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December 2016 • SMT Magazine 73 ico typically represent access to a low cost labor market, China is increasingly becoming a facil- ity of interest to companies sell- ing in China who see building in China as the lowest cost way to penetrate the Chinese mar- ket. The facility recently add- ed ISO 13485 to support its Chi- nese medical customer base, as well as companies building for export to other countries. This now enables the company to of- fer an ISO 13485 registered facil- ity in the US, Mexico or Asia for companies pursuing a globally regionalized strategy to medical product manufacturing. The company's Tijuana facility just added ISO/TS16949 to support the needs of its automotive customer base, as well as overall growth of that industry in Mexico. From a marketing perspective SigmaTron advertises, participates in medical-related trade shows, has a strong online presence and pub- lishes several informational articles and white- papers each year. Its salesforce varies by region. The US sales- force is based out of the California and Midwest facilities and sells all facilities. There is also lim- ited use of manufacturer's rep firms in both the US and Mexico, plus some engagement with Mexico economic development personnel. Chi- na has one direct salesperson focused on sell- ing to companies within China, plus support- ing sales activities with US customers in both the China and Vietnam facilities. "We look at how our different markets are evolving and adjust our approach and service offerings to best serve our target customer bas- es," said Curtis Campbell, SigmaTron's VP Sales West Coast. Spectrum Assembly Spectrum Assembly Inc. (SAI) is located in Carlsbad, California. Although it originally start- ed as a cable and harness manufacturer, it has evolved into a one-stop shop for cables, printed circuit board assembly and system level assembly. Its business model focuses heavily on ser- vice expert and manufacturing expert, partic- ularly in the cable realm. And while its major value proposi- tion has traditionally been con- venience and proximity to com- panies in the San Diego market, it is now seeing customers from all across the globe. "We try to be as flexible as possible with our customers. The traditional EMS model has a lot of structure that limits the abili- ty of a customer to tailor a solu- tion to exactly what they need. We will do labor-only projects if needed. We also let customers be an integral part of the pro - duction team and structure the project in ways that incorporate their team's in- house knowledge of the build," said Alexandra Topp, SAI's sales and marketing manager. From a marketing perspective, the compa- ny does little marketing outside of trade shows. It has a salesforce of one. Much of its box build business growth comes from existing cus- tomers expanding their programs. New projects typically come from customer and supplier re- ferrals. The high service, one-stop shop formu- la seems to be working, driving record sales and keeping the factory near or at capacity. The common element in each of these ap- proaches is a strong understanding of target market customer needs, partnerships with key elements of the supply chain and an ability to adapt service needs to target market preferences. In each case, these companies are an extension of their customers' manufacturing organization, and in a few cases, their customers' only manu- facturing organization. In some cases, they are also an extension of their customers' engineer- ing teams or logistics organizations. In all cas- es, they are helping their customers get product to end markets faster, better and cheaper than if the project had remained in-house. SMT Susan Mucha is the president of Powell-Mucha Consulting Inc. To reach Mucha, click here. SAI works closely with cus- tomers to understand their requirements and provide the solution that best aligns with that customer's needs. EMS INDUSTRY SALES AND MARKETING: WHY STRATEGIES VARY WIDELY