With the booming electronics manufacturing industry, every company aims to produce cheaper quality electronics and the required standards. In today’s society, electronic production is developing very fast. More organizations are in demand for well-developed electronics. Also, people in their household are adopting the use of electronics at a higher rate.
This article aims at helping you as the producer to understand the electronic production services better. It also is essential in helping you learn development trends in the industry that will save your cost and improve the quality. So, by reading this article, you will get all the information you require to produce quality electronics and understand the development trends.
（Production pictures of electronics manufacturing)
1. What is an Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS)?
To begin with, EMS refers to companies that take part in manufacturing, designing, testing, distributing, or even repairing the electronic component; it also includes those who do assembling of equipment. Secondly, EMS companies provide exemplary quality manufacturing services that improve operational efficiency.
2. Market Drivers of Electronics Manufacturing
- Demand for consumer electronics：There is a rising need for consumer electronics worldwide, while also people are finding it essential to use quality electronics that meet their demands. According to research by Frost & Sullivan, there will be an increased sourcing trend for consumer electronics.
- Advancement in skills and core competencies：The largest organizations are looking for a solution to the problems they face. Therefore, it drives more people to seek skills in that field, and so the electronics manufacturing sector. More technicians will seek these skills and hence boost such advancements. With the emergence of various high-tech electronic products, there is a need to continuously improve technology to adapt to technology development and meet the public’s needs.
- Available markets for mobile devices: With the development of the latest and different android devices, demand increases. Everyone in today’s world is looking for a new smartphone. So, technology is growing, and with the rising population, there will be more demand for the new feature. According to Cisco, around 5.5 billion people currently have an android phone, which shows a ready market.
(An assembly line of an Electronics manufacturing company)
3. Application Industries of Electronics Manufacturing
- Medical treatment
- Aerospace
- Automobile industry
- Telecommunications
- national defense
- smartphone
- PC
- Robotics and automation
- Connector
- semiconductor
(An electronic medical equipment)
4. Electronics Manufacturing—The Difference Between OEM and EMS Supplier
OEM and EMS are terms in electronics manufacturing that play different roles.
The OEM-is is known as an original equipment manufacturer, while EMS- is the electronics manufacturing service.
The following table shows a comparison between the two terms.
| OEM | EMS | |
| Focus | The innovation of creating new designs that meet consumers demand | Designing, manufacturing, management, repairing, and maintaining products around the globe. |
| Rights | Owns the rights | Do not own any rights. |
| Volume | It depends on the industries as they sell low to medium volume. | There is a high-level technology; hence the company can specialize in either high or even low volume. |
5. Electronics Industry Outsourcing Production Advantages
Speed to the market ：
When you allow outsourcing to your company, you will likely know more about the market. The company you choose will take charge of ensuring that you can easily find the right market for your products. Most companies already know of the market where your products will quickly be in demand.
Reduction of risk and mitigation：
When it comes to product outsourcing, you can find the best product that does not involve any risk. The company will assure you of how safe you are when dealing with new products.
Easy to convert fixed cost investment to cost model：
It makes it easier for you to convert cost investment to cost model.
Increased global supply ：
When you involve the outsourcing company in your business, you will grow. The company will help to come up with the best product, thereby increasing productivity, which will, in return, increase the supply.
Improve the productivity of the product：
When two companies are working together, there is an assurance that the final result is better than working individually. The company will work to the last step where the outcome is of required standards. Outsourcing of products enhances productivity since there is a combination of efforts.
( workers in an electronics manufacturing firm)
6. What Can the Electronic Production Service Company Best offer you
If you work at an original equipment manufacturer, you must have come across a project that requires an electronics manufacturing company. So, here is the tone of the products that a company can offer. It may also choose to provide one or all of them, depending on their capability.
6.1 PCB assembly
As you know, PCB refers to the printed circuit board. So, PCB assembly is a process of soldering resistors and transistors using surface mount technology or through holes. With a complete PCB, you can easily route power between devices. Through holes takes longer compared to surface mount technology since it involves human interaction. Surface mount technology is new in the market not much popular with modern products.
6.2 Cable assembly
Here manufacturing is better for you when doing it with hand soldering. Cables can also have a single part that contains multiple materials. Companies should use Subsequent materials to cover the first material during production. Before buying this product, there is a need to check if the company offers over-molding activities.
Products that are associated with the cable assembly are;
- Harsh environment cable assemblies-These are the cables that one can use in any environment. It will also help if you get cables to withstand shock, chemicals, pressure, different temperatures, and water.
- Wire harness-These are cables that can transmit signals or at point electric power. Most companies bound together with the wire with durable materials such as the electrical type and rubber.
- Control panel/box-The control panel is a box that contains an essentially electrical device that does the work of monitoring and controlling a mechanical process electronically.
- Mechanical components-They are devices such as switches, sensors, indicators actuators, etc. They are those that control components, control movement, and that is structural.
- Panel wiring and assembly-These are wirings that manufacturing industries use to assemble wiring, cables, and switches. They are essential when it comes to the functioning of electronic systems.
