Laird Connectivity is now Ezurio4 Benefits of Made in America Electronics Manufacturing with Boundary Devices
Published on August 9, 2021
Electronics manufacturing is a key part of Ezurio (formerly Boundary Devices) value proposition. We have always manufactured our products in America. Historically, we worked with 2 key contract manufacturing (“CM”) partners – one in Arizona and one in Southern California. As of Q2 2020, we invested in the necessary equipment and people to manufacture boards in-house which gives us further control over the manufacturing process. There are 4 benefits to Made in America Electronics Manufacturing.
#1: Quality and Traceability
Quality and traceability are 2 of the most important requirements from a manufacturing process. If the products do not have high quality and good traceability, then all other metrics are irrelevant. By having local and in-house manufacturing with ISO9001 or better certification, Ezurio is able to create dedicated/customized quality processes to ensure the highest level of quality. In addition, having control over the component procurement process enables us to have complete traceability of every component. Every board is functionally tested with full history of test results. Quality and traceability are not exclusive to Made in America manufacturing. There are high quality manufacturers all over the globe which provide full traceability. But having it all under local control with design and software allows for a unique combination.
#2 Local Hardware and Software Support
Electronics-based products have firmware elements that are constantly evolving over the life of a product. During the product development process, having a local (America-based) engineering team to quickly accelerate time-to-market is critical. Significant cost savings due to faster time-to-market typically far outweigh potential cost savings by manufacturing off-shore. Once the product has been released, there are always field failures of varying degrees. Quick responses and timely problem solving could be the difference between keeping and losing a key customer.
#3 Improved Lead Times
Ezurio sources components from franchised distributors which are all based in America. With our sophisticated and proprietary supply chain setup, we are able to have our distributors stock components for us to be shipped at moments notice and delivered in under 3 days’ time. This provides tremendous flexibility in the procurement process and allows reduced lead times because we are not waiting for components to arrive from overseas. In addition, costly shipping delays are eliminated because finished goods are assembled in America. Boat shipments traditionally take 3-4 weeks (and now up to 3 months due to COVID pandemic) which is significant. If customers air ship from overseas, much of the cost savings from overseas manufacturing is wiped out. The extended lead times cause customers to build and stock additional inventory.
#4 Robustness in midst of crisis
The last 18 months has been a constant flow of crisis from COVID to global electronics shortage. By having an America design and manufacturing partner, most of our customers have been spared of any significant disruptions to their supply chain. For many companies, this is the difference between survival and bankruptcy. Shipping delays? Product stuck in customs? Can’t get parts due to electronics shortage? We are able to better withstand these types of global crisis because we control every part of the process – from design to parts procurement to manufacturing. This vertical integration allows us to quickly design out a part that is not available or expedite the manufacturing of certain products because of the internal flexibility. These global events require a robust supply chain and having a manufacturer with design, procurement, and manufacturing all under one company is invaluable.
We will continue to invest in our own manufacturing capabilities and identify other ways to continue to bring value to our customers. We are now a complete turnkey electronics manufacturing company starting from electrical design and software development to component sourcing and board manufacturing followed by quality and testing. Even with our HQ in America, we have seen our European business grow due to the value provided by our HW/SW solutions. Please contact us to learn more!