EMSNOW continues our ground-breaking EMS Spotlight Series with a conversation with Mike Buseman, CEO of SMTC, a mid-tier EMS with an Americas-based manufacturing footprint. Mike describes their strategy for serving low-to-medium volume, highly complex systems for regulated end markets in the face of the current geopolitical turmoil.

Especially interesting are his insights about the ‘defense disruptors’ – non-traditional military/defense customers that are quickly responding to the shift to drone warfare. He also explains their strategy for the cloud/advanced compute market sector and why they are somewhat protected from the memory shortages by their Americas footprint and their nimble ‘tariff-engineered’ solution.

He notes the importance of attracting and engaging with employees, and why their people strategy is a key differentiator; how they are using AI for demand planning, contracting and financial analysis; and what the rest of 2026 looks like from his viewpoint.

It’s a fascinating look at how a mid-tier EMS can position itself for resilience and supply chain agility.

EMS Spotlight is sponsored by Luminovo.