Global Manufacturing Services, Inc.

The electronics contract manufacturing business is a tough business.  The skill level must be extraordinarily high, the environmental codes stringent, the equipment and machinery required to assemble today’s complex circuits costs big dollars and to beat all; the profit margins by nearly any measure are low.

It is almost as challenging as the grocery store business, where every day they sweat the low margins, while trying to keep those tomatoes from rotting long enough for us to take them home and make them into a tasty salad.

Having said this, most of us who ply the trade, love the challenge of electronics manufacturing and we love the great OEM customers who would have us assemble their product.  Most customers are experienced in the manufacturing business and they understand what we are up against  and for the most part cut us some slack, when, inspite of our best efforts; we do something really dumb.

So the next time you open up that cell phone, computer or any other complex electronic device and you see those tiny little parts some of which are not much bigger than a mustard seed, and others that have so many legs that they look like a mutated “thousand leg worm”, remember that some one (or some machine) some where struggled mightily to get them all right so you can receive a text message from half way around the world or talk to your momma in Cincinnati.

Could be that Global Manufacturing Services in North Carolina assembled one of those devices.

I think all will agree that Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) is a worth while endeavor even though it makes electronics manufacturing more difficult.  The difficulty arises due to (1.)  higher reflow temperatures which causes greater energy usage in the reflow oven (2.) the higher temperatures also cause greater energy usage due to additional cooling in the factory.  This may not be a big added expense depending on how well the oven is insulated.  (3.) the higher temperatures also causes potential problems due to moisture trapped inside intergrated circuit packages.   This results in added expense for drying the moisture sensitive devices before reflow.  (4.)  potential for getting RoHS components mixed with non RoHS or leaded components. (5.)  sourcing of RoHS components not always available and frequently they cost more than leaded components. (6.)  Not everyone wants RoHS assembly so we have to keep redundant lines open for RoHS and non RoHS assembly.  These are but a few of the things which add to the expense and difficulty of using RoHS in the manufacturing environment.

At Global Manufacturing Services, Inc. we can deliver RoHS or non RoHS assemblies and are glad we can accomodate the will and needs of all our customers.  However, we will be glad when there is only RoHS so that we can dismantle the leaded line and concentrate only on RoHS.  A big advantage to us will be the realization that we can eliminate lead from our factory and hopefully make a safer environment for our employees and their families.