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Innovation is Key
Insides from Mr. Folkert Wierda, Director Business Development, Personal Communications at Elcoteq
Our customers´ expectations are changing. Our role is no longer simply that of a manufacturer, we have become owners of significant parts of the value chain. This means that we must continuously seek better ways of playing our part. There is also a clear correlation between company growth and the effort a company puts into innovations, says Elcoteq’s Folkert Wierda.
Mr. Folkert Wierda is Director of Business Development in Personal Communications Business Area. He emphasizes that contract electronics manufacturing is now changing and that it has become something quite different than just assembling products someone else has designed.
“Initially, the role of a contract electronics manufacturer or EMS company was to assemble products designed by an OEM, the original equipment manufacturer, usually the brand owner. These designs often included both the manufacturing process and all its details,” Folkert Wierda says, and continues:“The next step introduced business planning into the process. Manufacturers and brand owners began planning things together and communication became more open and more transparent,” says Mr. Wierda.
“Now we are on the threshold of a third era in which EMS companies become problem solvers and innovators. As OEMs go deeper into understanding markets, end-user behavior and the creation of new product families the role of the EMS is developing new solutions – not only for use in the manufacturing process but also in products themselves.”
“The role of the OEM has changed and this will also bring about important developments in our role. We have entered an era in which some OEMs and/or brand owners are no longer true masters of the manufacturing process. What they must master is the process of outsourcing. They are developing new kinds of relationships with EMS companies, who would now perhaps be better described as technology partners.”
Opening New Doors
Folkert Wierda stresses that OEMs will choose partners who are innovative and able to create new solutions, new technologies and new ideas. Not only will these help to make production more effective, they will also be able to generate innovations in the actual products. Folkert Wierda points out that adopting an innovative approach is actually a blessing for service providers. Not only will innovation bring better financial returns, it also opens up new business possibilities.
“We are now expected – and ready – to seek new and better ways of manufacturing and testing, improved processes, better forms of mechanical construction, and methods of reducing waste even further. But this is not enough, good innovations are born only through close connections to markets, close to our customers.
”Lots of innovative ideas are generated both inside Elcoteq and in everyday work with our customers. Our new technology incubation process is designed to collect these good ideas and make sure we can use them to serve our customers in an optimal manner. “One of our main tasks, of course, is to support our existing customers by creating innovative products and technical service concepts. This also results in new ways of influencing our customers’ business decisions, which will create even closer partnerships. It must also
be very clear from the beginning that new solutions created in cooperation with our existing customers cannot be used for the benefit of any other customer, in order to preserve customer confidentiality. On the other hand, new ideas and new solutions carry with them the seeds of new business opportunities,” says Mr. Wierda.
Brains and Storms
“It is of the utmost importance that our own organization is able to collect and analyze the ideas that are generated within our own processes. There is of course a multitude of ideas present at any given time. What is required is an organized process for evaluating these ideas, identifying the most promising ones and making sure that they are developed to their full potential. “We need to be close to markets and to our customers, of course, and basic research is practiced somewhere else. But our designs and ideas should be exploited not only today and tomorrow, but in next generation products as well.”
Dr. Wierda points out that ideas born out of normal working processes are just a start. What is also needed is brainstorming, regular idea-generating sessions, discussions within the Elcoteq global network - a Piazza where ideas can be presented and evaluated. “This process involves several steps. The first is collecting ideas from both internal and external sources and activities. The second is evaluating the ideas and transforming them into innovation concepts and customer proposals. But we also have to make critical evaluations of our ideas, testing their feasibility and market potential.” According to Dr. Wierda, this will take time and money. Both are needed for evaluation, development and testing. In reality, however, there is no alternative.
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Topics:
Communication Technology, Design, Electronics Manufacturing Services, Mobile phones, Personal Communications
September 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.