Navigating the New Auto Industry Supply Chain

By Logan Wamsley

Since the early 1900s when Henry Ford pioneered the original assembly line, the evolution of the supply chain has been tightly linked to the auto industry — and ever since it has been held up by manufacturers as a shining beacon representing what a supply chain is capable of. Compared to most modern manufacturers, auto…

Crunching the OEM Cash Cycle During a Component Shortage

By Logan Wamsley

Regardless of the industry your company operates in or the products you bring to market, you are subservient to the cash conversion cycle (CCC). While explaining the factors that create this in detail is worthy of an article in itself, for the sake of simplicity I will define it as the amount of time it…

BOM Monitoring and the Lifecycle Mismatch

By Logan Wamsley

There is a lifecycle mismatch between the life of an electronic component, or semiconductor, and the life of an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) product. This problem requires that during design, engineers must be cognizant of which electronic components and semiconductors will be available, and which parts may be obsoleted during a product’s manufacturing process. BOM…

Last Time Buys: The Offering EMS Providers Need

By Logan Wamsley

The last decade has seen a drastic increase in the responsibilities taken by EMS providers. In addition to final assemblies, they often play a vital role in finalizing the OEM product’s design, sourcing cost-effective parts and processes that may be more beneficial to their customer’s bottom line. In some cases, they can even use their…

OEMs: Don’t Overlook the Risks of Market Inflation

By Logan Wamsley

According to Reuters, the International Institute of Finance forecasts 2018 global growth at 3.5 percent. While this is reported to be an optimistic outlook for the global economy in terms of job growth and reduced employment, such growth also increases the risk of inflation. This news is of particular interest to the manufacturing industry, who…

Saving and Spending: The OEM Working Capital Paradox

By Logan Wamsley

The longer the OEM projects the lifecycle of their product to last, the more last time buy inventory needs to be purchased – and because long-term inventory needs can rarely be forecasted perfectly, OEMs prefer to have too much inventory than not enough. Every component, semiconductor, and necessary computer product, even the ones that may…