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The I-Connect007 Editorial Team recently spoke with Chris Minard, director of business development at CML, about how CML’s business model has evolved and some of his insights about manufacturing trends around the globe right now.
Andy Shaughnessy: Chris, CML is more than a PCB solutions provider. Tell us about that.
Chris Minard: Yes. Our new slogan, “More Than a Manufacturer,” plays off how we’ve changed very significantly over the past few years. When we were founded in Germany in 2001, we were a PCB sourcing company and were very much an automotive market supplier. We’ve been able to grow over the last 18 years and have evolved into manufacturing to provide even more comprehensive PCB solutions for our customers. Now, we’re in 16 different locations worldwide and 12 different countries with more expansion planned for 2020. All of our growth is organic, so we move into a mar-ket, hire local people located in the country, speak the native language, and, of course, operate on the local time zones.
Our expansion over the years has been very methodical and measured. We want to be sure that, as we keep moving forward and developing as a company, nothing falls between the cracks and that service levels are not affected. Customer satisfaction is our number one priority. A lot of companies try to grow too quickly, and there are pitfalls that we acknowledged that go along with that; from our managing directors down, we are extremely careful not to do that. We want all of our customers to get the same level of support and service regardless of where in the world they’re located. Some of our core customers are headquartered in Germany but are also doing manufacturing in Asia and Mexico. Their expectation, and our goal, is that all of their locations will get the same level of services from our local CML branch, regardless of where they are located.
Shaughnessy: Are you planning more global expansion?
Minard: We are looking to expand further through vertical integration, which includes production facilities in Sichuan province. We chose Sichuan because it’s extremely accessible with international flights and the highspeed train. We’re also looking into some key areas in Asia-Pacific and potentially in South America down the road.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the December 2019 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
