Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with Nolan Johnson of i-CONNECT007. Chris Lentz, Vice President of Supply Chain Logistics, and Joe Garcia, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, break down the issues Emerald has faced over the past two years, and how we have overcome them. Here’s a teaser from the interview: Breathing Room in Parts Supply.
Nolan Johnson: With respect to being a responsive EMS supplier to your customers, what are the biggest challenges you’re facing right now?
Chris Lentz: Last year, we had to use nonfranchise suppliers more than ever—more than I would ever like to, more than I have in my history. We restrict it to three or four that we’ve vetted and audited. But this year, as the market has become even more constrained, it’s very difficult now to find some of the same parts the automotive guys are looking for. Brokers are consistent market downturn right now, they know people are a little scared about the possibility of a recession, so some orders are getting pushed out or canceled. That’s to our benefit, but we still have so many we are chasing right now.
For the teams at our sites, our priority is working the relationships with our suppliers, leveraging our customer relationships, and doing anything we can to resolve these shortages. We are asking our customers for an extended forecast, where we can obviously get the pipeline out there. Most of our customers are well educated now. Many of them have brought in supply chain experts, often from the EMS supplier industry, so they understand what’s going on and the reason we need to forecast. We do anything to help, including long lead BOMs, safety stock, and others.
Johnson: Are you getting better forecasts from your customers?
Lentz: Some of them. Some are still hesitant to hedge on their demand, which is understandable.
Joe Garcia: We’re getting more visibility in the forecast, but whether they’re actually better…
Visit i-CONNECT007 to view the rest of the interview!
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