-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Automotive EMS in Singapore
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Singapore’s EMS and precision-engineering supply base has seen growth in the automotive sector, in terms of both annual volume and product range. Singapore’s automotive components suppliers are supporting this market through extensive manufacturing networks.
By Lester Lu, IE Singapore
Revenue from Singapore’s automotive parts industry reached nearly $400 million in 2005.1 According to Frost & Sullivan, Asia-Oceania is the largest automotive producing region, taking up 38% of the production (by region) in 2004 - leading Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. There also is a projected 16% increase in the worldwide demand for new cars over the next decade, expected to reach 57.1 million vehicles per annum by 2010.2 Asia remains the outsourcing region of choice, fueling new manufacturing investments; the automotive component outsourcing dollar is expected to rise from $65 billion in 2002 to $375 billion by 2015.3 Singapore’s automotive components suppliers are supporting this market with manufacturing capability through extensive, regional manufacturing networks.
The Singaporean supply base supports a range of global automotive OEMs and Tier I companies. Singapore-based companies supply devices such as temperature-control panels, sensors, and components for brake and GPRS systems.
Infrastructure Support
In 2005, Singapore launched a national strategic initiative to support supply base needs related to R&D and technology transfer. The Automotive Integrated National Initiative for Tomorrow’s Enterprises (Auto IGNITE) is a multi-agency effort by Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR); Economic Development Board (EDB); International Enterprise (IE) Singapore; and SPRING Singapore, which has a two-pronged focus on market and capability development. Each agency takes on a different role to assist the Singapore automotive supporting industry. IE Singapore provides assistance in the companies’ business expansion overseas; A*STAR conducts R&D to develop new technology in component manufacturing and automotive systems; EDB attracts foreign OEMs and Tier I companies to use Singapore as a logistics and purchasing hub; SPRING Singapore deals with industry certification of companies.
According to Andrew Khaw, acting director of corporate group (Electronics and Precision Engineering Division), IE Singapore, suppliers in Singapore can offer highly competitive automotive components and modules, especially through their manufacturing presence in China and Asia. OEMs and Tier I companies can use their track record for reliability, quality, intellectual property (IP), and environmental management. As technologies advance and customer needs become more sophisticated, the electronics functionality within vehicles will be a key differentiator for both the auto maker and buyer. Component suppliers are well-equipped with relevant niche technologies and expertise to provide electronics content such as navigation systems, auto sensors, and emissions control.
The supply base’s expertise in disk drive manufacturing, medical devices, and consumer electronics supports automotive-sector needs because they have knowledge in materials and logistics management, process automation for volume production, and the ability to fabricate parts within tight tolerances. Singapore’s IP protection laws and disciplined workforce culture also align well with an industry concerned about IP protection, materials quality, and adherence to product specifications.
There are strong similarities between medical industry requirements and the automotive sector. Automotive products, for example, have a rigorous qualification process that require companies to use formalized systems such as Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), noted Gilbert Rodrigues, director of business development for MFS Technology (S) Pte Ltd. Both industries require significant documentation, and have stringent regulatory requirements and liability concerns. MFS Technology specializes in flexible printed circuits (FPC), both fabricating flexible substrates and providing value-added SMT assembly services. According to Rodrigues, a driver for the addition of SMT placement capability was the inability of many PCB assembly companies to work well with flexible substrates. The company found that assembly companies felt there was little difference in processing flex and rigid substrates on the production line, resulting in quality issues (Figure 1). Providing value-added placement services was one way to address this issue.
In the automotive sector, MFS Technology produces instrumentation, electronic control units (ECUs), climate-control sensors, transmission-control units (TCUs), GPS, power window and door controls, and integrated entertainment systems. Its customers are Tier II or III automotive suppliers; they are ISO/TS16949-certified.
High-complexity products are manufactured in Singapore, while lower-complexity, cost-sensitive components are manufactured in Malaysia. According to Rodrigues, the company’s Malaysia facility was cost-comparable to its China facility, but it made sense to keep automotive in close proximity to headquarters because of rigid product qualifications, process control, and documentation requirements. This also makes it easy for program management and technical personnel trained in automotive disciplines to support both operations. Many higher-end vehicles have FPC for the GPS, but implementation of such sophisticated electronics is growing in lower-cost car models, which is opening the door to more opportunities, adds Rodrigues.
