Businessweek

Plexus Corp. operates in the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry. The company delivers optimized solutions to its customers through its Product Realization Value Stream. The company’s customer-focused solutions model integrates product conceptualization, design, commercialization, manufacturing, fulfillment, and sustaining solutions. It delivers solutions for customers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific regions. The company provides customer service to approximately 140 branded product companies in the networking/communications, healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, and defense/security/aerospace market sectors. The company offers its customers the ability to outsource all phases of product realization, including product specifications; development, design and design verification; regulatory compliance support; prototyping and new product introduction; manufacturing test equipment development; materials sourcing, procurement and supply-chain management; product assembly/manufacturing, configuration and test; and order fulfillment, logistics, and service/repair. Solutions As an integrated, fully accountable partner, the company delivers optimized product realization solutions that carry its customers' products from concept to end of life. Conceptualize: During the product development and conceptualization phases, new product ideas are created and evaluated with both the customer's and the company’s engineering teams. The company collaborates with its customers to capture their new product vision and clarify requirements. Its industrial design team attempts to analyze a product through the end user's eyes focusing on ergonomics, use case research, user interface, aesthetics, and evaluation mockups. Design: The company invests in the latest technology, design, and automation tools to provide design and value-engineering solutions. Product design includes the following solutions: program management; feasibility studies; product conceptualization; specification development for product features and functionality; circuit design (digital, microprocessor, power, analog, radio frequency (RF), optical, and micro-electronics); field programmable gate array design (FPGA); printed circuit board (PCB) layout; embedded software design; mechanical design (thermal analysis, fluidics, robotics, plastic components, sheet metal enclosures, and castings); and test specifications development and product verification testing. The company also provides value-engineering solutions, extending the product life cycle. Its value-add solutions include engineering change-order management, cost reduction redesign, component obsolescence management, product feature expansion, test enhancement, and component re-sourcing. Commercialize: Of all the phases in its Product Realization Value Stream, the commercialize phase carries the most influence with respect to converting ideas into viable products. Commercialization starts early in the design phase and extends through manufacturing transition, often in tandem with Design for Excellence (DFX). The company’s DFX solutions encompass a collection of specific design solutions, including design for test, design for manufacturability/assembly, and design for fabrication. The commercialize phase also includes prototyping, new product introduction, design for supply chain, test development and transition management. Manufacture: The company applies an optimized manufacturing approach. Its manufacturing solutions integrate flexibility for its customers through tailored supply chain solutions. The company focuses on mid-to-low volume, higher-complexity programs that range from lower-level assemblies to finished electro-mechanical products. The company’s manufactured products fall into one of the following categories in its assembly spectrum: PCB assembly – a PCB populated with electronic components; basic assembly - a sub-assembly that includes PCBs and other components; system integration - a finished product or sub-system assembly that includes components, such as PCBs, basic assemblies, custom engineered components, displays, optic