Application Watch: Facility upgrades continue to strengthen EMS industry

EMS suppliers allocate annual capital expenditure to purchase more advanced manufacturing and testing equipment.

Putting a premium on capability to match specific requirements, companies in mainland China's electronics manufacturing services or EMS sector continue to improve techniques. The majority has a regular budgetary allotment to cover the acquisition of state-of-the-art production and testing equipment, and boost in-house R&D.

DNC Electronics Co. Ltd has invested a total of $0.147 million to introduce a fully automatic pasting machine, an automated optical inspection equipment and a BGA rework station, among other purchases.

Shenzhen X-Mulong Circuit Co. Ltd has installed new automated machines for visual inspection and silk-printing, and high-speed drilling equipment. It is also bolstering capability for product development. The maker has acquired advanced machinery, including an automatic high-speed flying probe unit, for the use of its R&D team of more than 10 engineers. It plans to get more devices for the department in 2019.

Shenzhen Jiubaba Electronics Co. Ltd has moved to a factory equipped with a new Yamaha production line.

Taiwan's CviLux Group, which emphasizes intelligent manufacturing, has been setting aside $5 million annually to enhance production efficiency and flexibility. The undertaking extends to the adoption of artificial intelligence or AI technology in the entire manufacturing process.

The EMS industry in the mainland has been enjoying annual shipment and sales growth of 10 percent. Most homegrown companies predict the same rate of increase, driven by demand in the robotics, automotive, communications and industrial markets, and will continue to expand production in 2019 and 2020. Shenzhen X-Mulong raised output by 30 percent in the past year, thanks to high requirement in the nonconsumer electronics field.

There are also reports that some EMS providers will set up new factories in the mainland. Foxconn has entered into an agreement with local authorities in Zhuhai in Guangdong province to build a facility for 5G, 8K display and AI products. This is in addition to the company's existing plants in the same city and Shenzhen, both in Guangdong, and in Taiyuan in Shanxi, Yantai in Shandong, Wuhan in Hubei, Zhengzhou in Henan and the Chongqing municipality.

The mainland is the largest EMS base in the world, gathering many industry giants from Taiwan, the US, Japan and Hong Kong such as Foxconn, Pegatron, Celestica and New Kinpo. Taiwan companies lead globally, with seven of them in the world's top 50 suppliers. Among the locally owned businesses, there are Universal Scientific, Shenzhen Kaifa, Prime Base and 3-C Tech.

Most domestic enterprises continue to focus on nonconsumer electronics to steer clear of the intensely competitive consumer electronics market. Shipments for the former applications account for 50 to 80 percent of aggregate volume. For some companies, it is 100 percent.

The majority of EMS companies are in the coastal areas such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Shanghai. Sichuan in the southwest and Hebei in the north have been attracting manufacturers because of lower labor costs. Besides Foxconn, there are a number of large providers that have facilities in all these areas.

Competition has been discouraging entrants to the line and may force some small workshops to exit the sector.

Full, partial turnkey services

All EMS providers in China can offer full and partial turnkey manufacturing services. The former includes product design, material and component sourcing, production, final testing, shipment and aftersales. There are facilities for SMT and DIP to meet various requirements.

Companies can handle projects involving consumer and nonconsumer electronics products.

The main manufacturing inputs such as PCBs, passive components, chips and connectors are obtained locally or from foreign suppliers, depending on the customers' specifications. ICs usually come from the latter sources, which include Arrow, Digikey and Avent. Some makers have the capability to turn out PCBs in-house.

The cost of inputs has been comparatively flat except that of passive components, especially multilayer ceramic capacitors. This prompted most EMS providers to adjust quotes by about 10 percent. In the months ahead, rates might increase by 5 to 10 percent, although some manufacturers will try to keep a lid on adjustments to win more orders.

The products in this gallery have been handpicked by our mainland China-based market analyst for representing current trends in EMS from mainland China and Taiwan makers.

Bluetooth module assembly

The model CBM84SPK02 Bluetooth module assembly from CviLux Corp. is compliant with Bluetooth3.0+EDR. It integrates an ISSC IS1684S chip, a high-performance stereo audio codec and PCB antenna.

The typical receiver sensitivity is 91dBm for GFSK signals, 92dBm for Π/4 PSK and 84dBm for 8DPSK. The module supports piconet and scatternet, and uses UART HCI. It operates on 3V and has +2dBm class 2 typical output power.

The order quantity is negotiable and for delivery within 10 days.

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PCB assembly based on SMT

DNC Precision Co. Ltd's model DNC-455 PCB assembly is done using SMT, and involves the high-precision mounting and wave soldering of 0201 components. It is RoHS-compliant.

The maker, which offers contract manufacturing from PCB assembly, requires a minimum order of 100 units for delivery within 10 days.

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Full, partial turnkey PCB assembly

Shenzhen Jiubaba Electronics Co. Ltd provides contract electronics manufacturing, turning out products such as this 988.03.00.1.00002 model. Its full and partial turnkey PCB assembly services include PCB manufacturing, components sourcing, online order tracking, inspection and final assembly.

An order of 100 sets is delivered within 20 days.

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PCB assembly

This model XML-s0526-08-#8294 PCB assembly represents Shenzhen X-Mulong Circuit Co. Ltd's electronics manufacturing services, which cover PCB fabrication, components sourcing and procurement, SMT and through-hole mounting, final assembly, and QC testing and packaging.

Order quantity is negotiable. Delivery lead time is 8 days.

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