Factors to Consider while selecting the Right Electronic Manufacturing Service Partner, Part – II

This article is in continuation to the article that was written earlier under the same title and the introduction.


In the last 10 years, the global market has witnessed a significant increase in the overall demand for electronic manufacturing services (EMS) – especially for low-volume, high complexity medical electronic goods.


With medical (Original Electronic Manufacturers) OEMs facing amplified pressure to alleviate lead-time from initial idea to order fulfillment and delivery, they should also respond to dynamic, swift-paced electronic markets, where competition is cut-throat and regulation is tight. Besides, the current economic climate means companies of all sizes encounter significant challenges and need to boost efficiency, lower the costs and make sure their internal resources are used to the optimum – in short, it is a hard time to be a medical OEM.


Working with an EMS partner can aid a medical OEM to better respond to the sprouting challenges of electronic components manufacture, production and testing, while enhancing ROI (return on investment) on resources utilized in the manufacturing process.


Whereas, in the past an Original Electronic Manufacturing company would partner with an EMS company to do a fixed function at a critical stage of the manufacturing procedure; currently EMS is a highly trusted integrated partner – who can add great value at every stage of the electronic produce realization process.


Following are the remaining factors to consider before partnering with any EMS company:


Degree of Collaboration:

Some medical OEMs would wish to work with EMS contractor, who can help drive decisions and provide them support with medical components design, while others simply require support at a given stage, like manufacture, quality testing or customization.


An increasing number of emerging medical OEMs are desirous to work with EMS contractor as a sole, integrated business partner, who can add great value at assembly stage and customization of finished components, hence, helping them to focus their decisions and attentions on product development and marketing.



Rules & Regulations

An experienced electronic parts manufacturer can lend invaluable assistance meeting international norms and standards. ROHS recast, for instance, is an EU directive that was tightened in June 2011 in order to regulate large volumes of toxic electronic wastes.



Medical electronic parts should comply with ROHS recast rules, and the transition to the ROHS recast compliant medical electronic device can deeply affect the overall performance of the product, as extensive component testing is needed to ensure validation, reliability, dependability and verification.



This will probably be arduous for medical OEMs, who outsource their needs to custom mechanical and electrical parts distributors, as not all companies will provide ROHS complaint processes and goods. Moreover, EMS contractors can support medical electronic manufacturing units with the transition to compliant goods, ensuring a ROHS compliant supply chain in order to guarantee a cost-effective solution. This in turn, minimizes the potential for revenue loss and enables the medical OEM to work along with EMS contractor to formulate new ROHS recast complaint prototypes with support via testing & verification processes. All this, helps the medical OEMs to make safe and sound business decisions for future product development.





In the next 10-years, medical OEMs will turn more reliant on their electronic manufacturing services. The medical tools market will become global, more knotty, specialized and heavily regulated. OEM, in the near future, will become the hub around which other work will be arranged – with EMS adding value and revenue at every stage of the electronic product realization process. For more details, please logon to https://plus.google.com/u/0/102361938533117725578