EMSNOW

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss find their way through the snow to the Czech border and the town of Zandt, home to Europe's largest domestic EMS and the world's largest privately owned EMS, Zollner. 

As Eric so eloquently puts it, "the power and the might of tier one was on display". It is hard not to be impressed by the scale, but also by the level of integration, of capability and of expertise and experience. Zollner have nine factories in Germany and many more all around the world. They are recognized and approve in China to supply the Chinese government. They are active in Silicon Valley and in Costa Rica, and all their factories are part of organic growth and development, not acquisitions.

In the training center, Eric and Dieter saw the high level of professional training offered to apprentices. Even the grandson of Manfred Zandt, the founder of the company is undertaking a Zollner apprenticeship.

This time EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll and European EMS Guru Dieter Weiss started their day in Germany with SERO GmbH and ended it in the Netherlands at Neways.

SERO is a top 40 European EMS with  close to three decades of history that was acquired in 2018 by the management and a private equity firm. Since then they've added facilities in the Netherlands and Slovakia and are close to adding a facility in Florida, USA. This sparks the conversation about global footprints, why size matters and how to get the necessary scale, and oddly a tangent related to cow sensors...

Neways is a top ten European EMS, recently 98% acquired by a family office investor. They also have a US footprint, this time in Milpitas, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Following more M&A discussion and some insight into consolidation in Europe and beyond, 'the boys' explore the value of standard equipment sets and systems to make managing a global simpler as projects are moved or repeated in different sites.

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss their day at two of Southern Germany's leading and oldest EMS companies, RAWE Electronics and RAFI. They discuss the longterm and sticky nature of the relationships these companies enjoy with their customers, underlining the value of deep partnerships as compared to the expense and risk of changing vendors for a few cents in price reduction.

They also explore topics like industry segmentation and Dieter explains why he thinks the right sector choices are important and why he think agricultural electronics is an interesting industry segment. Tomorrow the dynamic duo travel to Sero GmbH and to Neways.

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss air their differences in public, starting with a comparison of the EMS sectors in the US and Europe. They touch on hot topics like consolidation, organic versus inorganic growth, and the fundamental questions about outsourcing over insourcing.

They also explore the goldilocks question - what size EMS partner is just right, before leveling into the talent shortages, how alliances can help smaller players, social awareness in purchasing habits, regionalization and the risks posed by talents shortages. 

This is a must hear chat between two experienced and opinionated followers of the EMS industry.

Fresh from their hike in the mountains, Eric a Dieter share their thoughts and insight from a  successful event in Tallinn where Dieter provided the keynote and Eric moderated a panel. The pair go on to discuss some key developments in the industry, before sharing some feedback from their visit to ASM Assembly Systems' Center of Excellence at the Munich headquarters.

The two wrap up with a preview of what's coming in what looks like a very busy week.

Fresh from the Thanksgiving celebrations, EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll boarded the first flight to Europe to meet with EMS industry guru and friend Dieter Weiss with whom he will share a three week road trip. After a short stop to catch his breathe, Eric arrived in Tallinn, capital of Estonia to meet a few people, visit a few factories and attend the "IPC Day 2021 - From EMS to the Moon and Beyond"

In this opening episode of this European tour, Eric and Dieter preview the event and talk about what is driving the EMS industry in Estonia and throughout Europe...

Learn more at https://emsnow.com or at https://in4ma.de

2019's big disruption was the trade war between China and the US, in 2020 it was COVID-19, and now in 2021 the biggest challenge facing the manufacturing industry is supply chain shortages. What will it be in 2022? Perhaps more of the same, perhaps all of the above?

In this episode of The EMS (Eric Miscoll Show), Philip and Eric talk to FLEX Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer Lynn Torrel and TTIi Americas' President Don Akery. If they don't know what's going on, who does? The panel explores the scale and impact of the current shortages, the effect on specific segments, the timing and shape of the recovery, the gravity of changes in the logistics and freight market, strategies for navigating issues, the importance of data, changing manufacturing trends, and the need for open and honest collaboration up and down the supply chain. Don't miss this one!!

The EMS (Eric Miscoll Show) is sponsored by Koh Young America (https://www.kohyoung.com)