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April 7,2019,Philippines—To cut costs, speed time-to-market, produce better quality, and more—there are plenty of reasons why original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would want to contract an experienced and outsourced electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider. However, the very idea of working with a third-party company combined with rumors and misinformation coming from few bad reviews and experiences are enough to scare inexperienced OEMs away from outsource manufacturing.

To clear any of your worries and misconceptions about outsource manufacturing, here are the most important EMS outsourcing myths that needs to be debunked!

Myth #1: Outsourcing complicates the communication process

Even if you are working with your in-house production team, you are still not safe from miscommunication problems. This is why many OEMs believe that working with an outsource manufacturing provider only makes the communication process even more complicated than how it should be. This may be true in some cases. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to whether or not you have found a reliable EMS provider.

Once you find the right EMS partner, you will realize that they actually do their work very systematically. You just have to make sure that you arrange a meeting to address all of your concerns, especially those with regards to communication. Office location, email addresses, contact numbers, contact persons, schedules for regular progress reports, and project deadlines—you should first know all of these details before signing your contract.

Myth #2: Outsourcing takes away your control over your products

This is simply just not true. Technically, you would have to leave the manufacturing of your product to your outsourced EMS partner. However, that does not mean that you would no longer have any control over the quality of your product.

When you outsource EMS, you have the opportunity and power to hire AME engineering experts that specializes on your kind of products. Moreover, you also have the right to know their standards and processes in manufacturing before starting production. Your EMS partner may not exactly be working under you, but as their client, you would still hold the final say about your products. In most cases, outsourcing EMS has resulted to improved product quality, but if you are not satisfied with their work, you can always choose a better outsource manufacturing partner.

Myth #3: Outsourcing poses data security risks

Many OEMs find it risky to outsource EMS, especially for the product design and development segment, because they think it increases the risk of their intellectual property being stolen. However, the truth is, experienced and trustworthy outsource manufacturing companies know and understand the importance of data security.

In fact, confidentiality can even be protected through nondisclosure agreements. Instead of being a threat, outsourcing EMS can be an solution to protecting your data. This is because when you outsource manufacturing, the anonymity makes it difficult to track down the engineers responsible for the design which reduces the threat information leak and subsequent stealing.

Myth #4: Outsourcing means job losses

One of the more popular misconception about outsourcing EMS is that it creates unemployment. This would only be true if you will be firing your in-house production team since you will now hire an outsourced company to do their work. Nonetheless, outsourcing actually helps create more jobs in general.

One of the benefits of outsourcing EMS is that it helps companies cut down costs on labor, material, equipment, and facility. These savings made from outsourcing EMS can then be allocated to other parts of the business that needs more funding, resources, or workers. In short, outsourcing helps a company expand. At the same time, you are also creating more jobs for the global manufacturing industry at large by availing their service.

It may not be obvious now but misconceptions about EMS outsourcing can hurt your company, especially in the long run. Always educate yourself about the actual effects of outsource manufacturing, and do not easily fall for rumors!