ASEE Conference at WPI
Engineering Education and Practice for the Global Economy
CIS Global Business Strategies
Al Barry
17 Mar 2006
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 2
Agenda
• Introduction to CIS
• The Global Challenge
• Our Response
• A Few Observations
• What this Means for the US
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 3
Introduction to CIS and subsidiaries
• Linear slides• Rack mounting kits
• Heat exchanger parts• Cable management• Keyboard/monitors
• Antennas
• Linear slides• Rack mounting kits
• Heat exchanger parts• Cable management• Keyboard/monitors
• Antennas
• 1,400+ people• US$115 M revenue
• NA HQ Grand Prairie TX• EU HQ, Scotland
• AP HQ, Singapore
• 1,400+ people• US$115 M revenue
• NA HQ Grand Prairie TX• EU HQ, Scotland
• AP HQ, Singapore
• HPQ• IBM
• Powerwave• Sun Microsystems
• Carrier • Whirlpool
• Dell
• HPQ• IBM
• Powerwave• Sun Microsystems
• Carrier • Whirlpool
• Dell
Organization
Customers
Products
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 4
Wuxi, China
Manufacturing
Assembly & Service
Engineering
Singapore
Glasgow, UK
Grand Prairie, TXAPCIS
New products for global markets from Asia Pacific CIS
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 8
The Global Challenge
• Server customers moved their sourcing to Asia with a heavy emphasis on China
• Taiwanese contract manufacturers with Chinese factories became the key suppliers
• US and EU suppliers shrank or went out of business
• CIS was an integrator with a US footprint, the market wanted manufacturers with an AP footprint
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 9
Our Response
• Grow our small Chinese assembly shop into a world class manufacturing facility
• Establish engineering office for new product design and testing
• Develop CIS intellectual property for products
• Build one global company, not three!
• Leverage our business development and service leadership
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 10
A Few Observations
US Engineers and Managers:
• Better creative and problem solving skills
• A culture that values the individual and questioning why
• Every day experience with high quality products and services
• Expectation of high living standard• Economic rewards to pursue other
interests
AP Engineers and Managers:
• Prepared to follow explicit instruction and routine
• A culture that values the group and tradition
• Every day experience with lower quality products and services
• Expectation to achieve a better living standard
• Economic rewards to consume more common goods/services
3/17/2006 ASEE at WPI 11
What this Means for US Businesses
• More value in product design and distribution, less value in product manufacture
• US engineer can manage design, sourcing, quality, and manufacturing engineers world wide
• R&D for products/processes are the key to technical job creation in the US
• These jobs will be fewer than those in product or service supply chains