The silicon valley approach.With the electronics content exploding in automobiles, perhaps some automotive suppliers can learn a few things From the consumer electronics, computing computing - computer , and medical technologies industries. One thing: Although products may carry a familiar name brand (e.g., Sun, Cisco), odds are the product--in part of whole--was actually manufactured by a third party. A company like Solectron Corp. (Milpitas, CA; www.solectron.com), which has, since its founding in 1977, been a leader in electronics manufacturing services Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) is term used for companies that design, test, manufacture, distribute and provide return/repair services for electronic component and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). . Consider this: Solectron achieved a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is given by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology. Through the actions of the National Productivity Advisory Committee chaired by Jack Grayson, it was established by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality for manufacturing in 1991. After waiting the required five years, it applied again and got a second. There is a zeal Zeal Bows, Mr. crippled fiddler with intense feelings. [Br. Lit.: Pendennis] Cedric of Rotherwood zealous about restoring Saxon independence. [Br. for quality at the company (it has been pursuing a lean six sigma Lean Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology which combines (as the name implies) tools from both Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. Lean manufacturing focuses on speed and traditional Six Sigma focuses on quality. By combining the two, the result is better quality faster. strategy since 2001) that is of the first-order. Given the opportunities in auto, Solectron is working at gaining more customers in Detroit; it has approximately $300-million worth of business with the industry right now. Among the products it is producing are instrument clusters, navigation, engine control units, body control units, and telematics Originally coined to mean the convergence of telecommunications and information processing, the term later evolved to refer to automation in automobiles. GPS navigation, integrated hands-free cellphones, wireless communications and automatic driving assistance systems all come under the . One of the things that it has done to help achieve further penetration is to bring on former Delphi and General Motors executive Donald L. Runkle as a senior executive advisor, who is intimately familiar with the way the industry works from the points of view of supplier and OEMs. Runkle's argument as to why Solectron could be used to leverage a Tier One's capabilities is not all about straight cost reductions. Rather, he points out that in addition to this reduction: 1. There is a reduction in required assets. The Tier One doesn't need to own the factory, people, equipment, etc. What's more, Solectron could serve as a beta site An organization or group that is beta testing hardware and/or software. See beta test. for new equipment and methods. 2. There is the possibility of freeing up engineering resources at the Tier One. Rather than concentrating on process issues, the engineers could be working on other issues. 3. There is protection from volume fluctuations. Solectron, which tends to work with multiple OEMs, is able to more readily flux flux In metallurgy, any substance introduced in the smelting of ores to promote fluidity and to remove objectionable impurities in the form of slag. Limestone is commonly used for this purpose in smelting iron ores. resources than is the case when a company is dedicated to fewer customers. 4. As David Moezidis, vice president-Automotive, for Solectron puts it, "It is an extension of the Tier One's manufacturing. There is a lot of value gained from leveraging Solectron, more than just that we can manufacture circuit boards."--GSV |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion