28 May, 2010 / BY John Mayes

Paragon's Postponement manufacturing service rises to customers' demand forecasting challenges

Leading supply chain management and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) specialist, The Paragon Electronics Group, is helping customers respond to demand forecasting challenges with its extensive range of postponement manufacturing services. Achieving new levels of product differentiation and supply chain efficiency, Paragon’s postponement manufacturing expertise is delivered by its group companies, JJS Electronics Ltd and JJS Electronics s.r.o.

Postponement manufacturing is a sophisticated supply chain service that enables The Paragon Electronics Group to provide customers with late-stage configuration of products specific to a particular order or end user. For OEM customers with highly configurable products, late stage configuration and postponement techniques can alleviate demand forecasting challenges. By postponing final product assembly until customer demand is clearly defined, Paragon greatly extends OEM’s capacity to customise and differentiate products. In turn, this enables OEMs to react rapidly and more effectively to opportunities as they arise.

Commenting on the success of the postponement manufacturing strategies implemented on behalf of Paragon customers, Group Managing Director, John Mayes, explains: “Effective supply chain management is key to success in today’s evolving electronics manufacturing industry. Postponement manufacturing provides a highly valuable solution to OEMs looking to meet the challenges of demand forecasting. However, it does necessitate a high degree of collaboration and visibility throughout the supply chain, so it can prove daunting for manufacturers to manage in house. Here at Paragon, not only do we have extensive supply chain capabilities, but we also have an end-to-end manufacturing offering delivered through our group manufacturing facilities in the UK and Czech Republic. We therefore have the expertise, resources and footprint necessary to execute postponement manufacturing successfully for our customers. This is particularly attractive to our UK & US customers who wish to take advantage of JJS’ Central European manufacturing facility, as an agile gateway into Europe.”

Postponement manufacturing at JJS Electronics works alongside its configure-to- order (C.T.O.) service. This is where the company manufactures a generic version of the customer’s product up to an ‘embryo’ level which is then held in inventory, awaiting further instructions. Once customer demand is known, the final product is configured and packaged to order. The final assembly stage involves configuring specified options, accessories, ‘country kits,’ packaging and instruction manuals. The final step of this process is shipment, which the JJS team also undertakes, delivering products direct to its customers’ customers. John concludes: “Paragon is a unique business in today’s electronics manufacturing services marketplace; our unparalleled combination of experience, expertise and agility means we’re delivering a major competitive advantage through proven techniques such as postponement manufacturing – for us and our customers!”

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Written by John Mayes

John is a business consultant with an extensive career spanning over 30 years. During this time Chris has set up, led, and acquired highly successful component distribution and EMS companies including Paragon Electronics and JJS Manufacturing.