The success of any business cooperation lies in communication. However, this is particularly difficult in the case of market branches characterized by a high degree of complexity and thus a developed industry language. EMS services indeed also belong to this sector. Therefore, to build a lasting business relationship with an electronics production service provider, it is worth knowing the most important terms that a contractor can use. The following glossary of the essential terms in the EMS industry will help you with this.
Outsourcing offers many benefits such as reduced time product to market, access to significant manufacturing technologies, increased logistical capabilities, and less capital investment. As a result, it is believed to be the main driver of the market, including the electronics manufacturing services industry. However, a good contractor is more than just a subcontractor. He is an electronics co-contractor and an important business partner. However, electronics assembly (look at this page to learn more about how electronics are packaged through outsourcing), supply chain management, and any other technical activities undertaken by the EMS provider require the use of expressions that are characteristic of this industry. The most important of them are listed below to help you understand your contractor and communicate with him effectively.
Here you can find more information about EMS industry: https://asselems.com/
Basic terms
Here you will find critical abbreviations and phrases without which it is not easy to enter into dialogue with your EMS provider. Of course, your contractor also cares about working with you, and it probably wouldn’t be a problem for him to explain the following expressions to you to avoid misunderstandings. However, if you learn the following terms, exchanging information between you will undoubtedly be faster and more efficient.
- CEM (Contract Electronic Manufacturing): You may encounter this term frequently when working with a contract assembly service provider as it relates to a wide variety of services related to the production of electronic devices. Usually, this abbreviation you should understand as manufacturing, testing, and sometimes even designing components or entire products at the customer’s request.
- EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services): This shortcut means contract manufacturing electronics. You can apply it to the entire industry and a specific class of subcontractors or companies. EMS provides production and testing services for products or electronic parts or assemblies for OEMs.
- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): A company that produces products typically sold by another manufacturer. For example, computer manufacturers often include other OEM parts in their products, such as processors and graphics cards.
- PCB (Printed Circuit Board): It means a printed circuit, which can also be commonly called a printed circuit board, made of an insulating material and covered with a conductive foil. It is an element used to assemble other electronic components, and you can find it in almost every device.
- PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly): This abbreviation is used in the EMS industry to refer to the assembly of electronic devices on PCBs. The end of this process is the so-called populated board, i.e., a finished printed circuit board covered with a material.
- BOM (Bill of Materials): It is a list of materials, raw materials, subassemblies, assemblies, and other necessary elements to make the final product. Very often, OEM-EMS collaboration begins with the handover of the BOM. Therefore, it is an integral part of the entire Technical Specification that you should provide to your contractor. However, sometimes, in practice, there are situations when the assembly of the product requires a gradual building. In such a situation, the BOM may also consist of several levels.
- Technical Specification: This document contains all technical requirements that should be met by the final product or the service provided.
- Material: EMS may use this wording to refer to all components built into the manufactured product. We distinguish such materials as material purchased by the EMS company, delivered by the client, contracted by the client, made especially for the client, and the material entrusted to the EMS contractor.
Terms related to the production process
The terms explained below are not straightforward and refer to some steps in producing an electronic device. However, during cooperation with an EMS provider, regular information exchange and occasional meetings are essential. Therefore, some of these phrases may appear during conversations, so it is worth knowing them.
- Obsolete material: this type of material was contracted and purchased by an EMS supplier; however, due to some changes, it no longer appears in the BOM or has been removed from the Technical Specification.
- Excess material: this term denotes surplus material, i.e., the contractor has purchased in too much quantity to the Purchase Forecast or Customer’s Order submitted to EMS.
- SMT (Surface Mount Technology): this abbreviation stands for Surface Mount Technology, one of the primary ways to place electronic components on a PCB. Elements marked with the acronym SMD (surface mount devices) are placed directly on the PCB, and if necessary, they can be placed even on both sides of the PCB. This method of assembly thus favors the miniaturization of electronic devices.
- THT (Through-hole Technology): it is a through-hole technology, which is characterized by the fact that individual components are equipped with appropriate leads in the form of wires, which during assembly on a PCB are threaded through holes and soldering to the conductive paths on the opposite side plates than the element being mounted. The specificity of this technology does not allow the assembly of components on both sides of the PCB.
- QMS (Quality Management System): every professional EMS has its own QMS and can refer to it during meetings. It is nothing more than a set of internal rules, processes, and procedures at EMS designed to achieve the quality objectives of the product or service subject to the contract.
- SPI (Solder Paste Inspection): the process of monitoring and controlling the printing of solder paste that EMS carries out to detect potential defects and errors.
- ECO (Engineering Change Order): this term describes almost any change in a production process. Typically, when using the abbreviation ECO, EMS will mean changes to the material included in the product (addition, removal, replacement), changes in the production process, product design changes, or software changes.
Open and effective communication
Commitment and good communication are the keys to the success of outsourcing, also in the field of electronic devices assembly. At first glance, the industry vocabulary may seem complicated, but if you are in constant contact with your EMS provider, you will use the above terms entirely naturally, and the exchange of information between you will speed up and thus improve full cooperation.