EMSNOW

This episode of EMSNOW On Tour with in4ma, recorded in a hotel in Timișoara, Romania, begins with some background on the electronics industry in Romania and key historical events from Timișoara. The tour visited Kimball Electronics Romania and Systronics/Cicor in an area that includes a number of other EMS. The discussion covers the reasons and advantages of this region; the sectors represented, level of automation, how companies save energy, and what stood out about these two specific facilities as they provide competitive advantage to their customers. For example, they were especially impressed with the focus on changeover speeds to increase overall capacity, and the quality of the supply base. Dieter also shares updates to his market research data on Romania, making this a must-hear podcast for anyone interested in the European EMS industry.
 
EMSNOW-in4ma On Tour is very grateful to our sponsors.

CalcuQuote - Empowering Supply Chain Visibility and Efficiency.
Cogiscan – Meeting the needs of high-reliability manufacturers since 1999.
Koh Young – Intelligent Inspection.
TrustedParts.com - Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources.

After three flights and a three-hour drive, Eric and Dieter arrive in Romania for visits to two very different EMS facilities: Pantel Elektronik, a family-owned company based in Germany and Flex Romania. The two discuss their impressions, including thoughts on the stable workforce in Romania, how the logistics, software development and customer service works at Pantel Electronik, the astonishing scope and scale of Flex's operation in Romania. It's an in-depth account of these two highly successful EMS in this important region for Europe.
EMSNOW-in4ma On Tour is very grateful to our sponsors.

CalcuQuote - Empowering Supply Chain Visibility and Efficiency.
Cogiscan – Meeting the needs of high-reliability manufacturers since 1999.
Koh Young – Intelligent Inspection.
TrustedParts.com - Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources.

Reporting from the airport on their way to Romania, Eric and Dieter discuss their visit with Teltonika EMS's facility in Vilnius, Lithuania. Teltonika began this EMS division in 2019 and has been rapidly expanding manufacturing capacity to both support its telematics and IoT operations and offer high volume, highly automated manufacturing to the industry. Their highly automated PCB manufacturing facility is due to be operational next year. The discussion covers Teltonika's strategy behind reviving PCB manufacturing in Europe, how being part of a greater OEM brings advantages, and what especially impressed Eric and Dieter about this unique company during this phase of their tour.
 
EMSNOW-in4ma On Tour is very grateful to our sponsors.

CalcuQuote - Empowering Supply Chain Visibility and Efficiency.
Cogiscan – Meeting the needs of high-reliability manufacturers since 1999.
Koh Young – Intelligent Inspection.
TrustedParts.com - Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources.

The 2024 edition of EMSNOW-in4ma On Tour will focus on Eastern European EMS. Eric and Dieter are in Lithuania where they discuss Dieter's earlier visit to EMS companies in Estonia: Tepcomp Oü, Ouman Estonia Oü, and InCap Estonia Oü. They then preview the week's travel plans to meet with companies in Lithuania and Romania before traveling to Munich for electronica and one last EMS tour.  Dieter comments that in the past few months the main thing the industry is focused on is supply chain problems. When will things improve? The answers are surprising. It will be an interesting week, so don't miss an episode.

EMSNOW-in4ma On Tour is very grateful to our sponsors.

CalcuQuote - Empowering Supply Chain Visibility and Efficiency.
Cogiscan – Meeting the needs of high-reliability manufacturers since 1999.
Koh Young – Intelligent Inspection.
TrustedParts.com - Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources.

EMSNOW catches up with Michael ‘Mitch’ Mitchell, White Horse Laboratories’ new Director of Quality, a new role within this growth-focused global testing company. Mitch came to White Horse from the customer side, with a deep background in aerospace and aviation. He describes his experience during Covid doing lifetime buys of key components and then having verification challenges; his decision to take on this new role within White Horse and how his skill set fits in with their expansion plans. White Horse is adding new services, and expanding into new geographies and Mitch is enthusiastic about their new programming, packaging, and logistics support; their factory audit program, and other testing services that go way beyond counterfeit detection.

David Schild of the PCBAA offers EMSNOW an update about the fast moving events impacting the PCB industry in the U.S. including the supply chain disruptions that are expected from the dockworkers’ strike, weather events, wars in Europe and the Mideast and so on. It’s not “if” there will be global disruptions, but “when”, David asserts, so it is even more critical to establish secure and resilient domestic supply chains that incorporate the entire electronics ecosystem. The discussion includes the recent CHIPS act award to TTM in Syracuse NY, the #1 supplier of PCBs for the defense industry, and the expected impact of next month’s congressional elections. It’s an information packed conversation that reminds us all that “Chips don’t’ float!”

EMSNOW learns about dispensing solutions provider Axxon Mycronic from Jeff Leal, Director of Business Development and Strategy. The discussion starts with background about the history of Axxon, which was originally a Chinese company and was acquired by Mycronic in 2016. Now the plan is to bring these comprehensive dispensing solutions to the rest of the world, starting with the new subsidiary in Guadalajara, Mexico. Axxon has nearly 1000 employees laser focused on the full range of dispensing applications, from wafer level to large volume dispensing in the automotive industry. The blend of Chinese/Swedish business culture adds to the value for customers; Jeff says they can provide dispensing technology for any liquid applied to any kind of electronics from the front end to the back end. EMSNOW encourages those attending the SMTA Expo in Guadalajara next week to stop by Axxon Mycronic’s Booth 215 and arrange for a tour of their new facilities minutes away from the show.

EMSNOW queries Zedric Ochoa, President and Jayson Alfonso, EVP of Omega GTI about the evolution of this unique distributor. The discussion covers the company’s footprint in Silicon Valley and SE Asia, the journey from independent distributor to having franchised lines, their customer profile which includes OEMs and ODMs as well as EMS, and their customer-driven growth into a wide range of services. They are helping customers with excess inventory, logistics, kitting and warehouse services and OEM/EMS matchmaking. They also talk about what they are seeing in terms of a tentative market turnaround. It’s a great conversation with a distributor with unique capabilities. For more information, go to https://omegagti.com/.

Oshri Cohen, CEO of AI-based software provider Cybord, explains to EMSNOW how this solution finds non-conforming material coming into the PCB manufacturing process. In the past year a lot has happened in this arena and Oshri outlines the trends: EMS companies have become much more open to adoption of this groundbreaking technology to prevent not only counterfeit components but any defects arising from bad transportation or storage practices. EMS and OEMs are increasingly looking for ways to automate the inspection process to ensure their AVL and restrictions on country of origin requirements are adhered to. Oshri shares a video about a new solution – Real-Time Interceptor (RTI) – that will be available later this year.

EMSNOW gets an update about EMS company Libra Industries from its CEO Andrew Williams. Andrew just passed his one year mark as CEO and is setting ambitious growth goals for the company. He explains the history of the current Libra Industries footprint, with its two EMS facilities in Cleveland and Dallas, its precision machining capabilities from the Gem City acquisition in Dayton and the acquisition of a Tier 1 EMS facility in Mexico. The conversation covers what he sees as Libra’s key differentiators as a full suite manufacturer for highly complex systems integration. The discussion includes this industry veteran’s views on recent EMS challenges, the ever changing OEM/EMS relationship, the importance of managing the delicate balance of too little/too much inventory, as well as the right investment balance between human capital and automation. It is a fascinating discussion and well worth your time.