Restricted Availability

[Faranight]

Hey! Recently I was going to make a new PCB for a certain project. I wanted to use some parts that I've ordered and used in the past, but when I checked online for the same parts they were not available any more. What's the deal with this Restricted Availability on some online stores? For example, I've ordered some #A914BYW inductors on Mouser in the past, but now the item is suddenly not available any more due to restricted availability. The parts do not seem to be obsolete, they're nothing special because they're just inductors and they're not military-related.

Why do these become restricted, and more importantly, how does one pick parts so that they don't become restricted in the future to avoid having to update your existing PCB's with replacement parts?

[Benta]

It's a supply chain issue that's been going on for the past few years. It simply means that demand is higher than availability.
Some years ago, it was called "on allocation".
The problem is, that it's self-amplifying. As soon as customers smell a whiff of supply problems, they double/triple/quadruple order the parts, making the problem much worse.
Suddenly, the limitation ends, and the bottom drops outs of the market.
Should happen within the next year.