Raw Materials
Next Entries »The Joy of the Factory
Thursday, February 12th, 2009This article is cross-posted in the Baselodge Blog.
Disclaimer: I am well aware of the historical and current conditions in some factories and that many factories have been and are places of injustice for workers. The impressions I share in this article are not intended to deny such problems or minimize them. The types of factories [...]
Learning about Aluminum
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008This article is cross-posted at the Baselodge Blog.
A current project I am helping with requires aluminum extrusion. I am currently in the process of bringing a high quality extrusion supplier on my line card at Baselodge Group, but this customer’s project requires a special type of supplier.
Having worked in electronics contract manufacturing for a while [...]
Manufacturing Cost Tug-of-War - Part 3
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008In this third and final installment in our series on the tug-of-war between OEMs and contract manufacturers, we will explore a variety of additional criteria OEMs must consider before making a final decision. These are listed in no particular order:
Quality Systems / Certifications
It is not enough to normalize the quotes and determine who offers the [...]
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 [...]
Make or Buy?
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007Many ideas for new products by would-be entrepreneurs never get off the drawing board because of the real or perceived cost of manufacturing. When we get our new design for a portable battery-powered cheese slicer all fleshed out, we begin thinking about how we will manufacture it and what it will cost.
The fundamental question that [...]