Product details

Electronics manufacturing service (EMS) companies provided a range of services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry. They manufactured parts, subassemblies (particularly circuit boards with surface-mounted components) and even entire products for the OEMs. They had also assumed many repair and maintenance operations for these customers and were now moving into providing logistics services as well. These developments over the past 30 years as well as the trend of subcontracting and outsourcing production have turned EMS into an industry in its own right. At the start of the 21st century both OEM and EMS companies are unsure about future developments. There are several key questions as to what forms of co-operation would produce the best results: What would the future role of EMS companies be? How would co-operation with OEMs develop? What sort of competencies should OEMs develop? And EMS companies? What should they develop jointly? What kinds of working relationships/partnering would produce the optimal win-win combination? What capabilities were needed to master the current challenges for both OEMs and EMSs?