AEMtec becomes ODM, plans co-operation with leading Asian contract manufacturer

AEMtec, the German provider of design and manufacturing services has entered into negotiations with a leading Asian contract manufacturer.

The aim is to offer Asia's favourable production costs for high volume production to the customers while securing jobs in Germany. Lower volumes will still be manufactured in Berlin, AEMtec's original manufacturing location. The planned cooperation model envisions that AEMtec accounts for the complete manufacturing process in Asia.

Currently many companies use to look for competent co-designers when planning future innovations and products. Furthermore, they are often prepared to outsource the design of important components in their product range. Therefore, AEMtec offers his customers the complete value added chain – from conceptual design to the shipment of fully tested modules.

The transition from pure Contract Manufacturer (CM) to Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) happened last year. An ODM designs and manufactures products but does not market them under the ODM's own name – quite similiar to an OEM. The essential difference is the word ‚design' emphasizing the own design and development performance. This means for customers: where as before there was merely process development, now a new product is designed from scratch jointly with the customer, and with regard to production optimization. These are crucial steps to simplify and cheapen the overall result. For product optimization already in the design phase guarantees a high level of automation for a highly efficient manufacturing process.

AEMtec also entered into partnership negotiations with a highly qualified Asian contract manufacturer to enable customers to benefit from the advantages of low wage costs in other parts of the world and to offer them high volume production at a competitive price. As part of the agreement, AEMtec would assume full responsibility for the high volume manufacturing process in Asia.

Harald Hanne, AEMtec's Managing Director Technology & Sales, regards the partnership with Fabrinet as a trendsetting model: "We design new products for our customers and transfer them to production. If high volumes are required, we relocate the process know-how and the production to our partner in Asia. Our customers benefit from AEMtec's expertise and our proximity to them and at the same time from Asia's favourable production costs."