A cross supply chain collaborative approach to addressing the technical challenges of today's electronics manufacturing industry

Collaboration across the electronics manufacturing supply chain is now becoming an essential activity to address the future technical challenges of the industry. As research and development budgets contract and outsourcing by the OEMs becomes the norm, engineering expertise is increasingly dispersed throughout the supplier and contract manufacturing base. The need to bring together companies from the full spectrum of the supply chain to resolve pressing manufacturing industry issues is intensifying and driving companies to adopt a new approach to process technology development. This paper discusses the drivers for more open co-operation between producers and suppliers. It looks at the different types of collaborative partnerships currently in place focusing primarily on industry driven R&D consortium based organisations. Key factors that can determine the success of such initiatives are identified.