Quality requirements with automotive partners are fairly rigid. MFS Technology is required to have 50 parts-per-million (ppm) or less first pass yield (FPY), and zero defects in the field. Failures that cause a line to be down at the customer site are penalized. Scheduled performance also is rigidly measured. Finished goods/kanban inventories are held for each customer to ensure the ability to meet demand variations, and the supply base stocks bonded raw-material inventory in close proximity to each factory.
Communication is also critical. Singapore’s base of English-speaking technical personnel provides a regional advantage. There also is a strong cultural discipline regarding documentation control, conformance to material specifications, and adherence to approved vendor lists (AVLs) and manufacturing practices.
Beyonics Technology Limited sees a definite migration from disk drive component manufacturing expertise to the medical and automotive device manufacturing sector. The company has electronic assembly and precision-engineering capabilities in metal fabrication and plastics injection molding. Products manufactured for the automotive segment encompass safety/telemetry; the range of automotive products currently manufactured include components used in:
- Sensors for occupant safety systems,
- Electronic control units (ECUs),
- In-car entertainment systems and GPS,
- Car interior/exterior,
- Lighting systems.
According to Raymond Yee, v.p. of marketing at Beyonics, components related to automotive safety have rigorous controls and requirements. Automotive manufacturers are focused on minimizing accountability cost associated with poor quality. Beyonics manufactures safety sensor connectors that transmit information on a range of mission-critical functions including tire pressure, occupant weight, air-bag deployment, noxious gases, power steering control, traction control, and anti-lock braking. Disciplines in process control, minimization of variation in component tolerances, and traceability in disk drive components and medical device manufacturing projects align the company well with automotive requirements.
Enclosure manufacturing has strong parallels to disk drive industry requirements. Die-cast aluminum enclosures protect ECUs in the engine compartment. Precision casting and certified raw materials also are required. The cost-competitive nature of the automotive industry also necessitates economies of scale. Having die-casting operations that produce high volumes across multiple industries can ensure strong buying power in the raw materials market.
Another area in which expertise transfers is sensor manufacturing. Sensor production is a high-volume, highly automated process. While a cleanroom is not required, production is segregated in an environmentally controlled room to minimize variations in manufacturing. Any variation in tolerances can create a line-down situation in the final assembly process. Insurance is also required to cover the cost of product recalls attributed to defects in supplier workmanship. The ability to support product development, particularly in tooling design, is another valued capability. Beyonics has a design for manufacturability (DfM) process for every component that includes evaluating tooling fabrication and design options.
Figure 1. A production operator inspects a flexible printed circuit for LCDs in an automotive GPS.
Rayco Technologies Pte Ltd. specializes in precision elastomeric solutions. The company has manufacturing facilities in Singapore and China, and is ISO/TS 16949, ISO 9001:2002, PSB-ODS-free, and ROHS-certified. They are equipped with Class 100 clean-room production environments and an ISO/IEC-17025 accredited lab that performs chemical, mechanical, and analytical test services. Rayco serves automotive customers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. In China, the bulk of their client base is foreign multi-national companies (MNCs). According to Susan Ng, Rayco’s general manager, the ability to support customer needs from design through production is important. Automotive design cycles are two years long, with significant qualification testing. The end product may face temperature variations in an engine compartment from -40° to +300°C; it is important to support test requirements with qualification and production testing, as well as supporting documentation.
Regarding IP protection, Ng cites vertical integration as an advantage because critical data is not shared with subcontractors. The company’s China facility is also a wholly-owned entity, ensuring high levels of information control.
Yangbum Engineering Pte Ltd. is a Singapore-based manufacturer with 14 years experience in a range of precision-engineering services, including precision-turned parts, milling, gear hobbing, and mechanical assembly. According to Ignatius Leck, sales executive, process consistency, rapid response, and IP protection are key requirements when supporting the automotive market. When subcontractors are used, the company provides them with in-house drawings that show only the details needed for the project. This practice is common among many Singaporean suppliers as a way to protect IP when subcontracting in regions where IP protection is weak.
Conclusion
Singapore’s supply base continues to equip themselves with the manufacturing capabilities needed to serve the automotive industry. Long-term support of the automotive market requires continuing development of niche technologies, investing in increased value-add, and forming strategic alliances - especially with partners in major automotive producing countries such as Europe, the U.S., or Japan.
REFERENCES
- Consolidated data from 50 major local automotive component suppliers.
- www.sovereign-publications.com/auto.htm.
- McKinsey Quarterly 2005 special edition.
Lester Lu is assigned to the Electronics and Precision Engineering Division, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore). IE Singapore is an agency under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry tasked to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade: www.iesingapore.com.