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The Importance of Global Technical Support
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Harald Wack, Ph.D., ZESTRON America
Over the last 10 years, numerous companies have shifted their main production facilities from service-driven economies to lower wage, developing countries. At present, that manufacturing shift continues even among the Asian countries (i.e. from China to Vietnam). It is clear that to take advantage of technological advancements, which in most cases still originate in non-developing countries, we must continue to innovate and use our competitive, educational edge to stay ahead. In our industry this commonly results in contract manufacturers having their new product introduction (NPI) centers located in the U.S. or EU, including prototype production only. Nonetheless, decision-making power remains in these locations, defining the details of the entire manufacturing process through the respective corporate headquarter function.
It is important to point out that such global companies require partners in our industry that are global too. The level of technical support of U.S.-based or European NPI centers generally is not required to be that high. However, to fully satisfy the high-volume production facilities outside of the U.S. and Europe, more substantial on-site support is needed. This is especially necessary for large capital equipment, which requires labor-intensive implementation and optimization procedures. But it holds true also for consumable products.
One common misperception is the hope that distributors are able to provide a good level of technical support. Finding a distributor is oftentimes easy; finding a professional organization that is willing to build mutual business together and allocate the necessary resources for training, customer visits, and initial marketing efforts quickly complicates matters. Training distributors is a long-term process, time that companies usually do not have, as customers expect excellent service right from the start.
Oftentimes, local Asian technical/demo centers built and maintained by global vendors for rapid local customer service are of help. Time is money, and that is particularly true for high-volume production facilities with tens or hundreds of SMT lines.
In addition to the technical centers, the human component oftentimes is even more important. The truth is that locals prefer locals. Sending U.S. or European engineers to another location to support and resolve technical issues can be limiting, as language and cultural barriers create tremendous potential for miscommunication.
Not every organization can afford that. As a result, the level of global communication within an organization becomes a complicating factor. As we are aware, the local expectations can differ from country to country, or even within different states of one country. This applies to all vendors that support electronic manufacturing companies. Let's take the popular "debacle" of Daimler and Chrysler for example. Despite being two multibillion-dollar companies (merger of equals) they seemingly were not able to find common grounds to further increase shareholder value and work together as one entity. To the contrary, they diminished the actual value of both companies significantly, which lead to the eventual split.
It is my opinion that miscommunication and cultural differences were main contributors. To apply this example to our industry, let's imagine European and U.S. contract manufacturers transferring product to their Asian site. Here everyone meets and different expectations are combined. Most of the coordination has to take place here as well, regardless of cultural or linguistic differences. Given U.S. and European technical-support personnel, the vendor must first coordinate the tasks internally (to minimize potential mistakes) to give the mutual Asian customer the expected level of support. Prior to actual help, communication is taking place between headquarters. It should therefore be pointed out that a concerted international effort only can lead to a successful support structure if each company is working towards one goal and keeping personal preferences out. Full mutual understanding with cross-cultural training and appreciation are at the beginning of this process.
Certainly, many vendors are already in a comfortable position, having recruited the necessary technical personnel locally in the Asia-Pacific region. Some also support their customers through local technical centers to further minimize any of the afore-mentioned potential for conflict. Being able to replicate the process or offer temporary local support services, such as contract cleaning opportunities, can be a significant differentiator. Extensive knowledge transfer typically follows within the global vendor organization and allows these companies to operate globally and locally simultaneously. Most companies are striving towards such a goal; others have reached it already. As the world becomes one global market, customers are beginning to expect a global support mindset. If this need cannot be met it quickly becomes limiting, especially if competitors are able to provide true global technical support across all demographic regions.
Harald Wack, Ph.D., an SMT Editorial Advisory Board member, is executive VP and CEO of ZESTRON America. Wack has authored and published several scientific articles, and has provided technical information for various publications. He received his doctoral degree in organic chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. He may be contacted at (703) 393-9880 or via e-mail at h.wack@zestron.com.