Our very own Business Manager for Embedded Technologies, Rhett Evans was invited to present at the recent ‘Electronic Component Show’ (ECS), held at the Kassam Stadium, within one of our esteemed education, design, innovation, and venture capitalist UK hotspots, Oxford.
Due to COVID-19, travel restriction, hybrid working arrangements etc, footfall at these types of electronics industry events may not have fully recovered, however visitors do seem to be more strategically focussed. You may not have been able to visit ECS in person, but for those who have FOMO, don’t worry, we are here to fill you in.
The Challenges Manufacturers are Facing
- A Diagnosis of the Trials and Tribulations
- The Tell-Tale Signs that Manufacturers are Overcoming during these Testing Times
A Diagnosis and A Different Way to Differentiate
We are working to the assumption that companies hold a similar business objective to that of ourselves and our customers, to continue to increase their market share, organically and through new value streams, all whilst maintaining their health and increasing their profit.
Traditionally organisations like Anders and our partners, have pursued these achievements via conventional methods such as product innovation, R&D, M&A, and sales & marketing.
In the current environment however, we all need to be cognisant of rising factors such as, differentiation and adding value:
- User Experience –we live in a world where the power of promotion is with the end-user and/or the consumer. Reviews on third party websites such as Trust Pilot, Wired, CNet etc. mean that tech companies are more exposed to the positives and negatives. This is why, we at Anders continuously collaborate with our OEM partners to design an imaginative, innovative, intelligent, and intuitive end user experience
- Data Protection –as with the above, we are illustrating that we live in a connected world. The Internet of Things (IoT) means that we are storing and sharing our sensitive data online, whether that be professional or personal. Smart Tech in the home and in our workplace rely on IoT to drive our decision making through data. This data needs to be secure and safe, which is why at Anders we are working with our connected device partners to ensure security provisions and measures are designed within their embedded systems
- Energy Conservation –just tune into any news channel across the globe and you will hear about the current energy and climate change crisis. However, in parallel our need to be constantly connected is also paramount. This is why our engineers are working with our OEM partners to understand their product power needs and how we can design with power consumption, energy preservation, and efficiency. We also have the needs cost-conscious end-user, and the rise in those considering the ‘greener’ issues such as sustainability, harvesting, and alternative ways to plug-in to take into consideration.
- Supply Chain Continuity –One of the rising trends that we’ve witnessed in a pre- and post-covid world is the need to ensure that our OEM partners supply chain is robust and reliable. The recent component shortage crisis has red flagged this part of the production lifecycle process and given it a top priority status. At Anders, we have long-term partners which benefit us by providing us with long-range forecasts which enable us to secure customer component parts as per their production forecast. With start-ups and new customers, we work to this process from the outset for peace of mind and to ensure that they have complete traceability and transparency throughout their entire supply chain.
- Streamlining the supply chain – Reducing touchpoints and simplifying your supply chain to minimise risk have always been an Anders business objective in our bid to make business easy. This is why we partner with the likeminded component manufacturers whom we share similar business ethics with. This also helps our industry in the battle against counterfeit component parts, so it’s a win/win scenario for all involved in the supply chain of everything.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
And it’s working to the aforementioned ways that we at Anders feel that we will exit and recover from these testing times.
The term ‘relationship’ is an overused one, but it exactly what you need to mutually succeed. Our OEM partners form strong commercially viable relationships with us that are equally beneficial. We refer to this as the meeting of two minds to:
- Communicate and share our clear company goals
- Get to know each other well, not to simply demonstrate customer care, but to deliver delight
As we site across the entire tech and innovation industry, we understand the macro and micro influencers. We share our insights that can impact product designs to drive efficiencies and our customers can achieve economies of scale which benefits their competitive positioning.
Our partners benefit from our experience and expertise, gained through our 70-years of business in the tech industry. Most comment on how valuable this has been and something that not many can boast about. The reality is that there aren’t many markets that we are not present within, not many challenges that we’ve not seen and delivered a solution for, and especially where compliance, certification, or certain quality standards need to be adhered to, our engineering expertise remains to this day unmatched.
And at this point, Rhett thanked the organisers at ECS for their kind participation invitation and the audience for listening. Like those who attended personally, we hope that you’ve found learning about Anders interesting and that we’ve educated you on who we are and the value-add we deliver to our display and embedded customer. If you have any question, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with Rhett or anyone else at Anders, we are here to help. Oh, and we get the FOMO, but to stay up to date with our Anders news, subscribe here to our newsletter, and you’ll not suffer from that issue again, where we are concerned.
