In 1981, IBM changed the landscape of electronic equipment manufacturing when the company, for the first time in history, decided to outsource its manufacturing operations to a separate, independent company. It was a practical move on part of IBM.

The process has been convenient and depending on where you outsource, the operating costs are cheaper. Thus, this mode of manufacturing of electronic equipment came to be known as electronic manufacturing by contract or electronic contract manufacturing (ECM).

Electronic contract manufacturing allows OEMs to focus on what they do best – designing better electronics. Then, this new piece of technology needs to be mass-produced for consumers, and that’s where ECM companies come in.

This trend of outsourcing manufacturing operations has only been around for a couple of decades and has already made a huge impact in the industry. Especially in these times, when almost everything depends on the use of a computer or a machine.