IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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64 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2026 T he second installment of this three-part series looking back on my 50 years in the business focuses on my move up the food chain from manufacturing PCBs to managing PCB suppliers and the unique experience gained from working with the best companies in the world. The EMS Years In 1998, I had just reunited with my high school sweetheart (now my wife) when my Dad, the vice president of Plexus, told me they were look- ing for a PCB commodity manager with subject matter expertise. I interviewed for the position and became the global PCB commodity manager for Plexus, which had been my largest customer. They would not have offered me the position without my undergraduate degree. Plexus was doing about $350 million in revenue with a number of assembly/manufacturing facili- ties based in Neenah, Wisconsin, including PCB design. The PCB supply base was mostly U.S.- based, and my task was to create a team of PCB commodity specialists and develop a global PCB supply base that could scale with the astronomical growth being projected by Plexus management. What little PCBs procured overseas at the time were facilitated through a third-party logistics (3PL) company that had a portfolio of PCB manufacturing companies in China, Taiwan, and Korea. I began visiting the Asian suppliers with the 3PL owner, but I quickly outgrew this business model as the 3PL controlled the quoting (including a healthy markup) and owned the direct relationships with supplier management. Most contract manufacturers will tell you that 75% of their revenue comes from purchased parts, with the remaining 25% from all other operations (design, assembly, and manufacturing), so materi- als is kind of a big deal. Plexus Materials (later rebranded as Sourcing) was divided into two distinct functions: strategic and tactical. Tactical included the local purchas- ing experts at each facility who managed day-to- day POs, scheduling, forecasting, and program management. My group was strategic and we had two sections: electronic components and custom components, which my team fell under. Our job was to assess gaps in our supply base, identify potential suppliers, determine the viability of each, qualify them, and negotiate supplier contracts. We were also responsible for post-qualification supplier development, and performance manage- ment, including cost reduction strategies, and resolving quality issues. We needed to develop relationships with the presidents and owners of our suppliers, so when we called on an issue, we could get results. I trained my staff to use our bullets wisely. One day, my boss said he had identified a weak- ness in our process and that we needed "some- thing like a global sourcing strategy before we get too big to manage things effectively." T H E R I G H T A PPROAC H BY STEVE WILLIAMS, THE RIGHT APPROACH CONSULTING Reflections on 50 YEARS in the Business, Part 2