EMSNOW

In this podcast, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss report on a bonus On Tour meeting with Limtronik's Managing Director, Gerd Ohl in Limburg an der Lahn, Germany. After Dieter provides a brief history of the company, the discussion turns to what makes Limtronik unique. They agreed the early adoption of digitalization and Smart Factory capability brings substantial value to its customers and the business. Further, the collaboration with Videoton has given the two organizations deeper and more comprehensive capabilities in Europe.The conversation covers detailed impressions of Limtronik's 'competency and capacity', which are the two sides of any successful EMS value proposition. Dieter and Eric continue to explore the myriad ways to execute on this basic truth about electronics manufacturing.

EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll and in4ma's Dieter Weiss exchange impressions from in4ma's EMS & PCB Forum 2026 held in Würzburg, Germany. This exclusive event brings together leaders from the EMS, PCB and investment community to learn and network without commercial distractions. The Forum agenda was presented in both English and German and packed with high level strategic content; the podcast discussion provides an overview of the highlights: The Role of Eastern Europe in EMS, Update on Rare Earth Minerals, The European CHIPS Act, Vertical Integration as a Strategic Advantage, Consolidation in the EMS Market, New Business Models; Digitalization Strategies. EMS and PCB companies of all sizes were represented and the presentations were relevant to the entire group. All 200+ attendees stayed engaged right up to the closing remarks.The networking sessions were equally well received and the feedback since the event has been enthusiastic. Without the distractions of sales people and exhibits, the focus was on relationship-building and increased understanding of the data and insights that will propel the industry forward in the 2026 and beyond.

In this very insightful final conversation of in4ma & EMSNOW's On Tour 2026, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss break down the findings from their in-depth interviews of the nine Nordic EMS companies, representing very different management styles and strategies. The discussion begins with an acknowledgement to the sponsors, and some tour metrics which highlight the challenges of this journey, in terms of logistics and expenses. The sponsors enable this research, which is being offered at no charge to the industry through podcasts and reports on EMSNOW.com.Topics include an overview of the market sectors served by these companies; the general mood of the EMS industry in Europe and what is needed for a return to healthy balance sheets; what surprised the two analysts from these conversations, and some realism about growth prospects for Europe. These two seasoned experts share their nuanced impressions and frank opinions about a wide range of topics that directly impact the current state of the global electronics industry, and the place of Europe's EMS industry in it.  Listeners are encouraged to be on the look-out for further reports and updates based on these interviews and the EMS & ODM Global 100 research program.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

In this their final Nordic EMS industry company analysis, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss travelled to Eindhoven, Netherlands, which has become 'the center of the universe' for electronics. Home to ASML - the essential technology provider for semiconductor manufacturing, and Philips, another key Dutch company, Eindhoven is a hub for advanced complex electronics manufacturing. The team met with executives from Neways, which is #62 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list. They met with  Michiel Van Der Maat, Chief Commercial Officer; Claus-Wilhelm Kirchhelle, New Business Development Manager and Freek Deelen,Corporate head of Strategy & Communications.Neways' business model is very much aligned with Eindhoven's advanced complex electronics emphasis. In fact, they prefer that description to 'electronics manufacturing services' -- although they do have classical EMS as part of their service offering. Dieter recounts Neways' history and markets served, which include semiconductor packaging, e.g. thin and thick film technology, which is enjoying something of a renaissance; defense electronics and 'connectivity' - a category that includes agriculture and medical.The conversation hints at trends to be explored in the summary podcast and report to come; Eric explains that each of the companies chosen for this On Tour contribute to the ongoing EMS & ODM Global 100 analysis.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Speaking from Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss their earlier visit to Connect Group in Ieper, Belgium. Connect Group is #77 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list; they met with Jeroen Tuik, CEO; Diëgo Verhaeghe, General Manager, Europe; and Wouter Peene, Operations Manager.As their name would imply, this privately held company started as a cable harness manufacturer, and has since expanded into EMS. Dieter summarizes their acquisition and expansion strategy, including the decision to greenfield a facility in Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S. Market sectors served include automotive and off-road (i.e. agriculture), medical, industrial, infrastructure, railway, and defense. The day of the meeting, the team was celebrating acceptance of an award from Thales Belgium for agility and adaptability, a testament to success in this key market sector.The conversation turns to a very interesting analysis of how the value proposition for EMS in Europe, and elsewhere, has evolved over time. From expertise in equipment and processes to agility in supply chain management, these skillful leaders rise to whatever challenges the electronics industry and the geopolitical environment demand. For now, the focus is on operational excellence to be ready for the next wave of growth.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss report in from Belgium where they discuss their earlier meeting outside of Billund, Denmark with Bo Lybæk, CEO of GPV Group. GPV is #40 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list; the conversation begins with an overview of its aggressive acquisition journey of the past few years, and the current geographical factory footprint. They learn about the current balance of market segments, which is evenly distributed among 'industrial', clean tech, transportation, and measurement and control; this is one EMS in Europe that is not pursuing the defense electronics business.The company is focused on complex, high end assembly. One statistic that stood out for the two analysts was 30% of their programs are less than two years old. They agreed that shorter product life-cycles are unusual for European EMS companies and can be the result of either new customers or increased product development by legacy customers.The team heads to Amsterdam next and then on to Ieper, Belgium and Eindhoven, the Netherlands for the final two EMS visits before traveling to Berlin to wrap this year's tour.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

