Global Manufacturing Services, Inc.

Guess what? The cute little 8 year old girl in our neighborhood came up all wide eyed and excited and said “Scotty, scotty (her dad told her I am a Scot) “guest what” I just saw?” I looked at her and noted (1) she came from the vicinity of her uncle’s house and (2) that she was more excited than normal. Since I knew she is afraid of big animals, I said “You saw a rhinoceros on the roof of your uncle’s house.” She said, oh, don’t be silly.”

We make guesses or estimates every day, in many cases without even realizing that is what we are doing. Making an estimate to check reasonableness is a valuable tool, to save money and/or to keep one out of trouble. For example if you go into the cafe and order two hot dogs and a chocolate shake, and the waiter wants to charge you $14.73, I hope while you are waiting you have estimated what you are probably going to have to pay for this junk food. If you are like me, you have already made a “rough estimate” or guess of what to expect. What is a reasonable amount? The hot dogs are maybe $1.65 each or around $3.00 and change and the shake maybe $2.82 depending on size. Tax at 7% may run the bill up to somewhere between $5.00 and $7.00. So you quite rightly buck on the $14.73

Our electronic manufacturing services business, Global Manufacturing Sevices, requires us to constantly fine tune our estimating skills. We quote jobs using a very good set of spread sheets that aids us in the task. We go out to our suppliers to get parts cost. We count parts on the bill of materials (BOM) and try to get an idea (estimate) of how much labor it will take to assemble the circuit boards. We add our known overhead and come up with a figure, but then we run a reasonableness test to see if it makes sense. We compare our price with that of other similar circuit boards we have built. We ask our selves what we can reasonably charge if we filled up the factory with 100% of this product. No one technique gives us the final answer, but we usually come up with a pretty good estimate of what the cost should be.

I went for the rhinoceros ladder, but when I got to her uncle’s house down the street, a water buffalo had slid down the roof of the house and had fallen through the roof of the porch onto the deck below. Well, at least my guess was partly right. It was a large animal!

We are sometimes asked what type things can we do at our factory in West Jefferson, North Carolina.  I have briefly listed the primary items below.

RoHS, I.e. lead free assemblies with no up charge or leaded assemblies if that is required..

KanBan and order fulfillment for delivery to you for your just in time requirements.

Electromechanical assembly including light press work and light welding.

Full “box build” which works well when you would like us to put your finished goods on our shelf and then ship direct to your customer as you require.

Excellent MRP system to interface with your MRP system for low error rates.

Excellent, modern equipment with skilled operators to operate and manage assembly. We’re able to assemble very large SMT boards: 20 inches by 24 inches.

Great materials purchasing department to source components from around the globe.

Serious about ISO quality without the chaff and cost associated with lesser quality systems.

Employees with great work ethic, and always eager to get it right.

Reliable, honest customer service that makes the best look mediocre.

Fast quoting with your circuit board Gerbers and Bill of Materials.

Our low overhead assures you of competitive pricing.

I hope that you will soon let Global Manufacturing Services, Inc., GMSWW quote a project for you

As the recession recedes a bit, it is tempting to go out and hire a few extra workers to take care of a spat of orders.  But because this recession may go on for awhile, it likely makes more sense to contract out some of your electronic or electro-mechanical assembly work to companies like Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. in Western, North Carolina, and wait and see if the uptick is going to be sustainable.  We can quickly quote your work, set up the project in our fast turn factory all at a good price.   if you get repeat orders then we can continue to do the work or maybe then it will be time to call back or put on a few people.

Now that the economy is improving, and energy prices rising, why would we think prices won’t rise on everything except maybe home sales? I predict that prices will rise by 2% within the next six months. Already we are seeing higher prices for the materials we purchase for our electronics assembly business, circuit boards, flux, solder, electronic components and wire. In the near future any raw material that has a significant energy component in the cost of its manufacture will be much more expensive. We are hearing that we should expect a 40% increase in electricity prices, especially in areas which rely on coal fired electrical generators. We know that will drive prices up. Fortunately we get a good portion of our electricity from Duke Energy who has nuclear powered generators.

What about freight? Petroleum prices are already on their way higher. This will make our domestic manufacturing more competitive with offshore competition, but what percentage increase in domestic freight costs do we expect, 10%, 20% or more? Who knows, but as we have learned to run a lean organization here at gmsww.com during this shabby economy; we will be prepared to get along as well or better than many.

These are exciting times in the world of lighting and signage. An incredible array of high power LEDs are now available for lighting such as in Architectural design, street lighting and the multi color LEDs are revolutionizing the sign business for outdoor advertising as well as the gaming industry to name a few. Fortunately there are Electronic Manufacturing Services like us at, Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. that can put them on metal core and/or clad circuit boards or mount the super high power Star mounted LEDs onto heat sinks, which can light up your project. If you need help with the thermal design to assure that the LEDs do not run too hot, which can reduce efficiency as well as LED life, we can help.

