IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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20 He's begun to do that mainly with companies in- volved in aerospace (e.g., BAE Systems and Thales), automotive (e.g., BMW and Stellantis), and industri- al (e.g., Siemens and Schneider Electric) because of their strong financial and leadership presence in the European marketplace. Joining Sanjay for Sep- tember's workshop were Chris Mitchell, IPC's vice president of global government relations; Philippe Leonard, IPC Europe managing director; and Alison James, IPC Europe senior director of government relations. It was an opportunity not only to gauge the success of IPC's efforts but, more importantly, to demonstrate the level of partnership that IPC can play in the business success of these organizations. With nearly 2,000 EMS compa- nies in Europe, gauging their successes and challenges is a herculean effort. "We asked them to give us some indication of the challenges they are fac- ing and how IPC can help them," Sanjay says of the outreach to EMS provid- ers in Europe. "We want to serve the industry, but we need feedback from the in- dustry about how to best do it. It would not make any sense for us to operate in a vacuum and build something without any buy-in from the industry. Our goal is to focus on developing solutions that the industry needs and the only way to figure that out is to ask them up front." This was, essentially, the pitch that IPC made to the 30 largest EMS providers in Europe. For the gathering, 15 executives were able to attend, and it turned out to be a monumental event. Sanjay and his teammates spent the day querying the attend- ees about their common struggles, individual per- spectives, and how all those things factor and fit into the big-picture point of view. The general theme: "What can we do to help you drive the industry forward and grow?" The pro- cess: "We spent the entire day listening," Sanjay says. "We asked: 'What's on your mind?' We probed: 'Tell us what's bothering you.' We stated: 'Let's write these things down on the board and at the end of the meeting, we'll take a vote on what are the dominant challenges or issues.'" The first result: help policymakers, government officials, and media gain a better It has bn great fun and insightful to mt almo a CEOs of the mo relevant electronics compani in Europe. Rainer Koppitz CEO and co-founder KATEK