“Their strength is their limitation”
ORLANDO, FL.–Think U.S. electronics manufacturers can't compete with Asia? Think again.
The rush to offshore saw U.S. bean-counters goggle-eyed over the amazing labor savings to be had in China, Vietnam, India and so on.
This was validated for a time, but back home, process optimization–both human and technological–rolled on like a mighty locomotive. And then parts came back from overseas with yield problems. And then design started to suffer because of cultural, communications and time-zone issues.
In the past few, economically ravaged years, U.S. manufacturers have tooled up at bargain-basement prices to get increasingly cost-competitive with Asia.
This is not to say that North American EMS providers will overwhelm their Asian competition. They're not set up for it, nor do they aspire to it. The type of design they thrive on and benefit from is different.
"Their strength is also their limitation," said Tony Hamby, general manager of Micross Components operations here (here's a link to an earlier segment on Micross). "They are set up for extremely high volumes. We are set up for people who want to experiment and develop an entrepreneurial approach to building products."
In a candid give-and-take, Hamby and Chip O'Toole, Micross project engineer, talk about yield issues, design challenges and how the tide is turning: