Contract Manufacturing
The tectonic plates are moving
Centres of Excellence will be the driving force behind the Contract Manufacturing Sectors’ future success, as Mark Davies explains to CIE
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espite the country being in the upward curve of the recession, businesses are still reeling from the fallout of the banking crisis. The manufacturing industry has been hit hard, along with a variety of other sectors, however in the world of electronics we are seeing a different story. As the “Internet of Things” sits on the horizon, it becomes more evident from day to day that not only consumers, but industry, will continue to demand more and more from smaller and smaller devices, and from the devices that get used in our everyday lives. The weight falls heavily on the electronics industry to continue to support this ever-increasing demand. The drive for more intelligent, connected devices is apparent, with Apple recently reporting it predicts sales of the iPhone 5 in its first year to be around 50 million.
Drivers of change
The energy sector in particular is creating huge demand for more complex electronics. The recent resurgence of downhole tools and the need for global service providers to gather more information about the well itself and not just the performance of the drill head, means the space envelope for electronics continues to shrink and the adoption of processors are being increasingly used to support the data acquisition. This creates a challenge in the related electronics and PCB manufacture, in terms of how they are assembled and what manufacturing processes they go through to continually operate in hot and harsh environments. This is only the tip of the iceberg, as the energy sector embraces electronics innovation to help meet the needs of its own customers.
Tectonic shift Whether its consumer applications, 16 October 2012
aerospace, industrial or downhole the worlds OEMs are facing a tectonic shift of change as industries across the globe face the reality of meeting increased demands under a whole host of added pressures. Reducing material lead-times, technological advances, keeping within budget, finding capacity in the right manufacturing location will ultimately equate to meeting the deliverables on time and in full. In the next few years these challenges mean the electronics industry will need to stay ahead of the game, and for the Contract Electronics Manufacturing industry this means supplying an ever more complex, intricate and flexible service, where the skill and knowledge of its workforce will be key to its success. Centres of Excellence will be imperative to the success of CEM companies. Providing the workforce with key skills, the latest in innovative training methods and regular access to certificated courses will help not only retain key skilled workers, but will ensure CEMs gain ground on their competitors as we face such huge technological advancements.
Engaging with customers Coupled with this will be the early involvement of operations at the conceptual design stages and the ongoing investment required in the very latest operational equipment, i.e. not to place the next bleeding edge component but to increase operational efficiency, drive continuous improvements and quality. Added with lean manufacturing techniques this provides a cost model that will exceed that of automated offshore manufacturers.
CEMs will continue to need to engage early enough to fully understand what the project timescales are or the design constraints and delays that impact deadlines. Most CEMs have a similar
Components in Electronics
business model based around assembly of printed circuit boards and get business off of the back of price. However, what will be increasingly essential in the supply chain is providing a service that is backed by early engagement and building relationships at all levels within the project team, determining the true sense of urgency from the outset to accelerate projects and manage slippage.
Getting first sighting of the design and adding the value by improving the design either through manufacturing methodologies or designing themselves is crucial eg introducing NPI project managers that pull the project through, seeing the bill of materials to advance procurement and making recommendations to component selection and choice and then having a customer service team that communicates operationally the status and progress of each program. Relationships are key and, as with ASAP, the cliché of “people buy from people” is still very evident in these modern times. People skills that are knowledgeable and trustworthy will aid a greater understanding of the project to help drive all the risks associated with new or existing builds under pressure. Training and knowledge will be fundamental to providing customers with the service they’ll demand as lead times become shorter and demand increases.
Making the difference and growing skills Electronics and engineering within the CEM world go hand in hand but when surveying local schools, universities and colleges for the next generation of recruits we hear all too often engineering being misunderstood as either a mechanical process, a chap stood at a lathe or CNC mill, when in fact it’s very integral to the complete lifecycle of an electronics product.
It is well reported that there is a large shortage of skilled workers nationally to meet the increasing needs of CEMs and SMEs with the right aptitudes and skills. However, our own experience has shown that incorporating the right training facilities, as well as growth and development plans for staff, to ensure long career opportunities in house, means we are able to retain and develop key workers who will be able to work with us to manage the ever-increasing demands of our customers.
Our own training academy allows operational staff to embark on a training and technical program that not only qualifies them above national qualifications and IPC standards but provides development for their career path. The move beyond IPC standards is critical, CEMs need to ensure their staff can be trained to a much higher standard - as IPC starts to fall short of the necessary basic requirements needed of skilled workers in the electronics industry. It’s imperative that as an industry we embrace youth and enthusiasm through apprenticeships, outreach work with local schools/colleges to encourage young people into engineering and manufacturing careers. We work closely with the Engineering Development Trust, where we support the Year in Industry scheme that gives 6th form students the opportunity to gain real work experience in their gap year prior to university. These types of affiliations will go a long way to ensuring that CEMs, like ourselves, will continue to drive successful partnerships with employees.
Flexibility in an evolving world What market sectors are suffering, which ones are enjoying the good times, what’s our sales strategy to be part of it, how can we grow by 20% each year?
www.cieonline.co.uk
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