Investing to upgrade our tool-making
Ryder Industries – In EMS Production, Buy Quality, Reap the Rewards
“Swiss Precision – Chinese Scale” in Action
By Eric Winkler, Chairman, Ryder Industries
Chairman, Eric Winkler at Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) provider, Ryder Industries founded the firm (then SciSys) in Hong Kong in 1979. A Swiss born in Hong Kong, Eric earned his MSc in Physics at ETH Zürich, then spent five years researching condensed-state physics, before entering the electronics business. Now with EMS facilities in mainland China, as well as Hong Kong, the company's maxim, “Swiss precision – Chinese scale” stems from Eric's personal commitment to the highest standards of corporate and engineering integrity and quality – allied to the scale and efficiency of China's supply chain and driven forward by the continual innovation of Ryder's teams. To develop his understanding of both the market and the business, Eric has always spent a good deal of time talking direct to customers, listening to their needs, pain points and feedback, as well as to Ryder's people, to benefit from their frontline perspective.
“As part of our continuous improvement programme,” Eric tells us, “We have been making substantial investments to upgrade our tool-making shop, fabricating the moulds for our ever-growing plastic injection facility. While we have traditionally sub-contracted out the majority of our tool-making, the last few years have seen a growing desire to bring this back in-house, in the pursuit of better and more precise designs, as well as faster turnaround.”
Touring the EMS production facilities with MJ Choong, Ryder's Vice President of Quality & Operational Excellence, Eric was surprised to discover that the company's two most prized recent acquisitions were a pair of Swiss machines! Surprised because Swiss machines are, pound for pound, among the world's most expensive – neck and neck with Japanese plant, and even more expensive than German machines. At the same time, the Chinese manufacturing environment is perhaps traditionally thought of as quick to recognise and minimise costs, and to be skeptical about promises of performance (“buy cheap, then figure out your way through somehow” being a typical approach).
Switzerland, meanwhile is expensive, as any visitor will tell you. Salaries are among the highest in Europe (excepting city-state, Luxembourg and its financial services industry), so Switzerland can only survive by selling expensive goods and services – and for that to work, they have to be exceptional. Hence, Swiss precision! Yes – watches, chocolates and the Matterhorn only make up a small proportion of Swiss GDP.
“And yet,” Eric recounts, “Here was MJ, enthusiastically explaining to me how these top-quality pieces of equipment were actually proving more profitable than their predecessors!” The machines in question – Mikron MILL E 800 Vertical Machining Centers – came from Swiss-based GF Machining Solutions, part of Georg Fischer Group and one of the world's leading
providers of milling machines for automating tool, mould and die making, and manufacturing high-value precision parts and components. The company prides itself on high quality, reliable machines that offer a combination of accuracy, consistency and efficiency: “Swissness inside”.
MJ explained the benefits with one qualitative and one quantitative element. From the qualitative perspective, the increased precision meant that tools have been coming out right on the first cut – with no need for iterations to adjust, raising the productivity of the whole tool shop. At the same time, from the quantitative perspective, the machines are so cleverly engineered that they run appreciably faster, increasing throughput again.
“Swiss precision – Chinese scale” once again!
About Ryder Industries
Ryder Industries has deep experience in China manufacturing, with some 40 years of operational history, originally as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and subsequently as an Electronics Manufacturing Service provider (EMS).
As a Swiss-owned company, we are obsessed with quality, process, and efficiency, and we always deliver what we promise.
We work with small and large brands, delivering everything from innovation to volume, from board assembly to complex mechatronics and much more. Our private ownership means we make decisions based on our customers' and the industry's needs. We think long-term.
Ryder Industries offers product introduction, small and medium volumes and, when needed, a gateway to product design, vertical integration, and component sourcing. Because all of our equipment, software, and systems are integrated, our production transitions are seamless, offering complete traceability and transparency back to batch.
Our supply chains are kept simple, giving our customers the flexibility to scale the services to their speed-to-market, time-in-market, and time-in-profit needs.