Contract manufacturing: how much can they do?

Contract manufacturing (CM) for boards is here to stay. The cost of equipment and support personnel, plus the inability of companies to use the equipment cost effectively is forcing many to turn to CM. Today, the use of CM is critical to our success. The question is how much can a contract manufacturer provide? A product's life cycle can be segmented into the following phases: pre-design/design, assembly/test through in-circuit test, testing after ICT/ATE, and field support. To successfully support each phase, the design center and CM must pool their strengths. The CM's strength is its ability to perform a repeatable process in an efficient, high quality, cost effective manner. The DC's strength is its technical knowledge of the product.