In recent years the term electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider started being used instead of contract manufacturer. Contract manufacturer (CM), it is argued, suggests a time when the EMS industry was basically a build-to-print business. A CM was hired when an OEM had an upside in demand for a product and could not build all the boards it needed to fulfill the orders.

Now many EMS providers are the de facto manufacturing arms of many OEMs. They aren't just building boards, but entire systems for their OEM customers and often shipping the product to the OEM's customer. Increasingly, as the story to the right of this column states, OEMs are also relying on their manufacturing partners to find ways to take cost out of the OEM's product. It's up to the CM to suggest design changes that may result in a simpler and easier way to manufacture boards or systems and to suggest component or supplier changes that will result in cost savings.

With that level of involvement in an OEM's product, the term EMS may soon become obsolete because contract manufacturers are doing more than providing manufacturing services.

jcarbone@cahners.com