The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Electronic Manufacturing Services
When it comes to handling their electronic manufacturing services, many businesses have come to rely on a supply chain to fulfill at least some of their most pressing production needs. While very few businesses still manufacturer their products completely in-house, those that do usually maintain a certain level of pride about their autonomy, even if it’s not always in their or their customers’ best interests.
Making the decision of how to handle a business’ electronic manufacturing services requires considering a variety of factors to determine whether outsourcing will provide an organization with a big enough benefit to make switching worth the effort. At Out of the Box Manufacturing, our goal is to create an environment of innovation and collaboration with our customers. By establishing this type of working relationship, we make it easy for businesses to make the switch to outsourcing without having to worry about any trouble during the transition.
If you’re business still hasn’t made the switch to outsourcing some of your manufacturing needs, let’s take a look at a few of the overwhelming benefits this strategy can offer any business.
Improved Inventory Management
Material handlers and inventory clerks spend a lot of time in manufacturing warehouses tracking, picking and distributing parts. When products are assembled in-house, the sheer number of parts requires a lot more time to properly manage inventory, which also opens the door for more errors and excess or depleted supplies. When a supplier ships a completed electrical assembly, you only have one part number to deal with, improving the overall efficiency of your entire inventory.
Reduced Investment in Technology and Equipment
Making the financial investment to acquire the latest equipment and technology required to successfully build an electrical or mechanical assembly is cost prohibitive for a lot of small to medium-sized businesses, especially if the assembly requires specialty applications or a shorter production run.
With the technology required to produce advanced assemblies constantly accelerating at such a fast pace, it becomes even more costly for a business to keep up with all of the necessary maintenance and upgrades needed to keep production state-of-the-art. It usually becomes far more profitable for a business to rely on a supplier that specializes in the production of certain types of assemblies and, as a result, must keep up on the latest advanced in technology and equipment.
Additional Skilled Workforce
As technology continues to grow increasingly complex, the expertise needed to design, engineer and manufacturer assemblies requires a highly specialized workforce. From having insight on the best practices and a detailed understanding of the industry to knowledge about which materials will meet strict regulations and the ability to troubleshoot technical issues, manufacturing workforces today require a high degree of specialization and training.
When working with a qualified electronic manufacturing services provider, your in-house team is freed to focus on their core competencies as our team at Out of the Box handles the more complex and technical details of product assembly. Not only will this help to take some of the strain off your workforce, it will also help to improve product quality.
Lower Production Time
How quickly a product hits the market offers a business the opportunity to get a jump on the competition, while also establishing a brand as an innovative thought leader within its industry. If your in-house production facility doesn’t feature the space, skilled workforce or equipment needed to shorten the time from concept design to finished product, you run the risk of not finishing first to market.
A supplier that offers the internal infrastructure and skilled workforce capable of quickly meeting your production needs can prove invaluable when improving your time to market. Additionally, selecting a production partner located onshore rather than overseas can also significantly reduce wait times and further enable you to generate a competitive advantage.
Improve Your Business’ ROI
Determining your return on investment for conducting your electronic manufacturing services in-house rather than through finding an outsourcing partner requires more than just making a few calculations on labor and raw materials. There are a variety of factors you should consider that provide a more accurate assessment of the total cost.
When performing your internal cost assessment, consider the following expenses:
- Equipment and all related maintenance
- Purchasing the latest technology and paying for all necessary upgrades
- The additional overhead that comes from extra utilities, insurance, additional workforce, etc.
- Finding the required factory floor space
- The time and money required to educate and train a workforce to keep their skills up-to-date
Find out how Out of the Box can help become your electronic manufacturing services provider, and take the next step towards transforming your business into the highly profitable force needed to stay ahead of the competition.