The Right Components

The people behind global manufacturers often go unsung. It’s easy to forget that there’s a whole team responsible for the creation of electronics, and that’s something the people behind global electronics manufacturer Suzhou Etron Technologies want to change.

“The creative value we provide is very important,” James Qian, President of Suzhou Etron Technologies, tells The CEO Magazine. “I think of what we create as high-value products created by high-value people.”

“Etron offers engineering excellence in addition to best-quality and customer-oriented services globally.”

– Calvin Han

Suzhou Etron Technologies has carved out a market-leading position as an expert in electronics manufacturing, spanning industries such as industrial control, health care, new energy, automotive, AI and telecommunications. Qian is a big advocate of putting the human face of the company forward in the marketplace.

“Whether it’s a CEO of a medical equipment company or a top generalist or a doctor, whether they’re in China or beyond, online or offline, it doesn’t matter. I like to spend my time talking to them. I want our clients to know who we are,” Qian says.

And that goes for Qian’s team as well. Calvin Han is CEO of Overseas Business, and admits people don’t join the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry to become famous.

“A lot of people don’t know us, but we’re moving fast globally. Etron offers engineering excellence in addition to best-quality and customer-oriented services globally,” Han says.

“We want to provide our customers with flexible and customized business development, engineering support and R&D services on a local level, while at the same time trying to make our supply chain more global.”

Post-Pandemic Revival

It comes at a time when the world’s eyes are on the electronics manufacturing sector. The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe shortages of chips, which in turn impacted the manufacture of everything from televisions to cars. The effects are still being felt.

“It gave us time to put a lot of effort into our processes,” Han explains. “We worked with IBM to improve our systems applications and products, and make our operations better.”

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“We are proud to continuously be a supplier partner of choice for Etron. Led by Mr Qian, Etron was one of the earliest customers in China that we engaged with our NPI program, supply chain solution and digital connectivity, which enables real-time inventory inquiry, parts quotation and automated order entry. As a pioneer in the manufacturing industry, we wish its continuous business expansion success in China and globally.” – Tony Ng, Vice President, APAC, DigiKey

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The success of that initiative has left Suzhou Etron Technologies in a buoyant position on the other side of the pandemic.

“I can say very confidently that we have the best system in the EMS industry,” Han reveals. “Since 2019 we’ve opened factories in Vietnam, Mexico and Romania, and we’re still hard at work improving our system, which is the same across all our global sites, even further.”

As President since 2004, Qian has ushered the company through good times and bad. For the moment, his focus is squarely on taking the company to a much higher rung of the global ladder.

“Wisdom-based education and familiarity with Western culture is what we’ve used to do business in the past 20 years,” he points out.

“As we look to the future, we are focusing on our strategic locations, competitive team performance, flexible and customer-oriented services, as well as our engineering excellence. Those are the competitive advantages that differentiate us from other EMS companies.

“We wish to be compared with top-class global EMS companies such as Flex and Jabil, not just considered a local Chinese EMS company.”

Global Ambitions

Suzhou Etron Technologies’s partnerships are a crucial element of Qian’s global ambitions. Distributors such as Digikey and manufacturers such as Texas Instruments give it a robust – and international – partner portfolio, as well as a catalog of 7,000 finished electronic goods and more than 70,000 different components.

“They each have their own advantages that we can leverage,” Qian says. “We work very closely with our suppliers and distributors, and we make sure we’re an important partner to them.

“We value our close connections with the management team of our key suppliers and distributors, and we maintain a very good relationship with them.”

The company also understands how to look after its own. Han’s time at Suzhou Etron Technologies has taken him from a postgraduate of the University of Oxford to the heights of EMS.

“Calvin looks after our company’s global business,” Qian says. “He oversees the build-up of our factories, the sales business development office and the logistics supply chain.

“He is the next generation of our company, and it’s very promising that he could build on our successes and take our business philosophy to the next level.”

“We work very closely with our suppliers and distributors, and we make sure we’re an important partner to them.”

– James Qian

In addition to pride in what the company has achieved already, Han is optimistic about its global future.

“We’ve taken steps to ensure we’re going to be even more of a global company in the years ahead. We’re looking at global business development and global R&D. We’re making our supply chain more global,” Han explains.

“Gradually, we want to make Suzhou Etron Technologies a truly international company, and with our 20 years’ experience dealing with international customers and suppliers, and with our high-level system and machinery support, I’m confident we’ll make it.”

Qian believes good business is good for life. “I’d like to keep the company going for a long time, and for that I need good customers and a good team,” he says.

He’s found this in Han, who’s primed to help lead it to new heights.

“Like James says, it’s about business for life. Making people happy is a great value,” Han says. “Whether it’s our employees, our customers or our suppliers, all of us at Suzhou Etron Technologies have a duty to pour 100 percent effort into that satisfaction.”