How to find an EMS or SMT foundry suitable for your company?

Finding the right EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) or SMT (Surface Mount Technology) foundry for your company can be a critical decision, and there are a few factors to consider before making your choice. Here are some steps you can follow to help you find a suitable EMS or SMT foundry for your company:

Determine your company’s requirements: Before looking for a foundry, you should determine your company’s requirements, such as production volume, quality standards, delivery times, and budget. These requirements will help you narrow down your search and find a foundry that can meet your needs.
Research and shortlist foundries: Research EMS and SMT foundries that match your company’s requirements. You can do this by searching online, asking for recommendations from industry peers, or attending industry events. Once you have a list of potential foundries, shortlist the ones that seem to fit your requirements best.
Evaluate the foundries: After shortlisting the foundries, evaluate them based on their experience, expertise, and capabilities. Look for online reviews, case studies, and certifications to determine their quality standards. Also, consider their capacity and delivery times to ensure they can handle your production needs.
Visit the foundries: After narrowing down your list, visit the foundries in person to assess their facilities and meet their staff. This will give you a better idea of their production processes, quality standards, and the level of customer service you can expect.
Negotiate terms and finalize the contract: After you have evaluated and visited the foundries, negotiate the terms and pricing with the ones that meet your requirements. Finalize the contract with the chosen foundry, ensuring that all aspects of the production process and delivery times are clearly defined.

Of course there are other issues to consider:

Your current orders to the foundry must at least be the top three customers of the factory.

The order quantity we give to the foundry is best to be the primary customer of the foundry or the factory, at least the top three customers, and it is not recommended to cover all production capacity (at least two foundries in the procurement strategy can be mutually Competition), so that we can speak in front of the foundry to have weight, that is to say, the foundry will pay attention to all our requirements, even if we temporarily want to insert or increase orders, most of the foundries are willing to cooperate.

On the contrary, if the amount we give is dispensable to the foundry, as long as there is a big customer chasing an order, most of them will become the first to be sacrificed. Not only will the work order be pushed back, but even the The engineers supporting the production line will also be transferred to high-volume customers first. That is to say, not all engineers and equipment in the same EMS or SMT factory are equally good, but excellent engineers and equipment personnel Everyone wants it. If we are the kind of customers who cry out and the water will freeze, of course we can ask those capable engineers and equipment to be transferred to serve our products, and the production quality of products is often built on the basis of these excellent engineers. and on the device.

There is no need to pursue perfection. The process capability must meet our needs, but it is good enough.

In fact, you get what you pay for. If your company’s products are generally low-end electronic products, such as low-end toys, and do not use parts smaller than 0201, and do not have fine-pitch FBGA, in fact, you also You really don’t need to look for those first-tier foundries with fast printing speed and first-class equipment. You may find those second-tier, third-tier, or even home-made foundries that can meet your needs.

What we have to do is to list in detail the process conditions we need. We only need to find a foundry that meets these process capabilities. Finally, we need to use testing to check all the quality, and then use the yield rate to meet the requirements. The foundry proposes an improvement plan to gradually improve the quality. In fact, many large-scale EMS factories in the industry are not in place in one step, but are required, educated and cultivated by customers step by step.

I personally think that those EMS and SMT foundries with good quality are actually determined by the market. When your company is willing to give EMS more benefits, the other party will be more able to cooperate with you to improve the production quality.

At last:

It is still necessary to find a suitable foundry according to the current operating conditions of your company, and make corresponding adjustments later when the operating conditions change.