MBX developed special production, picking, tracking and staffing procedures and built proprietary software to improve scheduling, balance workload distribution, and perform other manufacturing tasks.

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Product Description
In this new book, Susan E. Mucha explores in great detail the entire account acquisition process of companies in the electronics manufacturing service (EMS) industry. EMS companies face the challenges of a 12- to 18-month sales cycle, low margins and geographically scattered customer bases. Growing the business requires a differentiation strategy and a focused process for maintaining mindshare within a diverse target market. Susan Mucha maps the process of building… More >>

Find It. Book It. Grow It.: A Robust Process for Account Acquisition in Electronics Manufacturing Services

Outsourcing printed circuit board assembly, mechanical sub-assembly and complete finished products can contribute significantly to an electronic equipment company’s profitability and return on investment. 

Potential benefits include lower product cost, faster product introductions, higher quality and lower asset investment. Outsource manufacturing strategy not well conceived, however, can result in inflated product cost, delayed product introductions, missed deliveries and higher customer returns. Since a company’s investment in tooling and training is not readily transferable from one contractor or key sub-tier parts supplier to another, the cost of a poor or sub-optimal outsource program can easily measure in the millions of dollars.

We can identifies the most suitable suppliers for our particular client needs. We have extensive knowledge and contacts with large and smaller specialized electronics contract manufacturers in china  We perform exacting requirements analysis of our client’s assembly, test and quality control needs to determine specific equipment and process requirements. We also analyze materials cost savings potential, engineering support, location preference, short and long-term business strategy to determine comprehensive contract manufacturer selection criteria.

Qualification of contract manufacturers involves expert on-site factory audits and due diligence. Factory qualification audits surveys are customized for each client to focus on those capabilities key to client programs success. This process of factory audits plus extensive due-diligence, while more time-intensive, provides a solid base for recommendations, rather than relying on polished presentations and plant tours, which sometimes are not true representations of the services delivered. we helps identify contract manufacturers and key 2nd-tier suppliers (cables, harnesses, metals, plastics, high precision mechanical parts, valves, motors, etc.) for quotation.

It is important that the manufacturing agreement be established prior to the beginning of work – regardless of contractor size and assurances. This ensures that mutual expectations are clear and good mechanisms are in place for continued improvement. The structure and content of the electronic manufacturing agreement will vary considerably depending upon individual client needs. Contract negotiation can be expeditious with good preparation, though a program’s complexity (e.g., multiple contractor sites, product design work and other value-add services) may require that more time be spent on the process.

During manufacturing agreement negotiation, TCBC can act as a facilitator between the two parties or work behind the scenes in an advisory capacity. In either role, our objective is to help achieve the best pricing and service levels at which the electronic contract manufacturer can still make acceptable ROI – a “win-win” business relationship.

The selection of your contract manufacturing partner needs a lot of consideration. At Tommy China Business Consulting we have developed significant experience of working with companies like your own which focus on design as their core competence.

As a result of providing electronics manufacturing services for over 4 years we believe we understand what you need from a contractor and the key role we can play in adding value to your business.

As a consequence we have developed a suite of added value services aimed at:-

Reducing time to market Designing cost out of the manufacturing process Providing peace of mind for you and your stakeholders

We achieve this by focusing on our core competencies and utilising the skills and resources we have at our disposal. From the outset of our business relationship we would:-

Work closely with you to ensure your design is manufacturable Provide you with Design for Manufacture guidelines Develop a test strategy with you, capable of maximizing the test coverage of your product(s) Aid in the selection of the most appropriate printed circuit board material/finish for your product’s application Develop a supply chain which is flexible, responsive and cost effective Appoint an Account Manager to oversee your products on our sites

Electronics manufacturing in China experienced another year of record growth in 2004, exceeding even optimistic expectations. Part of this growth is certainly a trend—a bandwagon effect to keep pace with worldwide competitors who now manufacture in China today or have CM/ODM partners there. But the primary trend is about lowering product cost by leveraging the outsourcing model, and gaining access to the enormous and undeveloped local Chinese market.

Everything we do is designed to make your company more successful by offering electronics manufacturing services (EMS) from design to after-sales services in close cooperation with you. We are contract electronics manufacturer (CEM) with broad capabilities and services.

ADI’S Electronics Manufacturing Services Facility Achieves AS9100 Certification
Randolph, NJ, March 3, 2010 ADI American Distributors Inc., announced that their American Manufacturing Services Division has been certified to AS9100, the quality management standard developed for designers and manufacturers serving the international aerospace industry. Located in Okemah, OK, the ADI Division is a fully integrated EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) provider, employing …

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Back then companies that create and design complex electrical component used to manufacture equipment themselves.

In 1981, IBM changed the landscape of electronic equipment manufacturing when the company, for the first time in history, decided to outsource their manufacturing operations to a separate and independent company. It was a practical move on part of IBM. The process was convenient and, depending on where you outsource to, operation costs are cheaper. Soon this way of manufacturing electronic equipment became known as contract electronics manufacturing, or electronic contract manufacturing (ECM).

Contract electronics manufacturing allows original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies to focus on what they do best – design better electronic equipment. Afterwards this new piece of technology needs to be mass produced for consumers, and this is where ECM companies come in.

