With borders closing and a surge in demand for electronic devices, the pandemic and Brexit has had a knock-on effect for global supply chains.
Scottish companies that were reliant on suppliers in Eastern Europe or the Far East for components or products have been left to reassess their supply chains – and consider whether they too could benefit from the ‘buy local’ trend.
Due to increased costs and shipping delays, customers were finding a renewed hunger to “buy British”.
This trend towards bringing production back to the UK creates opportunities for electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Scotland is well-placed to be at the forefront of this movement, thanks to the investment that’s been going on within our own industry and within our customers’ sectors.
For example, the Centre of Excellence for Sensing, Imaging, and the Internet of Things (Censis) in Glasgow has led a wave of technological breakthroughs, which in turn has triggered a surge in companies starting up.
CB Technology have worked with a number of these businesses to help them bring their products to market.
To take advantage of this shift back to British manufacturing, EMS companies need to be flexible and responsive to their customers’ requirements.
EMS firms should act like their customers’ in-house manufacturing departments by listening to their objectives and coming up with creative options, especially when it comes to navigating restricted supply chains.
Read the full article, written by John Cameron, and published in The Scotsman.