The Paragon Electronics Group Blog

Looking back, and forwards!

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous 2011.

There’s no denying that, for many in the electronics industry, this year has been tough. We’ve faced an unforgiving economic climate but, I’m pleased to say, our customers have all successfully weathered the storm.

But it hasn’t been all doom and gloom in 2010 – far from it. Our world-class programme has continued at pace, seeing us invest heavily in enhanced production facilities at JJS Electronics both in the UK and Czech Republic, along with new production, engineering and development staff plus leading-edge screen printing, pick & place and optical inspection equipment. This has benefitted Paragon Electronics Group customers Europe-wide!

Another cause to celebrate has been our AS9100 accreditation across three Paragon Group sites – Paragon Electronic Components in Kempston, UK; JJS Electronics Ltd. in Lutterworth, UK; and JJS Electronics s.r.o. in Chomutov, Czech Republic. Recognition of excellence across the business in quality management and operational practice. Our customers can be confident that all our quality management systems meet the demanding standards required for all aspects of quality in the aerospace industry.

We’ve also been celebrating a raft of new business wins, driven in part by our ongoing investment and commitment to continual innovation and also by our ability to help customers overcome challenges such as spiralling component lead times and the issues presented by the increased threat from counterfeit components. There’s never been a better time to focus on effective supply chain management.

We wish you all the best for 2011 and would like to thank you for your support throughout 2010. Have a fantastic festive season!

- John Mayes, Group Managing Director

How to mitigate risk from your supply chain

It’s no secret that when it comes to the current state of the electronics industry – and even, the wider economy – the only certainty is uncertainty. This is why, now more than ever before, the issue of supply chain management has been thrust into the limelight.

During the recent Electronica exhibition, EMSNow approached me to discuss the issue further. I was only too happy to oblige and, if you’re interested to hear what I had to say, you can watch the video here.

Twelve months ago, no-one could predict that the current level of market uncertainty would last so long. It’s definitely the longest period of instability I can remember. Indeed, twelve months ago, many manufacturers took the decision to cut back on capacity; they mothballed their production facilities which made lead-times longer and made part allocation even more difficult.

So, how to mitigate the risk when it comes to your supply chain? It’s a big question, and it’s one which we answer for our customers daily. We achieve this by knowing what’s going on in the market, staying close to our suppliers, maintaining high levels of market intelligence and keeping customers up to date. We’re also extremely strong on product knowledge and work closely with our customers to resolve product and process issues that cannot be resolved purely by supply chain pressure.

The capacity to take complete control of our customers’ supply chain is where we really succeed as a group. To find out more about our approach and how manufacturers can alleviate risk in the current climate, watch me being interviewed by EMSNow’s Phil Stoten at Electronica.

- Murray Dilks, Director of Purchasing for The Paragon Electronics Group.

Why we’ve donned some fetching facial hair…

Here at The Paragon Electronics Group, our team is usually pretty clean shaven. However, all this changed in November, when teams from Paragon Components and JJS Electronics took part in the nationwide MOvember campaign.

Building on our very successful contribution to the campaign last year, twenty-seven of our staff stepped up to the challenge in order to generate awareness for men’s health issues -raising a fantastic £6271 for The Prostate Cancer Charity in the process!

The challenge for Paragon and JJS employees was to grow a moustache for the entire month of November. The only rules were that participants must begin the month clean shaven and then let their moustaches grow. The idea behind the campaign is that moustaches become the ribbon for men’s health and the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.

Normally clean shaven members of the Paragon and JJS team ditched the smooth finish in order to sport some very fetching facial hair. They might have received a few strange looks, but it’s been worth it. We’re very proud of the amount of money raised, especially as it is 50% more than last year’s total.

Participation with the MOvember cause has continued to grow year on year and in 2009, global participation climbed to 255,755. The campaign is aimed at making men aware of the risks they face to increase early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment. Funds raised support a number of innovative education, support, research and awareness initiatives.

To learn more about MOvember, visit http://uk.movember.com.