This trend of outsourcing manufacturing operations has only been around a couple of decades and it’s already made a huge impact in the industry. Especially these times, when almost everything relies on the use of a computer or a machine.

ECM companies are gauged by the accuracy of their work based on the designs given by OEM companies. Which is why most ECM companies maintain close contact with their client OEM companies: to keep them informed throughout the design and development process.

This way mistakes are minimized, if not eliminated altogether. Contracting the services of a good contract electronics manufacturing company is a lot like doing the task yourself, but at a cheaper cost.

Other services include PCB design, digital electronics, analogue electronics, data-logging, bespoke instrumentation, wireless communications, embedded software and testing for regulatory standards.

A few of the most successful contract electronics manufacturing companies today are Solectron, Foxconn, Flextronics, Sanmina-SCI, Tresmine, Celestica, Jabil Circuit, EE Technologies and Benchmark Electronics. Some of these companies have become so successful they are now called Original Design Manufacturers, which skips OEM companies altogether and takes direct equipment orders from the companies that need them.

If you’re looking to outsource your manufacturing, do your market research and find a contract electronics manufacturing company you strike up a good chemistry with and allows a full view of their operations from conveyor belt to delivery by shipload. It is worth every ounce of effort you put into it, and lets you keep up with the tight market competition.

Contract electronics manufacturing service or EMS providers typically work with customers in a wide range of industries with differing requirements for inventory control, testing, product packaging, and product support. In some applications, the EMS provider simply assembles the printed circuit boards and then ships the boards to the customer. In other applications, the EMS provider will assemble the printed circuit board, load firmware/software into memory, test the board, and then assemble the board and associated cables, enclosures, and documentation into a finished product that is shipped to the customer.

Some customers will provide all of the materials (raw boards and electronic components) required for a job and the EMS provider assemblies the printed circuit boards, performs any required testing, and ships the finished boards to the customer. This is generally considered as inventory provided on a consignment basis where the EMS provider basically provides labor and expertise only. Some customers will provide some portion on the materials (such as specialty or high cost integrated circuits, proprietary parts such as transformers or coils, raw printed circuit boards, etc.) and rely on the EMS provider to purchase the remainder of the components needed to assemble the boards. Most EMS providers prefer to

use their own purchasing power, their extensive contacts, and their existing parts inventory where applicable to provide all of the required materials for a customer’s particular project. This method is generally considered as inventory provided on a turn-key basis.

But before any of this can happen, the EMS provider must provide an assembled board quote or pricing estimate to the customer for the project. In addition to the quantity commitments (production release quantity and annual usage quantity), this pricing process also requires a detailed bill of material from the customer along with a set of the Gerber files for the printed circuit board(s). The BOM should define all of the components along with the approved vendor and vendor’s part number for each component. This information allows the Materials Management group to determine availability (lead time), packaging, and pricing for each component based on the quantities and vendor information. The BOM information

is also needed to allow a technical review to determine the amount of labor and the equipment required to place the parts and to solder the components to the board.

The Gerber files for the printed circuit board design provide Materials Management with the information they need in order to get raw board pricing and lead times from the printed circuit board manufacturing vendors. The Gerber files also provide the Manufacturing Group with the information they need to develop the manufacturing plan (are components on top only or top and bottom of board; surface mount, thru hole, or mixed component types; wave solder or reflow oven processes required, etc.). The Manufacturing Group also has to estimate time to program the component placement equipment and to load the

components in the placement feeders (set-up costs), costs to order the solder paste stencil(s), and must also quantify test plans, procedures, and required test equipment. In order to correctly place components on the printed circuit board with each component properly oriented, the EMS provider will need silkscreen files to know the correct orientation of the parts on each side of the board. The screen paste files for surface mount applications will be required to order the stencils for the solder paste application to the board prior to the part placements.

All of this may seem to be a lot of information, but each piece is needed in order to provide the most cost effective pricing for the finished product. Fortunately, the Gerber files are usually readily available from the pcb design system as the Gerber format is the industry standard output format. The BOM is usually in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or formal drawing. Assist your EMS provider by providing the approved vendor’s name and part number for each component.

In Summary:

The information required to prepare an accurate quotation for a typical printed circuit board assembly project includes:

* Definition of inventory method (consignment, partial consignment, or turn-key).

* Complete Bill of Material with at least one manufacturer’s name and part number for each component along with notes identifying any component(s) to be supplied by the customer.

* Gerber files for the printed circuit board design(s).

* Estimated Annual Usage (EAU) quantities and production release quantities.

* Name of technical contact person, along with their telephone number, fax number, and email address.

Additional information that may be helpful if you have it available:

* Assembly, schematic, and PCB drawings.

* Sample board assembly or prototype board assembly to review.

* Test requirements and procedures required by the customer.

Jim Usery

Sales and Marketing Director

Innovative Circuits, Inc.

311A S Parkway St

Corinth, MS 38834

office 662-287-2007

toll free 866-887-7381

fax 662-665-9275

email jusery@icimfg.com

Visit our website at www.icimfg.com for more information about Innovative Circuits, Inc. and the services and expertise that we provide to our customers or for additional technical articles. You can also sign up for our free Ezine, PCB Information, at the bottom of the Home Page at www.icimfg.com.