We have placed multi color SMT LEDs for signage in large numbers. We are now involved with the assembly of multi watt power LEDs.  Proper heat sinking and care in assembly are critical to the success of your project. We take special care to make your project successful and therefore make ourselves successful.

We especially like these products because of their high efficiency and do not contain mercury or other bad environmental actors. Their higher efficiency can help reduce the hazard of global warming by using less electricity than their cousins … the incandescent lamp and CFLs. We are glad to be a part of this revolution.

There are some great manufacturing operations overseas and we have long used our partners for good prices, and quality.  But not all overseas manufacturers were created equally and many times small time users think going overseas is a must do, until they discover that only qualified products, quantities and pricing is appropriate for offshore sourcing.  Made in America has merit.

Historically, we have used our offshore partners and would still in select cases, but more and more we are hearing horror stories of rising prices, poor quality, longer and longer lead times and misplaced orders and other tales of woe.  We here at Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. have always specialized in fast turn, low or at least reasonable prices and good quality.  And we try very hard to make doing business with us painless, and profitable for our customers.

So if you are looking for 100s or 1000s of boards to be on your dock at a specified time at a good price and unmatched quality, then please give us a call at (336) 246-5143.  I promise you we will get on it in a flash!!!  

Putting finished goods on our shelf, to a specified level, ready to ship when you call for it, is a sort of kanban system. And when we ship to your customer as you send us your purchase orders or releases is a sort of fulfillment service.  Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. cheerfully do these functions for our customers.  

 One of our customers pays us when the goods are placed on our shelves and then when they get an order for any number of products; we pull the goods and ship to their customer.  We have a blanket order and based on our knowledge of their product usage, we stock to some reasonable level.

Another of our customers simply gives us a blanket order with a specified number of goods to keep on the shelf at any given time.  When they trigger a shipment with a release order, we invoice them for the quantity shipped and then make sure that a replacement quantity is expeditiously put back on the shelf for their next order.

 We are happy to work either way.  These are long term reliable customers that appreciate what we do for them and we are more than happy to work in this way.

If you have a project and you need kanban or fulfillment service, please give us a call at (336) 246-5143.   

With this economy down and getting weaker every day, it is causing each of us in the manufacturing business to start looking over our shoulder, wondering which of our suppliers will be there when we need them and wondering which contract manufacturer will be there in the months to come.   We just heard about another component supplier that bit the dust and word on the street has it that some electronic contract assemblers are on the ropes.

Even though we at Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. are in relatively good shape,  some of our customers are showing more interest in out vitality than we are accustomed to.  We expect to be among the contenders for the “last man (or woman) standing”.  We expect to suffer some and we are changing our way of doing business, but on balance we consider that a good thing.

So if you or anyone you know needs an electronic device assembled; then we are one of your best choices, as we fully expect to weather the storm and prosper.

Our offshore partners in Thailand and China are also doing well thanks to prudent management.  So we can do the high mix, low volume here or we do high volume, low mix in China or Thailand.  Check us out at GMS, Inc.

Before one introduces a new product, several stages of researh and development are necessary.  First someone has to come up with an idea for a product that meets some perceived need or want.  Then the idea has to be researched to be sure that the idea can be reduced to practice without violating someone’s patent.  Once that hurdle has been overcome, then the idea has to be put to paper to get some idea of cost and estimated time for product introduction.  More in next post.

Global Manufacturing Services, Inc., your first stop for prototyping.

A good blank circuit board is similar to a good foundation for a building. If a builder starts with a superb foundation, i.e. the foundation has been placed on solid or compacted earth, drainage around the foundation has been corrected if necessary, the corners are square, the whole foundation is exactly level and horizontal and the plumbing connections in the foundation are where they should be; a competent builder will have little trouble building a structure that will perform well from the day the tenant moves in and for years thereafter.

On the other hand if the builder attempts to build a quality building on a shoddy foundation, no matter how good the materials and how good his skills, it will be virtually impossible to build a quality building that will perform up to the expectations of the tenant, nor will the structure stand up to the ravages of time.

The same is true with circuit board assembly. If we start with a superb blank circuit board, i.e. the board has been made with top quality copper clad material, processed in a board house that keeps its chemical processes in control, washed with DI water, masked carefully and cured appropriately, solder leveling applied carefully and finally tested to be certain that the board has no flaws. Then we will have little trouble building a quality product.

If the blank board has been etched so that there are ‘cat whiskers’ (tiny hair thin traces that did not get removed in the chemical etching process), shorts will result. Or worse, intermittent open traces, result from poor process control. Another hazard is poor solder leveling, which makes it difficult to place fine pitch parts without component leads not soldering properly. If the mask is poor, solder bridging can occur.

Any one of these things makes it necessary to touch up the board when it is discovered that the circuit does not function correctly when it is tested. Further rework, even if the board can be made to function, causes the board to be cosmetically inferior.

Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. after many years experience has narrowed the sources from which we purchase circuit boards to a few suppliers. These suppliers have consistent quality and delivery. Because we do a lot of business with them, we get favorable pricing.

Due to our attention to the basic building block of circuit board assembly, we can deliver a product of consistent quality.