Many executives mistakenly do not treat intellectual property (IP) as an asset. Value such as insight into trade secrets and potential competing products can be extracted from competitors when executives …
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Contracts & Agreements
Playbook for IP patent competitive intelligence and better business decisions
China’s risk: Bubbles burst, that’s what they do
Combined, all of these issues, and many others are becoming fault lines in the foundation that has allowed China to recover from the economic …
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Foreign IP strategy for electronics manufacturing
Know where your competitors are filing IP. Companies may consider filing patents in foreign jurisdictions where competitors are active, in an effort to gain market space and / or leverage IP assets during future negotiations. Manufacturers in emerging jurisdictions such as Brazil, India, China, and Vietnam become more active in presenting opportunities for joint manufacturing ventures …
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China: How to negotiate and other Chinese business practices
You’ve got the meeting set up in Shanghai. Congratulations. With visa and bilingual business cards in hand, a Mandarin phrase book with a practiced toast, and appropriate gift for your Chinese host, what’s next to seal the deal in China?
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New product introduction (NPI) quoting and the OEM
OEM companies engaged in quoting exercises for new product introduction (NPI) business services with contract manufacturers can expect the capable contract manufacturer to carefully lead the OEM through an established and itemized list of NPI product requirements and processes.
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Independent manufacturers’ representatives – interview with legal counsel Gerald M. Newman
Read what Mr. Newman says about establishing good contract manufacturing and sales representative agreements, contractual disputes and business challenges parties need to be aware of, industry trend segments for sales representatives in the active and inactive semi-conductor sector, and more.
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What you should know about quote pricing, purchase orders, and ERP systems
Quote pricing and purchase orders are driven by purchasing, programs management, and materials management departments in the contract manufacturer. Read how these functions drive the process and the role of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
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Contract manufacturing risk mitigation and risk management
As contract manufacturing business development wins more OEM programs, the risk of the contract manufacturer not being able to recover his investment decreases because similar outsource product manufacturing programs often have similar startup support requirements.
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Strategic sourcing and lean manufacturing with value stream roadmapping
How do executives remain true to the tenants of lean while stretching their company value stream across the globe? How do companies build close relationships with suppliers if each party speaks, and acts, differently? How does an organization make value ‘flow’ when its raw materials, or products, might be arriving in batches the size of large, ocean-going ship containers, or perhaps even the size of the container ship?
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Contract electronics direct costs, profits and OEM pricing
While there are some common outsourcing manufacturing contract formats, no two contracts are identical and, there is no viable, common platform that can be applied to every outsourcing contract pricing model with regards to either party’s profits.
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