EMS suppliers urged to stay relevant

Organisations in the electronics and precision engineering (EPE) cluster have been urged to constantly upgrade in order to stay relevant.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Global-Asia Trade Exchange 2007 (GATE07), minister of state for trade and industry Lee Yi Shyan said government agencies have established various programmes to facilitate companies' setting up of infrastructure, knowledge sharing and skills development to aid in their capability building.

"The EPE cluster is an important cluster and it accounts for 46% of our manufacturing output, and 54% of our export," the minister said. "Last year, the sector also attracted an estimated S$4.8 billion in manufacturing fixed assets investments."

In his speech, the minister advised companies in the sector to be quick to capitalise on new market opportunities and industry trends.

The third instalment of GATE07, a biennial procurement event in Asia for regional electronics and precision engineering suppliers, saw the formation of two consortia to tap on the growth of the automotive sector.

The Automotive Sensors Consortium was signed by Sanwa Plastic Industry, Hybrionic and Swiss Precision Industries to explore engine, impact and safety critical sensors for the US and Europe automotive markets.

Meanwhile, Sanwa Plastic, Armstrong Industrial Corporation, Hybrionic, Innovalues, John While Springs, Miyoshi Precision and Swiss Precision Industries formed the Automotive Door Closures Consortium, which has been tasked to look into the latching systems of door closure, a market projected to grow 32% annually.

Global automobile production is growing at a steady rate of 4.5% and component production is expected to grow rapidly at CAGR of 29.5%. "As global automotive buyers consolidate their supplier base and increasingly seek suppliers who can offer engineered solutions, our suppliers are coming together to increase their range of solutions and components to be more competitive and to increase their chances of success," said Chong Lit Cheong, CEO of IE Singapore.

The electronics manufacturing services market in South East Asia is poised to grow from revenues of US$20.7 billion in 2006 to almost US$4 billion in 2012. Almost 80% of the world's components and parts for manufacturing were procured from the Asia Pacific region.