The Paragon Electronics Group Blog

Providing Cradle to Grave Support

It should be no surprise to anyone that here at Paragon that we’ve always been committed to providing
dedicated,on-going customer service and product support. Okay, arguably every business
says that in one way or another. Why? Because in any sector with a lot of competing businesses, customer service can be one of the biggest differentiators. Some in the electronics industry like to use the term “providing cradle to grave support” in the context of their customer commitment. But what does that really mean?

At the Paragon Electronics Group, we put a great deal of emphasis on the early stages of a product design. That’s why we have dedicated resources in the area of New Product Introductions (NPI),
in addition to our Engineering, New Business Development and Account Management
teams. Each new product is allocated to one of our NPI engineer’s, who report to our Principle NPI Engineer, a senior engineering post we created a few years back. These are all highly skilled people with fine objectives – and they understand customer support. We’re also firm believers in getting the processes right first time, so that the products can be consistently built, to the required quality levels in production volumes. It’s a simple concept that’s well proven in practice.

Perhaps key to our customer commitment, which may make us different, is a willingness to be totally open and honest. We endeavour to provide customers meaningful feedback about their
products and their suitability for production volume manufacturing – even if it’s not always exactly what they want to hear. It’s obvious really: if we find anything that helps us to improve the assembly processes, the NPI stage is the ideal time to pick it up and feed it back. Okay, so our customers may not
always be in a position to modify their designs to accommodate our suggestions, but we feel duty-bound to feedback those observations and make every effort to implement any appropriate changes to product or processes.

That said, we all know that building products in pre-production & NPI quantities can be a completely
different kettle-of-fish to producing assemblies in regular production volume builds. We constantly monitor our own effectiveness and increasingly involve our customers through the provision of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) information. FMEA is essentially a procedure in product development that drives the analysis of potential failure modes. It helps us to classify failures by their severity and likelihood of recurrence. Our effective FMEA activity is based on past experience with similar products or processes, which helps our skilled people to advise on designing those failures out.

Our aim is simple: to remain close to our customers’ products throughout their lifetime. Then we can seize every opportunity to implement further improvements if or when the product is subject to design changes. In our experience, across our industry, well-intended NPI observations can often get
overlooked or forgotten. In contrast, our FMEA process ensures that those points remain on our customers’ ‘radars’ and that they continue to receive on-going feedback about their products. Who wouldn’t appreciate that?

Naturally, our support doesn’t stop there. We’re fortunate in having dedicated component specialist
businesses within the Paragon Electronics Group In the form of Vigilant Components and Paragon Electronic Components PLC. These provide various services to source ‘hard-to-find’ components and combat product obsolescence and avoid counterfeits all in the cause of ultimate customer support. That’s another big differentiator for us too.

For more information on our complete range of services visit our website www.paragon-electronics.com.

Paragon ‘runners’ take part in Corporate Relay Marathon Challenge

On Sunday April 29^th the first Milton Keynes marathon took place. Alongside the full marathon there was a Corporate Relay Challenge for which the Paragon Electronics Group entered two teams.

Heavy rain had caused flooding on part of the route but, despite these difficult conditions, more than 3,000 runners took part including 98 teams of four in the Corporate Relay Challenge.

The relay, which started and finished at Stadium MK, consisted of 4 stages of approximately 6.5, 8.5, 6.5 and 4.7 miles with each member running one leg each.

The Two Paragon teams finished 43^rd and 62^nd with times of 4.02.34 and 4.09.21

Captaining the teams and running one of the legs, Darren Scott, who works in Paragon‘s Group IT department and has previously run a full marathon, said ‘it was great to be part of the first MK marathon event. Everyone should be proud of themselves, for not only completing the course in such testing conditions, but for raising so much for some very good causes. We’re all looking forward to doing it again next year.”

Jane Green, a Customer Account Manager, who has also previously run a full marathon and ran one of the 8.5 mile legs on Sunday said, “the conditions were atrocious, but the determination shown by the runners and the support of the volunteers and spectators was fantastic and made it a great day for Milton Keynes despite the weather.”

The two teams have so far raised over £1200 which will be divided equally between Cancer Research & the MK Dons Sports and Education Trust.

OEMs …. get your ducks in a row!

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, we love a good idiom. If you’ve read any of our other blogs, you’ll probably know that. So here’s another one for you: maintaining an effective supply chain is about keeping all your ducks in a row. If you’ve ever tried to round up ducks, you’ll know this is easier said than done.

No, we’ve not gone quackers – (sorry!) – it’s just that two decades of experience in the industry tells us that the supply chain is a critical aspect of an OEM’s business. Paragon’s supply chain management service helps to ensure that all elements of this are fully under control and enables our customers to achieve on-time deliveries and satisfied customers, avoid holes in their cash flow and prevents nasty surprises on their bottom line.   

