The crisis is coming to an end, but challenges remain

The supply chain crisis is continuing to gradually improve. However, with the return to pre-pandemic lead times taking longer than anticipated, the challenges in sourcing and procurement remain on the top of the agenda for companies globally. The combination of product trends such as digitalization and miniaturization coupled with socio-economic factors like Covid-19 and global trade conflicts have meant that component supply has been sluggish to match demand; with crucial components such as semiconductors seeing their sales almost double in the last decade. With these concerns still influencing purchasing decisions, deciding on the right EMS provider for your company is crucial and there is a variety factors to look for.

Issues in the electronics industry

While industries that rely on crucial components such as microchips have challenges in getting their products manufactured, the consequences of the supply chain challenge reach every aspect of the product lifecycle. Even when being prioritized, production schedules are still facing delays and increased costs which can manifest itself in a loss of market share and customer satisfaction.  This prioritization of manufacturing also creates an indirect impact, with disruption to R&D and innovation as component allocation is redirected elsewhere.

How the right EMS provider handles these issues

As disruptions within the supply chain can have a negative impact on so many areas of your business, it is more crucial than ever to find an EMS provider that not only helps you overcome these problems but even prevent them in the first place. Your EMS supplier has to implement a variety of strategies for handling the difficulties caused by component shortages. While production schedules and costs cannot be guaranteed in the current market climate, finding a partner that is working to proactively mitigate these concerns is among the best strategies to avoid falling behind your competitors.

At Bluechips, we can take control of the whole process from the planning until the distribution of your products, minimising your touchpoints in the market and the risk of one supplier delaying your entire product supply chain. Once you have decided to entrust us with your electronics, you will not have to worry about purchasing specific components by yourself. By examining your product specifications, our team can proactively highlight potential problems in the supply chain and offer a range of solutions. With that information, you can decide whether you want to wait for all the components to be there so that we can start with the assembly of your product, or whether you want us to look for alternatives to the respective components.

As our most important approach is to guarantee highest quality, we will always make sure that there will be no decrease in quality or functionality if some of the components are replaced with alternative ones. However, if the assembly of your product is very urgent, there is this a third option, which is buying components via stock buy. If that is what you wish for, we will also be happy to take care of that and ensure to always be transparent about the prices. Additionally, you do not have to worry as much about the complexity of the supply chain of your products as we at Bluechips complete many production processes in-house, that similar service providers would outsource. Our full-product approach not only means we help you design and optimise your products but also allows us to offer some additional services like cable harness assembly and building a turnkey product thanks to our plastic moulding and CNC capabilities; all from our base in Thailand.

With the right partner, supply chain issues can be minimized

Due to all these reasons, Bluechips is a very good option if you are looking for a reliable partner to support you during the still ongoing supply chain crises and to take many of the challenges from you. As a consequence of this crisis, we as a company have learned once more how important it is to establish and maintain long-term relationships as well as transparency and collaboration during challenging times. That is why our main priority with suppliers as well as customers, is to build long-lasting, reliable partnerships rather than short-term agreements or one-time orders.

If you would like to know more about our operations or want to get in touch with us for future projects, do not hesitate to contact us.