EMSNOW

In a pause between factory visits, Eric and Dieter explore the some of the key macro and micro trends impacting the industry. In this episode they explore the trend related to moving manufacturing out of China and the potential growth in regionalization, or local-for-local. Supply chain, logistics issues, continued risk, trade wars and geopolitical issue are all playing into the desire to reshore,...

Eric Miscoll reports from Europe on the current business conditions across the pond, with his sidekick Dieter Weiss.  Their posting, originally published in video on EMSNOW, is a conversation with Petteri Jokitalo, CEO of Scanfil, a Finland-based global EMS.  The three discuss Scanfil’s differentiators, how the company is adapting to supply chain disruptions, overall conditions in Europe as 2021 c...

Back on the road again, and still COVID free, Eric and Dieter visit BMK in Augsburg, close to Munich. BMK was an MBO of a very large Siemens campus, the company is female led and has a creative and innovative approach to automation, using tools like 3D Printing to accelerate products through production. Next up they visited Steca, A Katek brand, also known as KATEK Memmingen GmbH. Acquired in 2019...

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss find their way through the snow to the Czech border and the town of Zandt, home to Europe's largest domestic EMS and the world's largest privately owned EMS, Zollner.  As Eric so eloquently puts it, "the power and the might of tier one was on display". It is hard not to be impressed by the scale, but also by the level of integration, of capability...

This time EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll and European EMS Guru Dieter Weiss started their day in Germany with SERO GmbH and ended it in the Netherlands at Neways. SERO is a top 40 European EMS with  close to three decades of history that was acquired in 2018 by the management and a private equity firm. Since then they've added facilities in the Netherlands and Slovakia and are close to adding...

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss their day at two of Southern Germany's leading and oldest EMS companies, RAWE Electronics and RAFI. They discuss the longterm and sticky nature of the relationships these companies enjoy with their customers, underlining the value of deep partnerships as compared to the expense and risk of changing vendors for a few cents in price reduction. They also exp...

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss air their differences in public, starting with a comparison of the EMS sectors in the US and Europe. They touch on hot topics like consolidation, organic versus inorganic growth, and the fundamental questions about outsourcing over insourcing. They also explore the goldilocks question - what size EMS partner is just right, before leveling into the talent shortages, ho...

Fresh from their hike in the mountains, Eric a Dieter share their thoughts and insight from a  successful event in Tallinn where Dieter provided the keynote and Eric moderated a panel. The pair go on to discuss some key developments in the industry, before sharing some feedback from their visit to ASM Assembly Systems' Center of Excellence at the Munich headquarters. The two wrap up with a pr...

Fresh from the Thanksgiving celebrations, EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll boarded the first flight to Europe to meet with EMS industry guru and friend Dieter Weiss with whom he will share a three week road trip. After a short stop to catch his breathe, Eric arrived in Tallinn, capital of Estonia to meet a few people, visit a few factories and attend the "IPC Day 2021 - From EMS to the Moon and...

2019's big disruption was the trade war between China and the US, in 2020 it was COVID-19, and now in 2021 the biggest challenge facing the manufacturing industry is supply chain shortages. What will it be in 2022? Perhaps more of the same, perhaps all of the above? In this episode of The EMS (Eric Miscoll Show), Philip and Eric talk to FLEX Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer Lynn Tor...