Partnerships are important to Milwaukee Electronics. We don’t simply see ourselves as an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company. Instead, we see ourselves as a company focused on solving customer challenges. It’s one of the reasons we have 12 customers that have been with us for more than 15 years.
In one such case we helped a customer in the material handling industry dramatically modify their product offering to increase functionality, reduce power consumption and lower maintenance costs.
A customer in the material handling industry wanted to change its conveyor control systems from AC to DC motors. From an industrial control standpoint, this meant moving from centralized to de-centralized power on the line, which required a complete rethinking of the conveyor system design.
Milwaukee Electronics’ team worked with the customer to define motor specifications. Our team then managed the outsourcing of the motor design and integrated our control with the solution. We utilized our sourcing office in Asia to find low cost sources for new materials such as shafts, laminated stacks, rare earth magnets and aluminum castings. Our control design efforts included development of a test plan and test programming to support the customer’s requirements for superior quality.
We were able to develop a solution that went far beyond pcb design or printed circuit board assembly. We actually helped the customer re-define the material handling industry in the process. Our support services for this customer now include managing the motor development process and we are currently designing our third motor with the customer. We’ve supported a sourcing effort in Asia to support lowest cost material pricing and have nearshored production in our facility in Tecate, Mexico. Our Mexico manufacturing solution provides both IP protection and logistics simplicity. The customer is getting two week lead-time on motor and controls orders with minimal transit time.
