Electronics Manufacturing
« Previous Entries 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 [...]
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 [...]
Manufacturing Cost Tug-of-War - Part 2
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008In our previous article we explored the factors that go into the cost expectations of OEMs. Those factors involve most of the functional departments within a company. When the design phase reaches a certain point, the procurement group will send out Request for Quote (RFQ) packages to potential suppliers. There are various methods used to [...]
Manufacturing Cost Tug-of-War - Part 1
Thursday, February 14th, 2008The tug-of-war between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their contract manufacturers (CMs) with regard to price always intrigues me.
It reminds me of the dance most of us have gone through when buying a new car. As consumers we understand that the car dealer needs to make a profit, we just want to make sure 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 [...]