Low visibility, tired drivers, and reduced reaction times make nighttime the most dangerous time to work. Making it home in one piece requires vigilance, nerves of steel, and a good-sized set of LED vehicle safety lights. Whether you need lights for your security car, commercial truck lighting, or snowplow lights, protecting yourself with a set of utility work lights for commercial and construction vehicles can significantly increase your visibility and reduce the risk of permanently ending up on the graveyard shift.
A major global OEM of safety lighting systems experienced ongoing problems with their existing manufacturing vendor, quality issues, as well as staggering months behind their agreed-upon production schedule. The company sought a fresh start with a more reliable contract manufacturing partner for their next major project: re-engineering their aging line of vehicle safety lighting components to achieve a stronger foothold in that market.
Challenges
Realizing the advantages of India’s emerging manufacturing economy, they established a formal evaluation process among several of that country’s prominent electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers. The client sought an EMS partner who could accomplish these specific objectives:
- Flexibility to manage a high-mix and low-to-mid-volume product line
- BOM cost reduction
- Replace obsolete through-hole designs with contemporary SMT architecture
- Engineering and manufacturing expertise to deliver reliable safety lighting products that withstand harsh environmental conditions, including passing underwater submersion testing for extended time periods
During the initial meeting process with potential vendors, the company eliminated those who appeared unprepared or less interested in winning the account. The list of candidates whittled down to two finalists: a company and us in South India. The ultimate decision would be determined via a virtual contest, a trial engineering/production project assigned to each company. The superior result would land the permanent account.
Solutions
We positioned our ample resources toward tackling the client’s challenges, assigning a dedicated program manager to oversee product development personally. Our ECAD/MCAD team developed advanced form-fit-function solutions for the safety lighting systems that improved upon the client’s original product designs. Also, the waterproofing requirements were quickly solved after our engineers suggested stronger glue bonding in the board assemblies, one of many innovative designs for manufacturability (DFM) process improvements.
Our existing supply chain ecosystem and internal vendor qualification process ensured each supplier adhered to ISO-9000 guidelines, resulting in a speedier manufacturing process at significant cost savings. Over an accelerated 3-month timeframe, we outperformed our competition, impressing the client with a solid value proposition that best fit their needs. After this successful trial, we’d similarly revamped the client’s full vehicle product line, approximately 30 individual SKUs. By providing innovative design and cost-efficient safety lighting systems, we’ve proven to be the perfect choice for custom EMS services.
Successes
We contribute our 40 years of design and manufacturing expertise spanning multiple diverse markets. We look forward to discussing how we can deliver world-class products for OEMs across the globe. We understand our home Indian market, familiar with its vast regulatory and selling environments. We foster growth opportunities within India through our strong technology incubation ecosystem. We also assist global OEMs in entering the Indian market by leveraging the local supply chain and favorable operating environments for cost reductions.
Our flagship Chennai location opened in 2006 and lies within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for electronics manufacturing, offering economic incentives for imports and exports. This primary facility is within 90 minutes of the Chennai seaport and 20 minutes to the international airport. Additional road and rail connectivity links to the rest of India and beyond and infrastructure advantages with faster import and export clearances. We also have labor force flexibility, both technical and manual, to scale to demand rapidly.
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