So, you’ve decided to work with an EMS provider. Great! You can look forward to focusing your attention on your core business once again. A great EMS company can get your products to market quickly, monitor the supply chain and evaluate risk in order to deliver results as efficiently as possible.
But what should you expect from an EMS company beyond these practical, product-based elements? What makes them a true partner? Here are a few things to consider.
Consider the value they will add
Assess their skills and resources. Can they help you develop? Do they have innovative ideas that will help you grow? Are they financially stable enough to scale up or down with you? A real partner will become part of the team, with the ability to support your growth, and the drive to encourage it.
Find examples of their problem-solving skills
To really help your product and company develop, your partner should be able to handle unique challenges. Speak to the teams to find out as much as possible, and look for examples from previous projects they have delivered. Was there a time they had to flex their support to accommodate rising demand?
While superior testing equipment and capabilities are a great sign, what you’re really looking for is a partner with the experience, expertise and cool head to guide complex projects to success.
Look at their front end capability
You’re looking for a company who see this is a business engagement – a true partnership with goals, objectives and shared values. If the EMS company you’re speaking to see the working relationship as a technical service with a short term focus, they may not be partnership material.
Pay attention to how many questions they ask about your company and how you’d like it to develop. They should align the solutions they can offer you to the goals you share with them.
Learn about their processes
It’s important to find out how they will handle the different parts of manufacturing, from planning and resourcing to demand fluctuations and material sourcing. You should feel confident that your partner can respond to risks without production being affected. Not just this, but they should be monitoring and evaluating processes at all times in order to properly de-risk the supply chain.
Try to think of a real-life situation, and how this provider would respond to it. COVID-19, for example. Can they tell you what systems they had in place for their clients to cope with such an unusual challenge? From pre-sales to completion, there should be strong processes in place, with great depth of detail.
Choose an experienced team
Chemistry is vital. But beyond that, you should look for a partner with a breadth of experience. You need a team that understands technical, logistical and design challenges. They should understand the market enough to really help you progress, rather than just complete tasks. And, if they have engineering experience, they will get to grips with your product quickly, and potentially have ideas for boosting quality.
What you can expect from a partnership with CB Technology
We work with you, not for you. We hold detailed meetings and workshops to learn about your forecast, the challenges you’ve faced in the past, and where you see your business going.
We never dictate. Instead, we take the time to really understand your business and where we can add the most value. From there, we can design completely tailored solutions.
All this is just the beginning of our engagement. Quarterly business reviews, regular catchups and shared responsibilities take our partnership from strength to strength, and allow us to work as a value-adding extension of your company.
