Contract manufacturing masterclass Assel

CONTRACT MANUFACTURING MASTERCLASS

Assel is an electronics and electromechanics contract manufacturing provider, offering a wide range of manufacturing solutions. Philip Yorke talked to Anna Lenartowska, the company’s business development manager, about the growing appeal of Assel’s latest capabilities which are being featured at the forthcoming industry trade show in Hannover, Germany. Assel is an attractive partner for customers seeking to outsource mid-sized projects.

Assel was founded in 1982 near Gdansk, Poland and started life as an electronics design and manufacturing business. The company saw consistent growth from the outset and, following the remarkable success of its own TV brand, the Trilux, established itself as a clearly focused, broad based contract manufacturing services provider. Assel continuously enhances its excellence in contract manufactring. At any time, it is quickly able to increase capacity by 30–50 per cent to flexibly meet customers’ needs. As a progressive company, Assel continues to invest heavily in new plant and advanced software solutions and is certified to ISO 9001, ISO14001 and more recently to ISO 22301. Every 30 seconds, a product with the same level of complexity as a notebook leaves Assel’s production line.

Broad range of flexible services

Today Assel offers flexible, master-class contract manufacturing services. As part of this, Assel organises and manages supply chains for a variety of material genres – from electronics, to mechanics, to hydraulics, plastics, cable harnesses and more.

Its innovative engineers have a great deal of experience in test development and dedicated engineering support. When it comes to assembly services at Assel, all operations are conducted in a clean manufacturing environment in line with recognised 5S leanorientated workplace protocols, as well as being ESD protected and humidity controlled. In 2014, over 650 million components were placed, in addition to approximately 3 million printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs).

Integrated systems

From simple box-built items to highly complex and sophisticated fully integrated systems, Assel has been responsible for playing a major role in the success of thousands of its customers’ electronic and electromechnical products. The company manages a wide variety of projects, mainly high mixture projects from very high to very low volume.

The company has developed its own unique project management software to optimise and enhance any individual integrated planning process. With the help of these advanced software solutions, Assel’s managers are able to strongly manage the supply chain, optimising involvement in the material, which translates into a reduction of costs and planning deliveries of materials so that the materials arrive when they are required.

Lenartowska said, “We did not focus entirely on contract manufacturing until 1999 when we made the strategic decision to stop producing our own-brand television sets. Today we have contract customers from all over Europe with our main customers coming from Germany, the UK, France and the Nordic countries.

“We assemble complex products for a wide range of industries including automotive, marine, security systems, access control and industrial automation systems. We can project manage and manufacture literally any electronic or electromechanical product.

“Our state-of-the-art facilities cover more than 14,000 square metres and are strategically located near Gdansk. Among our many capabilities are PCB assembly, electro-mechanical assembly and systems integration and procurement services. We also offer design for manufacturing (DFM) services and, unlike many of our competitors, are able to work equally efficiently for both large and small volume production runs.

Lenartowska added, “We will be demonstrating our many unique strengths at the forthcoming electronics trade show in Hanover, Germany in April. Visitors can find us in Hall 6 on stand number A49. In addition to our manufacturing capabilities we will be showcasing our advanced information systems and technologies in planning and in the general lean management of our business.”

Today Assel is the preferred partner for companies that need reliable and flexible assembly and integration services at the highest level. Assel delivers its advanced contract manufacturing services through a comprehensive range of tailor-made services, quality controls and flexibility, which is combined with both operational and cost efficiencies. n

For further details of Assel’s services visit: www.assel.pl