What to Expect During the First Months of Trading with an EMS Provider

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• A bill of materials (BOM) or parts list
• Drawings for each bespoke or "made-to-print" item, such as front panels, metal cases, machined parts, brackets, plastic enclosures, identification plates etc.
• PCB Gerber files
• CAD data
• Assembly drawings
• Schematic drawings
• Wiring drawings 
• Test specifications 

The best EMS providers will take the data you provide and create their own comprehensive build packs. They will do this regardless of whether your build packs are complete or not, as it enables them to be confident that they haven’t missed anything and helps guarantee the data is in the correct format for their operators and production processes.

The NPI Process

This is arguably one of the most crucial elements of any outsourcing project and provides you with confidence that your EMS partner is capable of consistently delivering quality products. During this time, one of the EMS NPI engineers will oversee all stages associated with the assembly, test and outbound logistics of your project.

Each EMS provider works differently but it’s common that operators at each stage in the manufacturing process will have the opportunity to make notes during the build so that critical information can be incorporated back into the build pack in advance of the next production run. These notes and observations could relate to the way material is received on the shop floor or design for manufacture (DFM) observations. They may result in additional images or care points being added to build documentation to support future operatives working on the job. The best EMS providers will then summarize all of these findings for you and send across a formal NPI report for your review.

These are just five important areas that your EMS partner will home in on during the first months of your outsourcing partnership. There's a lot of work to be carried out in these early days, but we hope that by highlighting some of the tasks and expectations up front, your relationship will start off on the right foot.

This article originally appeared on the JJS Manufacturing blog, which can be found here.

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