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Silicon Valley Nation: Five manufacturing perspectives
Brian Fuller
9/19/2012 7:42 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO--"Some production will never leave the west."
That's the assessment of Daniel Pfeifer, global R&D manager at Escatec, whom my colleague Bolaji Ojo interviewed about electronics manufacturing.
Indeed conventional wisdom, which just a few years ago had stuck a fork in western electronics manufacturers, is coming around. Leading minds at places like the Harvard Business School now argue that domestic manufacturing is vital--vital not just for its own sake but for improving design. Without that tight feedback loop, design can't be optimized as quickly as it should be, they say.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
Here are five perspectives from selected contract manufacturers around the country, many of whom have spent the Great Recession investing in new equipment to become more competitive with rivals in Asia.
For Tony Hamby, general manager of Micross Components (Orlando, Fla.), Asia's "strength is also (its) limitation."
"They are set up for extremely high volumes. We are set up for people who want to experiment and develop an entrepreneurial approach to building products," he said.
Here's more of my talk with Hamby (additional perspectives are on subsequent pages):
Next: Manufacturing mojo
That's the assessment of Daniel Pfeifer, global R&D manager at Escatec, whom my colleague Bolaji Ojo interviewed about electronics manufacturing.
Indeed conventional wisdom, which just a few years ago had stuck a fork in western electronics manufacturers, is coming around. Leading minds at places like the Harvard Business School now argue that domestic manufacturing is vital--vital not just for its own sake but for improving design. Without that tight feedback loop, design can't be optimized as quickly as it should be, they say.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
Here are five perspectives from selected contract manufacturers around the country, many of whom have spent the Great Recession investing in new equipment to become more competitive with rivals in Asia.
For Tony Hamby, general manager of Micross Components (Orlando, Fla.), Asia's "strength is also (its) limitation."
"They are set up for extremely high volumes. We are set up for people who want to experiment and develop an entrepreneurial approach to building products," he said.
Here's more of my talk with Hamby (additional perspectives are on subsequent pages):
Next: Manufacturing mojo
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