6.3 Electromechanical assembly
They are services that come depending on the manufacturer. They include products such as the box builds and are enclosed with plastic, aluminum, or even steel.
A company can also offer the below products;
- Custom shipping packaging
- function test
- Configuration management
- Package form
- 3-D modeling
- Potting and heat shrinkable use
6.4 Contract design
These refer to getting designers on a contract since employing them full time is difficult. You can get designers for your manufacturing company at an affordable price. You get professional designers who are good in software and firmware, validate tests, do analysis, and help in environmental difficulties. Most EMS loves to be at the start of the product design rather than when it has started.
As a company contracted the design for electronic management services through
- Circuit simulation and prototyping
- Test
- Cost accounting exercise
- 3-D CAD and physical modeling
- Technical feasibility study
- Quality review
7. How to Test Electronic Products
Flying probe test
It is a kind of testing that will offer you examination without any power and relies on factors such as inductances, resistance, and shorts. It is one of the PCB testing techniques that is true. You need to be sure of the test and set your manufacturer of choice to do the task.
Online test (ICT)
If your product is ready to go, this is the best testing you need to do. As the name suggests, it is online; hence your manufacturer will do it for you. Here the manufacturer will press the board down on aboard. If the product fails, there is a report indicating where to troubleshoot.
Aging test
It is a test done to uncover all the early failures in a PCB whereby you run a power supply at a moderate temperature for about 80 hours. By doing so, companies do it to identify if there are any defects in the product. It is the best way that a company can confirm the reliability of its development.
Automatic optical inspection (AOI)
There is a kind of testing that will make your contract manufacturer more productive. It will determine the complexity of your product. There is a need for accurate inspection in today’s world to avoid the sale of a defect. Hence, you need to choose a company that uses quality inspection equipment to perform the task.
Other functional tests
PCB testing is one of the things that should not take it lightly. More so, functional testing determines how the product works. It is better when the manufacturer does it at the end of the manufacturing process. These ensure that the product does not have a short life.
(There are plenty of services involved in electronics manufacturing sourcing)
8. How to Choose the Right Electronic Production Company
Choosing the right company is one step toward finding the right products. There are a lot of companies that are in the market but finding the best is a challenge. Your electronic need should dictate the choice you make.
To begin with, you need to know what you can do best. Secondly, you need to identify the best company that is right for you to outsource. Check the company history and the experience they have in the field. From there, you can check on the value they will add to your design process.
Identify if the company has taken its time in imposing the current technology in its products. After that, determine if the company can fulfill your order once you place an order. Check if the company has a detailed process of a new product and how they do their communication. Once you decide, the company is the best, do not hesitate to give them a call.
9. Electronics Production: Opportunities and Challenges
In every industry, there are always opportunities that emerge frequently. These opportunities come about due to advancements in technology, leading to the development of new electronic tools. Nevertheless, there does not also lack some challenges that organizations go through. These challenges are at the point brought by environmental conditions or even human error. The following are the opportunities and challenges in electronic production company;
Opportunities:
- Push for a more eco-friendly solution for manufacturing. Climate change is one of the things that affect most manufacturing companies. Into the coming generation, there are more eco-friendly manufacturing solutions emerging and will be essential.
- Development of devices that consume less energy-To cut costs, a less consuming point is one of the best ideas that one can incorporate. So, manufacturers should come up with ways to produce an electronic device that consumes less. Such opportunities are rare, and every manufacturer should take and will have their electronics in demand.
- We are seeking innovative automation solutions. Currently, multiple robots are making work more comfortable in most companies. The robots not only reduce cost but also time for work delivery. When you can develop more automation as an electronic producing company, your products will be in demand. New technology is what people want.
- The high demand for electronic devices worldwide has recently been an increased number of people who require electronics. This demand is not something that will end today, but it’s here to stay. The population is growing, and thus the need for more electronics will rise. Again, people are going digital, which is creating room for electronic manufacturers to make more sales.
Challenges:
- Need for the automation-To automate something for the consumers, and you need to have done it better in your company. Therefore, some tasks require a high assembly precision; these necessitate a conducive environment and human labor replacement with automation.
- Global competition-Currently, people have identified a gap in the electronic production industry. There are now many companies that are doing this task. The companies are offering competition to one another, which has led to creating low-quality products to sell at low cost and making more sales.
- Increase in labor cost -Since there is currently no full automation of the process, the manufacturers are using much on human labor. This lack of automation is a challenge that makes most manufacturers make losses year after year.
(An electronics manufacturing firm working on a project)
Summary
There is nothing as good as working with a company that understands your needs, a company that will save you on time and the cost of the production. We are pretty sure that you need quality and electronics that are currently in the market. So, we will provide a quotation for every item that we sell and is available upon request. If you urgently need the products, do not hesitate to give us a call. You are worth getting quality products to use.
To get such knowledge, give us a call right away. We are here to help and have been advising most of the producers on what action to take. We work with both the company and people who are willing to learn about anything related to electronics manufacturing. Give us a chance to work with you, and you will always rejoice for choosing to work with us.