Clearly, the more complex the product being assembled, the more diverse the bill of materials and required components and the more important it is to ensure that a sophisticated supply chain management process is in place.  

With this complexity comes the increasing possibility of an equally complex supply chain, along with all the challenges that come with this. Of which there are many. These supply chains need to be meticulously managed, which calls for close control of fluctuating lead-times, end-of-life (EOL) and obsolescence issues together with a robust defence against counterfeit devices.

Achieving this enables Paragon to ensure that the right components are in the right place at the right time. By ensuring comprehensive procurement consistency with an extensive network of global supply chain partners, we are able to safeguard our customers’ entire supply chain management processes. What’s more, because they are dealing with one component procurement partner, there is no division of spend – meaning that they can forget about the extra administrative costs associated with multiple suppliers.

So there really is no need to worry about the metaphorical ducks; you can leave them to us.

Would you prefer a pig or a chicken to manage your supply chain?

That may sound like a very strange question, but it’s one with a very definite answer. Indulge me for a few minutes while I give you the background.

Too many EMS companies don’t take full responsibility for their materials supply chain. This means that too many EMS companies pass supply chain issues back to the customer. The reason for this is that a lot of companies manage parts of your supply chain, but not all of it.

When we started The Paragon Electronics Group, we did it because we found (and still find) that you could almost get a whole solution, but not quite. Now established as a dedicated supply chain management specialist, providing a whole supply chain solution is all we do; day in, day out. Our customers know we don’t pass supply chain issues back to them because we are fully committed to their process.

So back to pigs and chickens then. And I apologise in advance to the vegetarians and vegans among you. Consider, for a minute, their role in producing bacon and eggs for a breakfast. Clearly the chicken had a role and was certainly “involved.” The pig, however, had a somewhat different role and could genuinely be described as being “committed.”

The bottom line? OEMs need to fully understand which suppliers are involved and which are somewhat more committed. Once you have a committed supply chain management specialist in place, you can really start bringing home the bacon.

We’re no ordinary EMS Company. But what do we mean by that?

When you think of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) what does this mean to you? If you think of contract manufacturing for PCB assemblies you’re probably not alone. Providing PCB assemblies is often seen as the cornerstone of an EMS company. Indeed, for the majority of companies, PCBA is the ‘be all and end all’ of their business. Here at Paragon, we’ve always been a little bit different and this is partly what we mean when we say we’re ‘No ordinary EMS Company.’

Of course, we do have customers who rely on us to deliver high quality PCB assembly services. But we also have others for whom we provide extended services where we take on additional responsibilities for cable assembly, box-build, electro-mechanical assembly and precision mechatronics assembly. For these customers, we produce a wide variety of products, cabinets and even, highly complex ‘machines’.

It makes sense really. Having led the way in electronics assembly for many years, we know that complex mechanical assemblies demand the same high levels of skill, precision, accuracy and consistency as their electronic counterparts. So, we bring together complex electrical, electronic, mechanical, pneumatic and electro-pneumatic assembly skills sets.

Thanks to our unique combination of expertise and experience, when customers partner with us, they not only reduce their costs but they also remove complexity from their business to enable them to respond more rapidly to unforeseen demand.

UK and Central European manufacturing facilities, a Europe-wide supply chain for electronic, electrical and mechanical components plus custom plastics, machined parts and fabricated metalwork, extensive electro-mechanical and electro-pneumatic assembly skills; are just a few of the ways we’re different and not so ‘ordinary.’ If you’re interested in finding out more about our proven precision mechanical assembly capabilities, please do get in touch.

Who said don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today?

Usually that is good advice, but when it comes to juggling with the uncertainty facing OEMs with highly configurable products, speculating on what to build can prove costly.

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, we know that, sometimes, the best way to meet demand forecasting challenges is to postpone them. Although that might sound a bit misguided, it can actually be a highly effective strategic approach. Let me explain…

Postponement manufacturing is a sophisticated service designed for OEMs with highly configurable products. With the supply chain expertise and flexible manufacturing capabilities at both JJS Electronics Ltd. and JJS Electronics s.r.o., we provide our customers with the option to delay configuration until demand is clearly defined. In doing so, we extend their ability to customise and differentiate end products.

Postponement manufacturing works alongside our configure-to-order service (CTO). With CTO, we manufacture a generic version of the end product up to an embryo level. Once customer demand is known, we’ll configure it, package it and ship it as soon as we get the instruction from our customer.

It may sound simple, but in actual fact, it involves a high degree of collaboration and visibility throughout the supply chain, systems support and flexible manufacturing processes. So, while no-one knows what the future holds, that’s ok. With our late stage configuration and configure-to-order services, our customers can rapidly respond to opportunities – as and when they occur.

If you’d like to know more, let us know!

Our biggest single contract win to date!

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, our World Class initiative has brought about a number of changes to our organisation over the past few years. I’m delighted to now reveal that the success of this programme has been underscored recently by our biggest ever single contract win to date.

