross-reference search names 22 vendors on a radio list, plus an “Unknown” option
for a part number it is not told the origin of. The list is: ATC, AVX, CCTC, Darfon, Holystone,
Johanson, Kemet, Kyocera, Murata, NIC, Novacap, Panasonic, Samsung, Samwha, Syfer, Taiyo, TDK,
Temex, Vishay, Yageo, Eyang and 風華.

That is a deliberate and useful design. A named list tells you up front whose numbering schemes
the tool has been taught, and the “Unknown” option means an unfamiliar code is still a valid
input rather than a dead end. If your incumbent is on the list, you have an explicit answer
about coverage before you type anything.

VenaMatch states its coverage differently. Its page reads “Murata, Samsung, TDK and 10 more”,
alongside “ceramic capacitors and chip resistors” and “matched on size, value, tolerance, voltage
and product family”. It does not present a list to pick from, because it does not ask the
question.

Do I have to tell the tool which manufacturer the part came from?

On Walsin’s search, yes — selecting the vendor is a required step before it will query. On
VenaMatch, no. In testing, a part number was entered with no vendor selected anywhere in the
flow, and VenaMatch identified the manufacturer from the part number and echoed it back before
decoding the specification.

Neither behaviour is better in the abstract; they answer different situations. Naming the vendor
is the right design when you know the origin and want the search narrowed deterministically. Not
asking is the right design when a BOM line has arrived with a bare code in it and nobody
remembers who made it.

The practical upshot for a buyer is that both routes are open. If you have a clean BOM with
manufacturer names against every line, Walsin’s list is a direct path. If you have a column of
part numbers and no attribution — which is the more common state of a BOM extract — VenaMatch
takes the column as it stands. Crossing a whole BOM
covers the list path.

Which product lines can be crossed?

The same two families on both tools. Walsin’s cross-reference search offers two product types,
MLCC and CHIP-R. VenaMatch offers MLCC and Chip resistor at its category step, and its page
describes its coverage as ceramic capacitors and chip resistors.

That symmetry is not a coincidence. Ceramic capacitors and chip resistors are the two lines where
a second source is asked for most often, where the parameter set is small enough to match
honestly, and where an incumbent specification is usually complete enough to work from. They are
also the two largest lines by part count: Venatech’s extracts hold 24,026 Walsin MLCC part
numbers and 234,815 Walsin chip resistor part numbers.

Lines outside those two — inductors, varistors, disc capacitors, RF and antennas — are not cross
tool territory on either side. For those, send the specification and a person will work it.
Chip resistor crosses have their own field list, set out in
Cross-referencing chip resistors to Walsin.

Which fields does the matching compare?

Five, on an MLCC: case size, dielectric, capacitance, tolerance and rated voltage. VenaMatch
prints each one with a tick when it matches, and states the product family alongside. Those five
fields are what the catalogue can be searched on, and Venatech’s extract shows how much and how
little they resolve.

Field	Distinct values in Venatech’s 24,026-row MLCC extract	What it settles	Match / mismatch on its own
Case size	17	Nominal length and width	Mismatch — says nothing about thickness
Dielectric	10	Temperature characteristic and class	Mismatch — one of the ten values is not a dielectric
Capacitance	290	The nominal value	Mismatch — depends which field you trust
Tolerance	29	The electrical band	Mismatch — written 29 different ways
Rated voltage	25	The DC rating	Mismatch — no derating information
All five together	16,404 combinations	The headline specification	Match on specification, mismatch on grade and termination

Case size is the field that misleads most, because a reader treats it as a full mechanical
description. It is not: it fixes nominal length and width and leaves height open.
Thickness and tolerance
works through the consequence.

How often does one specification return more than one Walsin part?

Often enough that it is the normal case, not the exception. Grouping Venatech’s extract by all
five fields gives 16,404 distinct specifications. 4,748 of them — 29% — are shared by more than
one Walsin part number, and 12,370 of the 24,026 parts sit in a specification they share with at
least one other part.

The busiest specifications return eight parts. One of them is a 0603 NPO 5.0 pF ±0.25 pF 50 Vdc
line, which returns eight part numbers across seven Walsin series:

Walsin part number	Series	L × W (mm)	Match / mismatch against a 0603 NPO 5.0 pF ±0.25 pF 50 V line
0603N5R0C500	General Purpose	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Match on all five fields — baseline commercial part
MT18N5R0C500	Automotive MT, AEC-Q200	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: AEC-Q200 automotive grade
MG18N5R0C500	Automotive MG, no AEC-Q200	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: automotive series without AEC-Q200
HH18N5R0C500	High Q & Low ESR HH	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: high-Q RF construction
RF18N5R0C500	Microwave RF	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: microwave series
SG18N5R0C500	Soft termination SG, Cu-poly	1.60±0.20 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: soft termination, wider length band
SH18N5R0C500	Soft termination SH, Ag-poly	1.60±0.20 × 0.80±0.10	Match on five fields — mismatch: soft termination, wider length band
MT18N5R1C500	Automotive MT, AEC-Q200	1.60±0.10 × 0.80±0.10	Mismatch — part-number code 5R1 reads 5.1 pF while the capacitance field reads 5.0 pF

All eight are NP0, 0603, 50 V and within a quarter of a picofarad of each other. The decision
between them is qualification grade, termination construction and RF performance — three things
outside the five fields.

What can the matching not settle for me?

Four things, and they are the four that decide the design: qualification grade, termination
construction, thickness, and quantity. Walsin publishes all four. None of them is derivable from
the five fields a cross compares, which is why a candidate list is the right output and a single
answer would be the wrong one.

Walsin’s own tool is explicit about the mechanical half. Its step 4 instruction reads: “Double
check the thickness and tolerance of the suggested part to ensure accuracy.” That is a
manufacturer telling users the honest thing, and it is worth quoting rather than paraphrasing.

Quantity is the field only a distributor can act on. VenaMatch asks how many you need, with the
helper text that a rough annual figure is fine because it is what gets you the right price break,
then opens an RFQ line and offers to put you in front of a person. Walsin’s tool carries no
quantity field, no stock and no enquiry action, and that is correct — a manufacturer that does not
sell direct has nothing to quote.

Which languages are the two tools offered in?

Walsin’s cross-reference search is offered in four: 繁體中文, 简体中文, English and 日本語.
VenaMatch carries a three-way switcher, EN · 繁 · 简. Both reflect where their users are, and a
buyer in Tokyo has a Japanese path on the manufacturer’s tool.

Language matters more on a cross than on most pages, because the person holding the BOM and the
person approving the substitution are often reading in different scripts. A tolerance band that is
unambiguous in English and ambiguous in translation is a real risk on a qualification document.

If a cross needs to be documented in a language neither tool offers, ask. Venatech’s Hong Kong
office works in English, 繁體 and 简体, and a written candidate list is easier to circulate for
approval than a screenshot.

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FAQ

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Next step

Send the part numbers you have, in whatever state they are in. Venatech Limited, an authorised
Walsin distributor in Hong Kong, will return the Walsin candidates, every field that matches,
every field that does not, the orderable code with its packaging suffix, and a quantity-based
quote against the lines you are actually building.

Send your BOM to Venatech · Browse the
Walsin MLCC range · Read
Why a manufacturer’s cross tool ends where your decision begins
and How to cross-reference an MLCC properly.

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Cross it yourself. The cross-reference tool takes a single part number or a whole BOM column and returns the Walsin candidates with every field that differs stated plainly — qualification stays with you. Ready stock shows what is held in Hong Kong today, with an RFQ against any line.