Business Unit Manager Teoh Ban Chong
“Automotive-related EMS presents a different set of challenges compared to other market segments,” said Ban Chong. “For instance, while ESCATEC already has the IATF 16949, we are still securing other automotive-specific international accreditations to qualify us as a potential EMS partner to major car makers. These include the VDA 6 (German Automotive Quality Management System) that will enable ESCATEC to export to Europe.”
There are also other standards relating to the use of hazardous materials and environmental protection, which ESCATEC together with its automotive supply chain will have to comply with, such as IMDS (International Materials Data System), FMD (Full Materials Declaration), GADLS (Global Automotive Declarable Substance List), RRR (Recycle, Reuse and Recover Policy), and others. “Car makers may also have their individual ‘Customer Specific Requirement’ relating to processes or product quality which their EMS partner must be able to satisfy,” explained Ban Chong. Many of these standards will also apply to ESCATEC’s automotive supply chain and the Group is already assisting its vendors towards doing so.
Automotive EMS also relies much more heavily on automation as production runs are usually high-volume/low-margin mix while the quality and safety of the product is vital. “The high use of automation minimises the possibility of human and material errors and enables standardised high quality to be delivered across the board,” explained Ban Chong. “Moreover, recent history shows that manufacturing defects can cause huge losses to car makers in recalls, warranties, and loss of reputation.”
The risk and consequences of manufacturing defects have prompted car makers to demand that their manufacturing partners and respective supply chains have in place a very effective ‘traceability system’ which can trace every single item, component, and raw material, that goes into each product. “Car makers are very stringent on safety as people’s lives are at stake, thus they want to be able to trace every fault that may occur in their vehicles back to the source and identify any vehicles that might be at risk,” added Ban Chong.
ESCATEC Electronics currently has two automotive customers with one assembly line each. “We are already in discussion with potential new customers,” said Ban Chong, “so we are planning new assembly lines besides forming a dedicated NPI (New Product Introduction) team to serve automotive-related projects.