In a slight departure from the norm for the OnTour visits, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss their visit to tour sponsor Mycronic, which is headquartered in Sweden. They met with CEO Anders Lindqvist and the management team, Göran Frank, head of product management, Thomas Bredin, area sales manager, and Rickard Clark, application engineer. The discussion covers the importance of equipment selection and configuration in executing any manufacturing strategy. For example, using Mycronic's integrated approach is especially effective for low volume/high mix EMS where easy changeover is so critical. The discussion goes into the details of the Mycronic line: stencils to AOI and component storage with the AI driven software to support it.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

The Tour team discusses a visit to Inission Group's EMS business, which is #99 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list; they met with Fredric Grahn, Director of Sales and Marketing for the EMS business. This company has executed on a unique growth strategy of aggressive acquisitions over the past decade as it expands the group's business as a power supply OEM by adding EMS capabilities through 11 facilities located in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, and Tunisia. Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss the implications and results of this approach to growth.The two analysts then go into an explanation for why PCBs are in short supply in the industry right now. This is an underreported phenomenon, getting much less attention than the memory shortage. Dieter explains the reason the PCB manufacturers are switching to different materials for boards used by the data centers, and what that means for the rest of the market sectors. The disruption highlights the need for the industry to support European PCB manufacturers.The podcast ends with a preview of the rest of the Nordic On Tour visits.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources

Reporting again from Stockholm, Eric Miscoll and Dieter Weiss discuss their visit to Scanfil, ranked #46 on the EMS & ODM Global 100 list. Dieter first provides the background on this 50-year old Finnish-headquartered EMS and its CEO Christophe Sut and then the two dig into its unique business. They described what they learned about the lean, empowered local teams running the specialized factories focused on markets: defense, med-tech, clean tech, energy and the catch-all 'industrial' sectors. Each facility has the appropriate certifications and equipment sets.The conversation turns to the overall trends the team is hearing about as they mark the half-way point on this tour. They have visited five out of the nine Nordic EMS companies scheduled and talked with the CEOs of all five. Some common themes are emerging around challenges of material shortages, geographical differences in terms of product life-cycles and customer expectations, and cautious implementation of AI. But what is becoming clear is there is a remarkable diversity in leadership styles and strategic goals. The team agrees, there is not just one right way to run an EMS in 2026. These leaders are all very successful, in spite of, or maybe because of, their different approaches to management.We gratefully acknowledge the following companies who are sponsors of the 2026 in4ma & EMSNOW Tour and research. CalcuQuote: Supply Chain Intelligence for Electronics Manufacturing– Koh Young: Measure Everything, AI EverywhereMycronic: Bringing tomorrow´s electronics to life TrustedParts.com: Genuine electronic components from only authorized sources