Electronic Contract Manufacturing (ECM) is a is term used for companies that offer contracts for electronic assembly for another company. For instance, instead of attempting to manufacture complex circuit boards themselves OEM companies often outsource their manufacturing operations to ECM companies. In effect Contract manufacturing providers do not post their brand name on any product, and both design and the brand name belongs to the OEM. OEM is an acronym for either of the following: Original Equipment Manufacturer Office of Emergency Management. ...

The birth of the CM industry was marked by IBM's entry into the PC market in 1981, which started a trend to outsource what was considered outside core competence. This sparked a feedback cycle of outsourcing, giving the ECM companies a way to obtain better economies of scale. Also, many OEMs sold off their production units to ECMs. For instace Swedish telecommunications manufacturer Ericsson sold seven plants in Sweden to Flextronics and Solectron in 1997. Is it believed that this development has in general led to a shift in market power from OEMs to large ECMs, and has lead to a rapid centralization of the CM industry. The key ECM companies today are Foxconn, Solectron, Flextronics, Sanmina-SCI, Celestica and Jabil Circuits, mainly operated from North America and Taiwan. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) NYSE: IBM (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, infrastructure services and consulting services. ... Personal computer and peripherals. ... Ericsson () (NASDAQ: ERICY) is a Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, founded in 1876 as a telegraph equipment repair shop by Lars Magnus Ericsson. ... Flextronics International Ltd. ... Solectron headquarters in Milpitas Solectron is a leading electronics manufacturing services company that offers a range of integrated supply-chain solutions for electronics OEMs. ... Foxconn is the trade name of Taiwanese firm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Ltd). ... Solectron headquarters in Milpitas Solectron is a leading electronics manufacturing services company that offers a range of integrated supply-chain solutions for electronics OEMs. ... Flextronics International Ltd. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Celestica Inc. ... ...

As ECMs grew larger, many of them developed into EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Service) companies to offer a broader spectrum of services in addition to manufacturing. Today the trend continues even further, with many EMS becoming what is caller Original Design Manufacturers, offering complete electronic products for companies such as Wal-Mart, skipping the OEMs all-together. The Ems (German; Dutch: Eems) is a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands. ... ODM is an acronym for Original Design Manufacturer. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ...

See also

• Electronics Manufacturing Services
• Solectron

Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) is term used for companies that design, assemble, produce, and test electronic components and assembles for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). ... Solectron headquarters in Milpitas Solectron is a leading electronics manufacturing services company that offers a range of integrated supply-chain solutions for electronics OEMs. ...

External link

• Electronics contract manufacturing: Global production and the international division of labor in the age of the Internet