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68 SMT Magazine • November 2015 same hours as their offshore contractors. A large time difference can translate to longer days for the team working with that contract manufac- turer. Similarly, trips offshore are typically lon- ger than trips to regional suppliers since, given the higher cost and length of travel, the visit is often set up to visit multiple suppliers in the region or spend a greater amount of time at the contractor addressing several issues or audit re- quirements at once. Language and/or cultural differences may drive the need for more fre- quent face-to-face discussions on complex proj- ects. In addition to the cost of travel and the cost of staff time for the members of the team traveling, there can also be a "personal" cost. Team members who routinely stay late for con- ference calls or have to make frequent trips off- shore can burn out and look for jobs with less required overtime. Loss of experienced team members creates significant uncaptured cost. Production Changeovers High-mix product drives production change- overs. Contractors focused on high mix product often optimize their operations to facilitate this. Comparatively, many offshore contract manu- facturers are primarily focused on high volume production. Products with frequent change- overs are considered disruptive to the factory because they impact equipment utilization met- rics. The end result can be that products with high changeover requirements do not carry the same importance as high-volume production. This can drive missed deliveries as volume prod- ucts get higher scheduling priority. Additional- ly, if a contractor is filling up with high-volume production, high-mix products may see pricing increases as they become less attractive busi- ness. In the best case, this drives a cost surprise. In the worst case, it may drive a need to change contractors unexpectedly. responsiveness Perhaps the biggest difference between U.S. EMS companies and their offshore counterparts is responsiveness. Time differences create some lag in the way issues can be addressed. Distance is another factor. Unless product is being stored mADe IN USA AND ToTAL CoST: SIx WAyS U.S. SoUrCING SAveS moNey arTIcLe figure 3: burton Industries has invested in production equipment that is easy to program and supports faster changeovers in order to better support high mix, variable demand production.