ESS Manufacturing Conducts Annual Supplier Conference – Leads Discussions on Counterfeit Parts Prevention and Mitigation

MELBOURNE, FL, May 18, 2010 – ESS Manufacturing, Inc. recently conducted the Annual Supplier Conference in its Barrie, Ontario facility. The April 29th event was by invitation only, with significant suppliers to ESS Manufacturing in attendance, including representatives from direct component manufacturers and all major electronic components distributors.

The session began with tours of the manufacturing facility. Participants were then led through a series of presentations on ESS Manufacturing, including the recent announcement of winning the coveted Service Excellence Awards sponsored by Circuits Assembly magazine for the fifth consecutive year. Breakout discussions were then held to highlight important strategic supply chain initiatives underway at ESS Manufacturing and the relevant support needed from ESS’s vendor base. The featured topics centered on market conditions and component availability issues. ESS Manufacturing outlined its rigorous Counterfeit Parts Prevention program that was established to mitigate the risk of introducing counterfeit parts into its system, such as buying components directly from component manufacturers or franchised distributors.

As part of the day’s events, representatives from the Independent Distributors of Electronics Association (IDEA) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) gave presentations on their organizations’ ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of counterfeit components. The groundbreaking session facilitated discussions among all sectors of the supply chain that are adversely impacted by counterfeiters – OCMs, distributors, EMS providers and their customers. “The presentation given by MDA’s Fred Schipp helped raise the visibility of the issue of counterfeit product to a higher level” commented Walter Tobin, Corporate Vice President of Future Electronics and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Electronics Distribution Association (NEDA). “I also applaud ESS Manufacturing for making room on their agenda for this issue.”

John Kovach, President of ESS Manufacturing, added “ESS has been proactively teaming with suppliers and industry experts to continually improve our supply chain initiatives. ESS’s strong collaboration with our key supply chain partners is critical to ensure flawless execution to our customer’s schedule and quality requirements. As part of these efforts, we sincerely appreciate our suppliers’ participation in this valuable discussion and look forward to further progress next year.”


ABOUT MACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
ESS Manufacturing is a leading provider of complex contract manufacturing services including printed circuit board assembly, electromechanical assembly and full system assembly. ESS provides manufacturing solutions for original equipment manufacturers in the defense and aerospace, medical devices, communications, and industrial markets.  Headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, the company also operates facilities in Barrie, Ontario, and Brampton, Ontario. For further information, visit www.essmanufacturing.com.