Workstation planning and assembly cost estimation in contract manufacturing

How a simple equation replaced time studies for staffing, costing decisions

By Harry Kao and James Wang

If you run a contract electronics manufacturing (CEM) plant, you know the drill. A customer sends over a new product drawing and asks for a quote by Friday. The product has a total of 85 different components. How many assembly workstations will be needed? What will each unit cost to assemble? And can you meet the customer’s target price?


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