A few weeks ago, we introduced a series of articles describing trends we have observed as the EMS industry has evolved over the last few decades. We outlined six themes that we promised we would elaborate on over the coming weeks. At long last, we pick up the first of those. Here’s what we said…
Recently, I read a study that claimed 9 out of 10 managers are making important decisions for their companies using intuition. Wikipedia describes intuition as the ability to acquire knowledge without proof, evidence, or conscious reasoning, or without understanding how the knowledge was acquired. What a nice description for basing decisions on a gut feeling. When analyzing the P/L statements of European EMS companies, it looks to this consultant that intuition is the preferred tool for many in EMS management.
Hannover Messe is one of the world’s largest shows and probably the biggest for manufacturing. The focus of this year’s event was all things digital, with Industry 4.0 once again appearing in large text on just about every booth. Whether you subscribe to this term or you prefer “smart factory” or “IIoT” (Industrial Internet of Things), there is no doubt that the digitization of manufacturing is taking a firm grip.
Month in Review – April 2018 – By Philip Stoten
My April started in Mexico, spending more time with the local EMS companies and some exciting new startups at Plug and Play at Tec de Monterrey. April ended in Milan, but not before spending a few fascinating days at Hannover Messe, where this year’s partner country was, yes you guessed it, Mexico.
April is a great month for sports fans, with baseball’s opening day, NCAA championships, the end of the regular NHL and NBA regular seasons, the Masters tournament in golf, and the NFL draft. But another contest happens in April with a lot more significance for the electronics industry in 2018: The Worldwide FIRST® Robotics competition in Houston and then Detroit.
This issue’s Executive Interview is with Arthur Tan, CEO of Philippines-based Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc., also known as IMI, which was ranked #18 on MMI’s Top 50 EMS list. IMI is an example of a company that has evolved and adapted to changing and challenging global business conditions.
We have a term we use at my consulting firm to depict an engineer with limited experience and knowledge in the science of electronic assembly – the processes, equipment, materials, design, etc.. In place of actual experience, usually through no fault of their own, but rather due to short tenure in the assembly environment, most of his or her knowledge has been gained by what they have read – books, magazines, conference proceedings and the internet. (Of course, we all know that if it is on the internet, it must be true!) We call these people “Popular Mechanics Engineers”[i] (with all due respect to one of my favorite periodicals).
We thought it would be fun to do a series of articles about how the industry has evolved. Since we’ve been collecting data and writing about it for so long, we know what we’ve been saying, so over a few beers recently, we took a walk down memory lane to some of the trends that we forecast over the last decade or so. We decided to explore which predictions have panned out, and which have been wrong turns. We felt pretty good about our forecasts, to be honest (although this could be the beer talking).
The recent advances towards the realization of digitalized factories in electronics manufacturing must now be the envy of the assembly industry. With the creation of true digital standards, and the “digital remastering” of MES, the potential of Industry 4.0 operation in factories is achievable. Electronics manufacturing is positioned to be the aegis for other manufacturing industries, encouraging and leading key assembly industry verticals forward.
Philip Stoten, SCOOP Journalist, discusses his travels in March, including some keen insights into what is happening in Guadalajara, Mexico, a city with over 100,000 people working in the electronics industry.
