6 reasons to offshore electronic design and manufacturing

offshore electronic design and manufacturing

Many contractors are looking into  Risk Free, No Hassle, Cost Effective, Offshore electronic design and manufacturing. while you certainly have a great deal of options when contracting with an electronics manufacturing service, it's very important to be aware that not all outsource vendors are created equally. So who should you choose to work with?

While many say the cost should not be the only factor the main reason for offshore manufacturing is cost. Here are a number of benefits that can come from shifting a production line to manufacture components or an entire product offshore.  By outsourcing assemblies and other expensive processes during electronic design and manufacturing you can dramatically cut the costs of your products and pass those savings on to your customers.  Start with the end in mind.  The goal is to help your customers remain extremely competitive.

Working with contract manufacturers to outsource the complete production of a product offers a number of advantages: reduced costs, a more efficient allocation of resources, and a more agile response to changes in corporate strategy.

But electronic design and manufacturing also pose risks for quality functions—especially those working in highly regulated industries, where products come under extra scrutiny—so the organization must assess the right risks and ensure contract manufacturing partners perform to the expectations required of them.

6 reasons why to offshore electronic design and manufacturing

Cost 

Where do savings come from? Labor and procuring raw materials closer to the source provide tremendous savings.  It is no secret that labor rates are lower offshore.  In the case of raw materials, like rubber, it makes sense to buy and manufacture rubber components where rubber is  most prolific (SE Asia). This is the reason there is a global supply chain.  It is important to have transparency in your supply chain so be sure to research the electronic design and manufacturing that you are outsourcing with.

Parts 

Outsourcing to China, Vietnam, India and other countries is nothing new.  Many top electronic design and manufacturing have drawn from offshore manufacturing expertise in order to create their products at reasonable prices for over 30 years.  They have continued to be successful because they have implemented a global supply chain.  A mature and successful global supply chain leverages the strength of its team, wherever around the world they may be.

Quality  electronics manufacturing service

A successful electronic design and manufacturing should be well skilled in your type of manufacturing or discipline.  If you can partner with a company that has experience with rubber, motors and full assemblies or even materials such as plastic, metal or electronics that can be used in your product (or to make your part), you can get the same, if not better, quality products than you would from a local supplier at a greatly reduced rate.

Having a presence in these factories will help greatly. East West is able to offer our customers a peace of mind by using our own strategic business units in Asia to make sure we have our “feet on the street” at all times.

Compliance 

Offshore electronic design and manufacturing will save you money but it should never replace quality engineering and proper inspection of products before they ship overseas.  It is important to develop a process to inspect each assembly and manufactured product to ensure the quality remains consistent.  While there is an inherent trust between an offshore manufacturing facility and the company that engineered the product, it is important that parts are inspected regularly.  

Service 

Hiring the right people to operate and maintain that equipment is another consideration.  The right offshore manufacturing experts are equipped with the machines, the technical know-how, and the engineering staff that is required to not only build a quality product, but also handle the logistics and deliver it to you.

Flexibility

Some manufacturing companies have gained increased flexibility by outsourcing their production. Typically, production gets outsourced to a contract manufacturer, or a company that produces goods under the label or brand of another firm. Contract manufacturers might produce goods for two or more companies, and even for competitors within the same industry. Since the contract manufacturer has more production capacity (the ability to produce more goods) than the original manufacturing company, it can respond to increased production requirements faster than the original manufacturer. Instead of the original manufacturer making a capital investment in new equipment to increase its production capacity, it informs the contract manufacturer that it requires more goods. Although the requested increase (or decrease) in production might change the terms and costs associated with the original production contract, it’s more flexible than making a one-time capital investment that could sit idle if the increased demand diminishes.

If you are interested in saving money on your manufactured products and offer your customers a much more competitive rate for your products, do not hesitate to look into outsourcing  electronic design and manufacturing to take advantage of the cost saving benefits. With proper planning, the benefits of a global supply chain far outweigh the risks.