EMSNOW

The in4ma & EMSNOW On Tour team is in Stockholm, reporting on their meeting with Peter Nilsson, Kitron's CEO and the management team at the Kitron Eltech AB (Kungsängen) facility.  This facility came under the Kitron umbrella as a result of their acquisition of DeltaNordic earlier this year; Kitron is #49 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list.

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss begin with an overview of this leading Nordic EMS, and then discuss some of the themes from the interview. Kitron is very strong in defense electronics; Dieter notes his latest data show Kitron as the largest defense EMS in Europe. The company also makes power conversion electronics for data centers, IoT and medical devices. Peter emphasizes fast decision-making to his managers, and their growth trajectory reflects strong organic growth. The conversation also includes developing trends in Europe, including shortages of not only memory chips, but PCBs, something that the industry was not expecting.

The podcast ends once again with a quick preview of the next few interviews, and gratitude to the sponsors.

We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. 

CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– 

Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI Everywhere

Mycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life 

TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss continue their tour of European EMS with a discussion of two companies emblematic of the current trends in the region. They describe yesterday's tour of the newest PCB manufacturing facility in Europe at TLT in Vilnius, Lithuania and the implications for Europe whose share of the PCB industry has dwindled substantially. 

After sharing their thoughts about a ride on a 12-seater airplane to Torsby, Sweden (see photo), the conversation turns to Sweden-based EMS NOTE, which is #77 on the EMS/ODM Global 100 list. They met with Johannes Lind-Widestam, CEO; Karin Nicols and Magnus Lundin.

The discussion explores the unique characteristics of European EMS management and business strategy which they agree differs markedly from that of EMS in other geographies. They discuss customer engagement priorities, the ideal facility size in terms of employees and revenue; and how companies are responding to market conditions including the shortages driven by resources diverted to the data center build-out.

The On Tour team will be in Stockholm for the next four days, expanding their knowledge and insights in preparation for EMSNOW's continuing coverage.

We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. 

CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– 

Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI Everywhere

Mycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life 

TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

This third podcast from in4ma & EMSNOW On Tour 2026 begins with impressions from the morning session of the EIPC Summer conference in Vilnius, Lithuania where Dieter Weiss presented on the PCB industry. He reminded attendees of the value of participating in valid industry research programs, sharing data which is aggregated anonymously and helps guide executives. 

The conversation turns to the company on the docket for the second visit: TLT Manufacturing. They describe the impressive TLT campus, 'Technology Hill' which has expanded substantially since their last visit. It is a thriving enterprise, with a young workforce, which has grown organically through strategic investment and construction. The data-packed discussion concludes with a preview of tomorrow's agenda.

We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. 

CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– 

Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI Everywhere

Mycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life 

TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Recorded in a location close to the Munich airport, this analysis of a meeting at InCap's Karlsfeld, Germany facility includes impressions from Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss about the unique characteristics of this well run global EMS that came in at #93 on the EMS-ODM Global 100 list. The On Tour team has visited several InCap facilities over the years, including the one in India last fall; all exhibit similarly decentralized management organizations, by design. InCap's CEO Otto Pukk is determined to give shareholders maximum value by delivering a very lean structure where authority is localized and the emphasis is on manufacturing. The company is moving toward vertically integrated manufacturing services, with data management being central to flexibility and resilience.

The team travels to Lithuania next and the podcast concludes with a preview of the week's planned meetings. 

We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. - 

CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– 

Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI Everywhere

Mycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life 

TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss the European EMS industry on this kick-off podcast for the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW On Tour. They outline the details and logistics about this tour focused primarily on Nordic EMS. The conversation is based on in4ma's ever evolving database of 986 EMS companies in Europe, which is now reflecting 2025 revenues; Dieter's data driven insights reveal a disruptive and volatile year as the industry responds to the chip crisis arising from the AI hyperscaler build out. "It will be a difficult and interesting year for the EMS industry," is the consensus. 

We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. - 

CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– 

Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI Everywhere

Mycronic:  Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life 

TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

EMSNOW learns about Koh Young’s response to new challenges in Mexico and South America from that geography’s team leader Heriberto Cuevas Velázquez. With AI changing everything, he explains, training has taken center stage both internally, and for Koh Young customers. They are investing in classrooms and demonstration centers, and forging new partnerships to attract and retain the highly skilled engineers needed to help Koh Young’s EMS customers become more productive. Demand for training is strong – they are proud of the 900 (!) people they have trained since 2020, representing over 95 companies; that rate has accelerated in recent months.

Heriberto goes on to describe the highly competitive, fast-paced and ever-evolving market for inspection equipment in Mexico and South America. He shares insights and examples about Koh Young’s specific positioning as an innovator in ‘the power of data’ which is fundamental to any AI algorithm. We think you will enjoy this discussion about all the rapid developments in this dynamic geography for electronics manufacturing from an industry leader in automated inspection equipment.

Luminovo's Sam Mason provides EMSNOW with a business update on its activities in North America.  This includes new North America-based team members and just announced quoting software features, including Luminovo's rew risk module. With the acceleration of geopolitical disruption and volatility impacting electronic components directly, the ability to monitor the health of each BOM in production is mandatory. Luminovo partners with Silicon Expert to enable part-level early detection of risk to avoid the 'golden screw' dilemma where one part holds up an entire production line.

The conversation includes a frank discussion of the 'make or buy' decision process for component supply chain software faced by EMS or OEM manufacturers. When does it make sense to leverage a specialized software solution provider like Luminovo instead of developing the capabilities in-house? While electronics manufacturers must consider the unique capabilities and digital journey of their organization, plugging into the 80 Luminovo engineers that have been building tools to address this for the past 8 years helps an organization avoid the 'little blind spots' that can crop up, Sam cautioned.

Sam also explains what he sees as Luminovo's key differentiators in this fast-paced, AI driven development environment. He recommends that those EMS and OEMs struggling with component supply chain challenges do a test drive of their tools on Luminovo.com.

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.

David Cummings, SVP & Chief Commercial Officer, Benchmark Electronics explains his company’s ‘customer obsession’ culture’ and how that resonates with customers building increasingly complex electronic products in a volatile global environment. Benchmark Electronics is listed at #30 on EMSNOW/in4ma’s EMS & ODM Global 100 and recently celebrated 50 years as an outsourcing service provider.

David discusses how the industry is rising to the engineering challenges of these complex electronics. Benchmark, he says, operates at the intersection of engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing, and has seen customers increasingly recognize and respect the specialized engineering expertise demonstrated by the EMS industry.

In this insightful conversation, David succinctly outlines the strategies needed for what he believes is a very bright future for electronics. “We are investing in and building the muscle that will be needed for the challenges ahead,” he concludes.

EMS Spotlight is sponsored by Luminovo.

White Horse Laboratories is on the front lines of the counterfeit component battle, and Mark Rinehart, Founder and Managing Director reports on the increasing sophistication of these bad actors unleashing both old parts being sold as new, and new companies flooding the market with clones. This eye-opening conversation explains how counterfeiters are responding to the shortages in memory in increasingly brazen ways, including posting videos of how to refurbish an old memory device and sell it as new. White Horse Labs considers itself the Guardians of Technological Integrity, helping companies first identify these bad parts and then prevent them getting into electronics. Mark explains in detail exactly what electronics companies are up against in these turbulent times for global manufacturers and what they can do.