Archive for November, 2007
« Previous EntriesComputer Aided Design (CAD) for PCB Design
Thursday, November 29th, 2007Computer-aided design (CAD) or electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) falls in a category known as electronic design automation (EDA). EDA is broader than circuit boards and includes semiconductor design as well. Our focus in this article is to get an overview of the world of PCB CAD tools and how they are used.
First, let’s review the [...]
Pharmasourcing with CMOs
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007In April 2007 I attended my first INTERPHEX trade show. The show was hosted at the Javitz Center in NYC. Coming from an electronics manufacturing background, I wanted to get a feel for the state of contract manufacturing in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical domain (sometimes referred to as pharmasourcing).
There were over a hundred firms that [...]
What is Price Masking?
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007What is price masking and who benefits from it? To answer these questions, let’s start by exploring the contract manufacturer’s (CM’s) supply chain practices.
Because of their size, volumes, and component spends, large CMs wield considerable power in negotiations with their component suppliers. This power is often translated into special pricing for the CM. When a [...]
BOM Intelligence
Thursday, November 8th, 2007One of the challenges that faces OEM buyers of manufacturing services (electronic, pharmaceutical, etc.) is getting the best price from their contract manufacturer (CM). The price from the CM is composed of many different elements including:
Component or raw material cost (also know as Bill of Materials, BOM, or ingredients)
Overhead
Labor
General & administrative costs
Margin
Each of these elements [...]
How Do Electronics Contract Manufacturers Sell?
Sunday, November 4th, 2007Electronics contract manufacturers (CMs) offer their services (or “go to market”) in a variety of ways and with a variety of sales structures. Knowing how these different firms may choose to organize their sales efforts can be a help to individuals or teams needing to source manufacturing services.
For a definition of the three Tiers of [...]