How EMS Companies Can Stay Competitive in a Feast-or-Famine Market

If you run an EMS company, you’ve probably felt it: you’re either booked solid and turning away work, or you’re scrambling to keep machines running. There’s very little in between right now. That’s not just bad luck — it's the state of the market.

Tariffs could change the balance again. Maybe they’ll help domestic players. Maybe they’ll just add more unpredictability. But no one should be banking on external forces to make them competitive. The best companies are building moats now and always.

Stop Chasing Parity

The big mistake EMS companies keep making? Chasing parity. Too many are looking sideways at their peers and trying to match capabilities. Faster pick-and-place. More certifications. Newer AOI. That’s not how you stand out. That’s just how you keep up.

The hard truth: your customer expects the basics.

They assume you have good machines. They assume you can hit IPC standards. They assume you know how to place a 01005. Those things don’t win business — they just get you eliminated if you don't have them and keep you in the game if you do have them.

What does win?

Differentiation. Not in what you have, but how you use it.

• Are you better at loading your SMT lines so you get lower changeover?
• Do you have a real system to catch defects early instead of after final assembly?
• Is your purchasing team locking in long-lead parts before the customer even notices the risk?
• Do you treat supply chain as a competitive weapon — or a cost center?
• Are you able to maintain significantly lower labor costs without sacrificing flexibility, turn time, or quality?

These are process-level advantages. They don’t show up in an equipment list, but they show up when customers start noticing you can do more, faster, with fewer headaches.

The Pyramid: Foundational → Core → Strategic

Think of your business like a pyramid:

• Strategic Differentiators are what set you apart — your responsiveness, your ability to solve design-for-manufacturing issues, your supply chain intelligence, your customer-facing tools.
• Core is what they expect — ISO certifications, working equipment, trained operators, certified inspectors. You can’t compete without it, but it doesn’t win you the job.
• Foundational is stuff customers don’t care about — IT systems, HR, accounting. You need it, but it’s invisible to the customer.

Foundational keeps you legal. Core keeps you in the game. Strategic is where you win. That’s where you should be focusing your energy, your budget, and your marketing.

So don’t just post another picture of your new reflow oven.
Show the process you’ve built that turns that oven into a competitive advantage.