Medieval scholars and church officials, arguably the management consultants of their age, cite a list of attitudes to avoid, in an effort to get their clients on track toward a good life. The “Seven Deadly Sins” were first developed by John Cassian in the 5th Century, and then refined by Pope Gregory a hundred years later. This list inspires poets, artists, blog writers and comedians, among others, to this day. A more positive spin on the list, called the “Seven Holy Virtues,” was developed by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius in his epic poem Psychomachia around 410 AD.

Ultimately, the principles of both the Seven Deadly Sins and their heavenly counterparts are intended to provide guidelines to better relationships. Based on our research and experience over the past 20 years in the electronics manufacturing industry, it is my belief the outsourcing relationship as practiced in the 21st Century is fundamentally broken. This is not entirely due to the behaviors and attitudes of those hardworking men and women who practice this noble profession, but it is clear the entire industry is experiencing a seismic shift. Some might even say future generations of electronics manufacturers will look back at this time as the Dark Ages of electronics because of some glaringly irrational behaviors. Hopefully, future generations will not dump electronic waste into landfills of the future six months after purchase as a result of shoddy workmanship, poor design or counterfeit components. As the industry re-engineers itself, I humbly offer to the esteemed readers of Circuits Assembly a series of articles intended to get us back on track to the good life we all would like to deserve.>>More

The first, and arguably most destructive, of the problem behaviors is pride/self-righteousness. Known in Greek drama as hubris, it has led to many an heroic downfall. Our company tracks a wide spectrum of actual electronics manufacturing programs of all sizes in a variety of end-markets. The failures are most instructive. And we have found the root cause of most failures is Superbia, or pride/self-righteousness. More >>

As we repeatedly have noted, the electronics industry has ignored several fundamental tenets of business over the past decade, leading to the current unsustainable situation. It is our contention one of these fundamental errors – or sins, in 16th century terms – is that of Avaritia. When greed takes over the OEM-supplier relationship, it becomes asymmetrical, more akin to a master-slave relationship. More>>

The third of the SALIGIA  traits which make up the Seven Deadly Sins of Outsourcing is “Luxuria” or lust. While the common interpretation focuses on the carnal, in outsourcing it translates to “lavishness,” or lust for power or recognition through insistence on the outward trappings of luxury. More>>

In outsourcing, Envy – or imitation – is neither fun nor useful.

The fourth of the Seven Deadly Sins is one of our favorites. In fact, it was the inspiration for this series of columns. Envy is unique in that it is the only sin that lacks a pleasurable angle. It is in no way fun – just mean-spirited and sad. Envy can be summed up by this quip from H.L. Mencken: “Happiness is making $10/hour more than your brother-in-law.” When you rejoice in another’s misery, you are at the bottom of the barrel. More>>

The fifth deadly sin in our series is that of Gluttony, which typically refers to eating too much food. Because most electronics manufacturers are not in the habit of eating printed circuit boards, how does that translate to outsourcing?

In contrast to the sins of Greed or Avarice, Gluttony focuses on the destructive consequences that occur when we consume blindly without appreciation. It’s the difference between a gourmet who savors and a gourmand who gobbles: The latter seeks quantity, not quality, piggishly exhausting resources and looking around for more. An OEM that believes in unlimited EMS manufacturing capacity, and jumps from one geography to another chasing penny savings in labor costs, is blind to the value of manufacturing. That OEM disregards the decades of tribal knowledge the EMS supplier has acquired, and the complexity of the skills required to build electronics. More>>

The sixth deadly sin is Ira or Wrath.

Anyone who has worked in the corporate world may be familiar with this scenario: Something goes wrong on one side of an OEM-EMS relationship; perhaps it was production quality, or maybe just a miscommunication about an ECO; perhaps a forecast was revised and then revised again, but no one sent the second change to the rest of the supply chain; or a software glitch prevented a payment from going out within the term’s deadline. Humans are the conductors of business, and humans make mistakes. Usually mistakes are fixed, and everybody moves on. But this time the “higher ups” heard about it and a meeting has been called.

Stay with me. Some people at the meeting know what’s happening and others have no idea, adding to the tension in the room. Most people are quietly looking down at their notebooks, scribbling nonsense in an attempt to look busy. Whoever happens to be highest in the pecking order in that particular configuration stands up and starts yelling, red-faced with veins bulging, ensuring more drama and silence. Everyone feels extremely uncomfortable. The emotional demonstration is designed to psychologically beat down the offending party. Whoever made the mistake is silently plotting revenge.

Net result: Productivity for the month among this particular business team plummets. The relationship between the two organizations is damaged. Thoughts such as, Why do I put up with this? enter everyone’s minds, and workers plot exit strategies More>>

Watch for the last article in the September issue of Circuits Assembly magazine.