With continued uncertainty affecting almost all commerce, electronics & manufacturing have been bearing the brunt for almost 3 years now with very little to shout about.

Yes, almost all OEM’s & CEM’s have seen increased order book, but the lack of material to actually complete product, has either been too expensive for what’s available to justify buying, or the lead-time so long, it meant you’ve no other option than to re-design to have any chance of getting something built to sell. Another consequence of extended lead-times has been the necessity to secure what little stock there has been to have any chance to produce something in the long term, which has resulted in many companies over-stocked whilst waiting for that 1 critical part to complete the puzzle. Stories are commonplace within purchasing having to pay 10x, 20x or 30x more than the product would have cost pre-2019.

Back then in 2019, WPS could see the trend starting to appear so alerted our customers of impending supply issues. Some heeded our call, others left it too late…only to think it was just another ‘allocation’ issue soon to be overcome. As we all know now, it wasn’t the case of your typical cyclical supply issue… but the perfect storm. If the above wasn’t bad enough, recent calamities closer to home have brought about extremes in currency, bringing the £, $, and the € close to parity.

With the pound so weak making UK exports & services more competitive, WPS has managed to secure new business with a US distributor/Manufacturer. This new opportunity is spread across various PCBa’s in volume and intends to run for several years utilising all WPS core competence including smt, conformal coating and test. The new partnership is expected to grow as an alternative supplier, offering a medium cost solution to manufacturing in China from a US perspective.

For more information on 2022 kicks off with Wilson Process exhibiting at this year’s Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show. talk to Wilson Process Systems