Harvard Business Review

MARCH 1, 2012

Hospira is an advanced contract manufacturer. The United States pioneered the concept of contract manufacturing organizations in the 1980s when Japan was a fearsome economic power and Western companies were realizing they could no longer rely on the vertically integrated production philosophy that dated to Henry Ford.

Contract Manufacturing 8

Contract Manufacturing Offshoring Incentives Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 10, 2012

A contract manufacturing company that builds products for IT equipment makers, for example, had a dedicated team of speculative market analysts whose active trend monitoring led to a 15 percent return on investment.

CEO 15

CEO 360-Degree Feedback Contract Manufacturing Supply Chain 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 21, 2018

Technologies like additive manufacturing are often making it easier to produce highly tailored products at small scale. Where products still require large scale manufacturing facility, small product vendors can connect much more easily with large scale contract manufacturers and coordinate manufacturing activity at a distance.

Mass Marketing 12

Mass Marketing Technology Contract Manufacturing Creativity 12

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 14, 2016

Last year, networking giant Cisco Systems worked with one of its contract manufacturers in Malaysia to deploy 1,500 energy and temperature sensors on its manufacturing equipment.

Energy 8

Energy Company Supply Chain Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2016

Fortunately, India now boasts a vibrant ecosystem of third party contract manufacturers (CMOs) who produce consumer goods in India for both Indian and global companies. This does not automatically mean companies should be investing large sums in an Indian factory, however.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Marketing Contract Manufacturing Venture Funding 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 11, 2011

Today, with Internet sales, contract manufacturers, and other enablers of this strategy gaining rapid strength, we'll see many more companies turn their backs on partnerships to create new markets on their own.

Contract Manufacturing 10

Contract Manufacturing Licensing Innovation Retail 10

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 23, 2015

Therefore, contract manufacturers that perform 3D printing such as Shapeways generally wait to fill a batch that uses the entire build room. Printing just one part raises unit cost considerably; so economies of scale do matter.

Tacit Knowledge 8

Tacit Knowledge Supply Chain Contract Manufacturing Biotechnology 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The company's contract manufacturer, Colorado-based Vergent Products, will fill orders from value-added resellers and for pilot programs with potential new OEM partners. More than 40 members invested, putting up as little as $10,000 and as much as $500,000 each. Existing investors and new investors contributed another $1 million.

Finance 9

Finance Due Diligence Contract Manufacturing Supply Chain 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 24, 2014

The resulting challenges may include new contract-manufacturing relationships, which can be a complicated and disorienting process for the uninitiated. Operations. When product-based companies add services and connectivity, operational requirements increase.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Company Finance 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 21, 2015

An entrepreneur can rent computing capacity from Amazon Web Services, find skilled designers via eLance, accelerate software development with GitHub, place targeted advertisements on Google or Facebook, and tap into a legion of contract manufacturers.

Innovation 8

Innovation Business Model Learning-by-Doing Contract Manufacturing 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Henry Chasen,* a director at a contract manufacturing company, managed Sean* for more than 15 years. Shy away from giving feedback — instead ask for the perfectionist's advice on how to deliver it. Case Study #1: Find a better job fit. Sean was good at his job but he often rubbed Henry the wrong way.

Management 14

Management Kaplan How To Self-aware 14

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 19, 2012

Nine years ago, when Shammy Khan took a job at a contract manufacturer based in Texas, he knew it wasn't the perfect job for him. By finding other ways to spend time doing what he enjoys most — learning, teaching others, spending time with people — he believes he can boost that up to an 8 or 9.

Learning-by-Doing 16

Learning-by-Doing Delegation Case Study Organizational Behavior 16

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Jabil, the giant contract manufacturer, has been buying up numerous printers and integrating them into its sophisticated supply-chain software platform. Pan-industrials could eventually create dominant ecosystems based on their integration platforms.

Supply Chain 9

Supply Chain Contract Manufacturing Learning Curve Software 9