We have been selected by the traffic and infrastructure specialist, Peek Traffic Ltd., to manufacture its range of traffic signals and controllers. The three-year multi-million pound deal will see Peek benefit from our integrated supply chain management, electronics and electro-mechanical manufacturing expertise.

A leading provider of intelligent transport solutions, Peek chose us over several other major electronics manufacturing services companies due to our ability to deliver broad manufacturing capabilities from our Group’s specialist electronics facilities. At the heart of this, JJS Electronics Ltd. represents a unique model for PCB assembly, complete custom system integration and configure-to-order manufacturing.

Peek’s Business Improvement Manager, Steve Webb, said: “As a leading supplier of intelligent transport solutions, it’s vital that we partner with suppliers that can uphold the standards of quality and technology leadership that our customers associate with us.  Following an extensive supplier evaluation process, we were impressed by The Paragon Electronics Group’s comprehensive skills-base. The flexibility offered to us by JJS’ contract manufacturing capabilities both in the UK and in Central Europe coupled with the Group’s supply chain management expertise represents true value – not only for us, but for our customers too.”

Needless to say, we’re delighted to be partnering with Peek to help them deliver their industry-leading traffic control products and the contract represents a fantastic opportunity for JJS & Paragon. Once again this is tangible recognition of the breadth of capabilities we have here within the group.

You’re hired! We welcome four new apprentices to JJS Electronics Ltd.

As a leading EMS provider, our Group company, JJS Electronics Ltd. is continually looking to invest in its workforce. Indeed, there is a real recognition, Group-wide, that talented people are one of our most important differentiators. It was this kind of thinking that led us to complement our Graduate scheme that has been running, very successfully, for over ten years, by recently introducing an Advanced Apprenticeship scheme.

Working closely with the Learning South Leicestershire (LSL) Centre at Lutterworth College, we have spent considerable time in setting up the scheme and identifying suitable candidates. And now, I’m pleased to announce, we’re welcoming four new apprentices to our team.

The new scheme will begin in September and is part of our commitment to investing in the future generation of electronics and manufacturing professionals. The structured two-year apprenticeship will be followed by further specialist training and ongoing career development initiatives.

The programme is designed to be extensive, like the EMS service JJS delivers, and will cover both electronic and electromechanical manufacturing. As well as studying for NVQ level 3 / 4, the apprentices will spend time in each of the eight areas within our JJS UK facility including assembly, test, engineering, QA and commercial departments.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome our new apprentices, we wish you the very best of luck and look forward to working with you!

Japan and your supply chain, a final update.

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, we’ve continued to monitor the situation in Japan closely, since our March updates. Over the last few months, there’s been nothing new to report regarding the situation’s role in relation to your supply chain.

As it is now over two months since the dreadful events unfolded in North East Japan, we felt it appropriate to issue what we propose, barring any additional dramatic turns of events, will be our final update on this disaster.

We referred previously to the incredible efforts of the Japanese people to restore power and communications; this has been a critical factor in the startling success many of the electronics manufacturing companies have achieved in restoring their facilities, restarting production and ramping back up to pre-earthquake levels.

Thanks to an amazing rate of progress, we’re pleased to report that initial fears of widespread, extended delays and shortages are for the most part unfounded.

Download Japan Supply Chain Update - May 2011

In the meantime, you can of course discuss the specific implications to your supply chain with your Account Manager.

Our thoughts continue to be with the people of Japan as they rebuild their lives after the recent disaster. You can donate to the Red Cross appeal here.

Paragon Electronics Group Employees going the extra mile!

Here at Paragon, we are keen to acknowledge our employees' achievements, both professional and personal. We therefore thought we would take this opportunity to share the recent achievements of two of our employees with you. On April 10^th, Jane Green and Darren Scott completed The Brighton Marathon - they each did extremely well and we wanted to congratulate them on their success.

They joined 8,000 other runners on the 26.2 mile route, cheered on by thousands of spectators (including some of our employees) lining the streets to show their support for the runners. They both achieved personal goals by completing the marathon in good times. Jane completed the course in 5hrs 18mins and Darren in 4 hrs 41 minutes.

When asked about why she decided to take on this challenge Jane explained, “We are used to going the extra mile for our customers, so we just decided that it would be good to go 26.2 just this once!”

We think this is a great achievement and recognise Jane and Darren’s dedication, a value that resonates strongly through all of our employees. Paragon encourages staff fitness, just one small part of our World Class programme. In support of this, we have a fully equipped gym at our Bedford HQ and a partnership with Bedford Rugby, who provide trainers for our circuit sessions. Lots of our employees take advantage of these facilities, ranging from those who haven’t exercised since leaving full time education, to those who use it as a base for more serious pursuits, such as in the case of Jane and Darren who used the facilities to train for their marathon.

We will continue to encourage a happy and healthy workforce and want to say big congratulations to Jane and Darren - you did a great job!