Strategic partnerships between Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) brands are quickly becoming the essential drivers of success in the increasingly competitive manufacturing world. Given the ever-fluctuating consumer trends and the demand to innovate, improve, and expedite all processes in the industry for better quality, reliability, and versatility, it only stands to reason that OEMs would benefit from outsourcing design development to EMS companies.
A key service EMS providers should offer to OEMs is design for manufacture (DFM), a process in which your EMS partner will review your design and suggest slight alterations where needed in order to aid the production process, and make the entire thing more efficient and effective in every sense. With that in mind, let's take a look at why you should involve your EMS partner in the design for manufacture process.
Supply chain knowledge and experience
It should go without saying that an experienced EMS provider has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to supply chain management, and is therefore able to provide the original equipment manufacturer with the solutions to their supply chain problems. Any veteran OEM remembers the global component supply issues of 2008 and 2009, which is why preventing such shortages through strategic partnerships is a sound business move for a successful future.
Partnering up with an experienced EMS company with deep knowledge and connections throughout the industry on a global scale can help you improve your logistics processes, and efficiently obtain components needed for your products. This wealth of knowledge will affect the overall flexibility of your EMS partner, which is especially important for products that require high levels of configuration.
Lower costs, enhance effectiveness
It should go without saying that the products you design and manufacture need to be profitable – this means driving down design and manufacturing expenses while selling the products at a high margin. This simple formula is the lifeblood of every business, and of course, this is another area where an EMS partner can help you improve the cost effectiveness of manufacturing.
By taking a look at your design and suggesting alterations that include fewer parts, less processing time and effort, and perhaps even lowered cost of materials, your EMS partner can help you minimize expenditure across the board. If the company you're working with has a proven track record and is experienced in all areas of the manufacturing process, then you can rest assured that they will take every part of the product into consideration for maximum savings.
Driving the innovation process
Innovation is at the core of every thriving business in the world. With the civil and governmental markets increasingly demanding smart electronic products, better energy efficiency, and faster delivery, there is a need of OEMs to innovate and create new production methods to satisfy their consumers.
This is why a strategic partnership with an innovative ICT contract manufacturing company could help you design the products per the latest trends and requirements in the industry, and even stay one step ahead of the competition. Keep in mind that having a second pair of eyes (so to speak) can help you observe your project from a completely different perspective as well, and in turn design a product that will topple all others on the market.
Reduce assembly time and speed up delivery
Delayed product delivery or needlessly prolonged lead times are some of the worst scenarios that can befall an OEM, inevitably resulting in reduced profits, not to mention the impact this would have on your brand recognition and trust in the industry. However, a skillful and knowledgeable EMS partner might be able to prevent these problems, or eliminate them as they occur.
By redefining or tweaking the design of your printed circuit boards (PCBs), for instance, your EMS provider can effectively reduce assembly time for your products. What's more, by simplifying the design without compromising on quality, or offering an alternative component, you can effectively cut down overall lead time.
Boost reliability and quality long term
Consumer requirements and expectations might be prone to change over the years, but there are two key elements to a successful electronic product that people always want to get: reliability and quality. These two features are non-negotiable in the eyes of the consumers, so your production process needs to be able to continuously dish out products that will meet these expectations.
Remember, it only takes a single faulty chip, or god forbid, a faulty line of electronics to drive your brand's image into the ground. With an EMS partner at your side, though, you will be able to optimize the design of the product for maximum reliability and unimpeded quality. Given the fact that these two factors work in favor of both you and your partner, you can rest assured that they will do the necessary work to make them a reality.
All in all, strategic partnerships do make the manufacturing world go 'round. As a growth-oriented OEM in a competitive market, partnering up with an experienced EMS and involving them in the DMF process would be a wise business decision.
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