These 5 steps help you get important info to better analyze your suppliers to improve your electronics AVL and supply chain performance.
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Outsourcing & Offshoring
5 steps for better electronics supply chain AVLs
A broken bicycle in Zhangjiagang helps break a language barrier
My new home would be in Zhangjiagang, 张家港, a city of about 1 million people (small for Chinese standards). It was 90 miles northwest of Shanghai and more than 10,000 miles from what I had always known as home in Springville, Iowa (a town of about 1,200).
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Full report: EMS / ODM worry about profitability as fall 2011 survey reveals pessimism in electronics supply chain
471 survey respondents from EMS/ODM, Component Manufacturers, Distributors, Electronic Equipment Manufacturers, OEMs and Semiconductor Manufacturers answer questions on the economic situation; employment, inventory levels, business volume, and prices providing insight into the levels of …
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Closer look at Compal-Lenovo joint venture raises questions
First joint venture between a notebook OEM and an ODM. Previously, ODMs only set up vertical integration joint ventures. Compal could make less profit from the deal than others think. What impact will the joint venture have on other ODMs?
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VIDEO – Foxconn workers talk about factory life in documentary
VIDEO – A documentary explores the lives of factory workers in Foxconn, the world’s largest EMS provider. One 20-year old male from Sichuan province has only worked for Foxconn for two months, immediately following graduation from high school because he did not have the grades good enough to help him pursue his dream in the sciences which require a higher education.
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Foxconn automatons and outsourcing impact more than just jobs
To me, Gou is saying the 1.3 million employees Foxconn currently uses to do the repetitive, mind numbing tasks that produce so many of the gadgets the Company makes cost too much and make too many mistakes to continue to use them.
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My visit to Wangjing, the city inside Beijing
Some regions of Wangjing are already well developed with offices of international companies including Microsoft; Caterpillar, Mercedes-Benz, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, Agilent… Plus, plenty of local start-up companies being recruited by Wangjing Science & Technology Park.
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Why I believe the outsourcing trend is reversing
Three events occurred in the last four years changing technology development and manufacturing that, combined, created an environment where new nations are emerging as potential providers of outsource services, former manufacturing nations like the US are being flocked back to, and current providers of outsource services are outsourcing themselves.
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2011 Report: China manufacturing hourly labor rate, compensation costs impact EMS
China’s hourly manufacturing labor rates are far below rates in Japan ($27.80) and Taiwan ($8.68) but roughly on par with nations like the Philippines ($1.68). China manufacturing compensation costs slightly higher than those in India. Many EMS / ODM companies in China, especially those making PCs, are moving operations inland.
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EMS manufacturing site relocation and selection in North America
Some states offering incentives for EMS providers are really just imposing more taxes. Understanding which states are more aggressive when it comes to incentives capabilities is key to selecting geography.
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