A comment in old friend Dominique Numakura’s weekly newsletter prompted this audacious thought.
First, though, the background. Dominique has been detailing this year’s JPCA 2010 Show.
But (!) — and this is where Dominique leaves off and audacious Mike comes in — big boards are what North America traditionally has done well. Could it be that this trend, primarily for industrial and certain consumer electronics — might actually spark a modest return to prominence for domestic fabricators?
The SIA has submitted a report to the US Department of Commerce outlining actions required to meet the goal of doubling semiconductor exports by 2014.
To to so, here’s what the trade group recommends:
Interesting stuff. It’s not too far off the occasional calls that various bare board trade groups have made. Of course, the latter never really went anywhere. I’m guessing the monies the semiconductor makers spend on lobbying Washington will have a different result.
Juki has introduced what it is calling an online video library to show off some of its machines.
I really like this move, and in fact, am surprised more companies haven’t done it.
Now to be sure, these videos are product demos, not true training aids. There is the occasional nugget of good technical info shared, but not so much that someone could consult the library to answer a specific question.
That said, I think this is headed in the right direction. The web has decent video capability, so let’s take advantage of it! The future of training lies in having a full-fledged series of videos showing operators just how to perform a task. It’s cost-effective, quick for users, and allows a level of detail topped only by a service visit. A few enlightened companies like BEST Inc. have been doing this for years; more should follow their lead.
The WTO has apparently ruled for the US over certain European Union-levied tariffs on various IT products, including set-top boxes, monitors and multifunctional printers.
The WTO ruling is preliminary and confidential, but the Information Technology Industry Council is applauding anyway.
The pundits are out and speculating that, in the wake of a dozen worker suicides, higher wages and reams of bad press, Foxconn might relocate from China.
AppleInsider thinks Foxconn might move production back to Taiwan. John Dvorak suggests a fed-up Terry Gou might either replace workers with robots or leave altogether. Others pose similar notions.
Two fundamental problems exist with this line of reasoning (three, if you factor in that a scaled-up lights-out electronics manufacturing operation has never existed).
1. No other country, save for India, offers the population China does. Foxconn’s model is built on having access to hundreds of thousands of workers in company towns. Where else in the world is that possible? What other government would even allow it? Taiwan, for example, has neither the space, the population nor the wage rates necessary to pull this off, even if it wanted to.
2. Foxconn has established complete supply chains in or near its campuses. It’s one thing to move a factory. EMS companies do this all the time, and (with some notable exceptions) have actually become fairly good at it. But relocating an entire supply chain takes time and commitments. Foxconn may be the largest EMS player in China, but it’s not the only one, and in just a handful of cities those chains can feed the 75% or so of all electronics manufacturing in the world. Simply put, there are good reasons everyone is in China right now and not, for example, India.
For better or worse, Foxconn and China are bound together.
Pete’s latest column looks at how a veteran PCB designer saved his job from being outsourced.
What are designers most concerned about today? Are salaries and benefits keeping up with job demands? Read Chelsey Drysdale’s exclusive report.
Our newest blogger is David Seifrid, a Lean expert with eight years experience in EMS.
Dave currently is manager of planning and customer support at The Morey Corp., the Chicago-based EMS company that specializes in telematics and heavy industrial engineering and manufacturing. He is also a University of Illinois alum, which makes him a first-class guy in my book (go Illini!).
We’re excited about Dave’s joining our gang, which includes Ron Lasky, Duane Benson, Brian O’Leary, and of course, me.
Read his first post here.
The impact of Foxconn’s decision to raise wages at its Shenzhen campus could have longer-term repercussions.
As the New York Times reports today, workers in the region appear emboldened, with Honda plant workers staging a walkout, TPV Technology contemplating raises, and the entire contract manufacturing industry under the world media microscope.
Foxconn itself seems to be reconsidering the scope of its agenda, with a spokesman saying that the all-in-one model might not be the best going forward.
Let’s hope the death of the dozen (and counting) workers is not in vain.
And there you go: Two more deals in the past two days.
In the UK, Falcon PCB Group has acquired flex circuit manufacturer Flex-Ability, while in the US, Circuit Connect has snatched up the former Eastern Manfuacturing/Titan East plant now known as Time Sensitive Circuits.
How the two deals unfold could be very different, however. Falcon now owns a handful of shops in two regions, and tends to leave its plants intact.
Several companies have been rumored to have sniffed around TSC over the past few years, including one of the big West Coast-based fabricators. The firm has some interesting flex capability and, unlike its acquirer, is qualified to MIL-PRF-55110 and MIL-PRF-31032. What no one is saying is whether the company’s plant will remain open, or if production will be moved up 45 miles northwest to Nashua, NH.