Blog
The symbiotic relationship between advanced manufacturing and people
Flex companies
We continually enhance our advanced manufacturing capabilities by investing in a focused portfolio of Industry 4.0 technologies, including simulation, automation, robotics, digitization, and additive manufacturing.
Along with our trusted supply chain network, these capabilities fuel our flexible, global manufacturing and increase efficiency and quality. Together, we sustainably create products that improve the world.
We optimize our flexible manufacturing models to meet your time-to-market, resiliency, and end-market requirements.
We leverage our sustainable supply chain network, domain expertise, scale, and talented employees to fulfill your manufacturing requirements, regardless of complexity, region, or market.
And we deliver maximum value with disciplined execution to ensure the highest quality and efficiency. Together we can create products that improve the world.
Industry 4.0 is the manufacturing movement that’s changing everything through unparalleled machine intelligence and connectivity. See how our advanced manufacturing investments are driving rapid progress in this field.
You have unique manufacturing requirements, and we have the flexible, fast, and resilient models to help you achieve your manufacturing and business goals. Explore the capabilities we offer to ensure success through all stages of the product lifecycle.
Our manufacturing expertise and know-how deliver the highest quality and efficiency for our customers. Learn how we are always striving to create more reliable and repeatable manufacturing processes for you.
We continually invest in a focused portfolio of advanced manufacturing capabilities and technologies, including automation and robotics, digitization, simulation, and additive manufacturing. These investments provides you with greater efficiency, quality, and sustainability. We also integrate smart automation into existing equipment and factories to optimize production and reduce downtime. And with a full suite of in-house services, we help you design, build, and deliver industry-leading, customized products.
Whether you need to reduce time-to-market, ramp and scale complex manufacturing processes, improve yields, or streamline prototyping, we can help you realize your manufacturing goals.
As a testament to our commitment to manufacturing excellence and strategic investments in Industry 4.0 technologies, two Flex factories are now part of the World Economic Forum’s prestigious Global Lighthouse Network.
See how our sites in Althofen and Sorocaba are leading the way for the manufacturing industry’s transformation.
Take advantage of our deep expertise in automation and robotics to optimize the production of your products. We’ve integrated these smart technologies into our factories around the world to increase quality and efficiency.
On our factory floors, we’ve automated repetitive tasks, as well as tasks that are difficult for humans due to physical constraints. The use of robotics in tight spots, for example, has become increasingly popular as the market for miniaturized electronics has grown. While some robots perform independent tasks, many robots, known as cobots, collaborate with humans to complete their work.
We’re fully invested in full stack smart automation processes, which allow us to migrate and automate most of the operations work needed for applications, middleware, hardware, and data-center infrastructure. This means we can quickly provide you with a customized, automated manufacturing line.
In addition, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics alert us before machines need maintenance, which reduces downtime and increases throughput on our factory lines. And it’s all based on leading Industry 4.0 technologies and capabilities.
When it comes to speeding your time-to-market, lowering risk, and improving efficiencies, insights are everything. That’s where digital manufacturing comes in.
From sensors to internet-of-things (IoT) platforms like iENBL, and data management solutions that incorporate advanced analytics, machine learning, and failure analysis, our capabilities and expertise span the entire digital manufacturing ecosystem. We’re continuously gathering data using connected cells that stack up to a closed-loop system for improved manufacturing performance.
Our deep knowledge of sensors, connectivity solutions, and cloud and edge computing give you the visibility and agility of smart automation. We work to monitor machine health, identify process improvements, and increase safety so you can reduce downtime and fuel data-driven decision making for your business.
Get a complete picture of smart, digital factory operations through 13 industrial sensors that measure vibration, humidity, temperature, and pressure, as well as video, optics, and much more.
With dedicated research efforts that define rulesets for new automation developments, we’re constantly exploring new ways of sensing and improving automation. We can also process, enrich, connect, compute, and store data through gateways, extract transform load (ETL) processes, extensive connectivity knowledge, access to cloud technologies, and artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities.
When building new products, or introducing changes to existing products, companies can speed time to market and identify potential issues by using simulation to visualize the production process and product lifecycle. We’ve integrated our simulation expertise across every facet of our organization to drive throughput, optimize processes, and increase efficiency.
We’ve incorporated advanced simulation and modeling techniques across our factories, accelerating time-to-market, improving yields, and reducing cost and waste. Through an integrated approach to digitally testing production lines, products and more, we can make sure the right designs, equipment, and processes are in place without affecting time, resources, or capital in the real world.
We can help you visualize the steps taken in your product lifecycle, including how it’s made, how it works, and where it can be improved. We then take those results and optimize your entire process using discrete event simulation practices.
No matter what stage your product is in, our team can simulate the best path forward. We can help you imagine how the assembly line will work — in any situation. Whether you’re setting up a line for the first time, optimizing an existing line, preparing for an increase in demand, or transitioning a line to your next-generation product, we can simulate the best decisions, every time.
With years of simulation experience, we’ve created best practices, not only in advanced simulation, but also in standard procedures and practices for every step along the way. From requesting to reporting, our advanced simulation capabilities allow our customers to relax. We put the effort into building the models — our customers benefit from the insightful, outcome-based results.
Our strategic investments have allowed us to use and implement advanced simulation and statistical software that enable highly complex simulations. Our team is focused on designing and formulating powerful mathematical models and algorithms to solve the most complicated problems in manufacturing environments — and then using those models to set up highly efficient processes.
Our real-time advanced simulation capability speeds product startup, improves yields, and reduces ramp costs via digital twins of factory operations.
Additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, optimizes your designs for better functionality, product customization, and parts and cost management. With the ability to make parts on demand, you can reduce lead times and minimize excess inventory.
It’s easy to get started. We offer technical and application support at any stage of the product lifecycle. This includes feasibility studies to qualify technologies and determine what’s best for you.
In each region, we provide a full suite of in-house industrial additive manufacturing technologies, including state-of-the-art software, hardware, and materials. We can help you visualize your products with concept models, create rapid prototypes to shorten product development cycles, and make end-use parts to simplify your supply chain. In addition, our 3D printing solutions go beyond traditional subtractive processes and can render very intricate geometries.
By using additive manufacturing, we can help integrate your designs more quickly, reduce development time, and shorten lead times for components — all in support of your high-mix, low-volume production needs.
You need a partner who can help you go from design, to ramp, to scale as efficiently and sustainably as possible. With over 50 years of experience, our teams bring deep manufacturing expertise and know-how. And with sites in over 30 countries, we offer both in-region and global manufacturing capabilities, delivering unmatched services and scale to meet your end requirements.
As your trusted partner, we have the flexibility to provide support across your entire product lifecycle, including expert design collaboration, robust testing, advanced assembly capabilities, and more. For you, that means new levels of resiliency for a competitive edge, no matter the volume, scale, or complexity of your products.
You have unique manufacturing requirements. Our flexible, fast, and resilient models help you achieve your manufacturing and business goals — no matter how complex your products.
To accomplish this, we leverage world-class advanced manufacturing methodologies, tools, and expertise. Plus, our Design for Excellence (DfX) services ensure a seamless and optimized transition from design to the factory.
What does the future hold?
We outline your technology needs as aligned to a 3–5 year industry trajectory. We develop and standardize assembly processes, then deploy them in factories around the world.
Before parts roll down the assembly lines, we collaborate with you to identify key design adjustments to prevent delays and optimize the manufacturing process.
The latest functionality in the tiniest form possible — that’s the core of our advanced manufacturing and engineering capabilities, which include simulation, miniaturization, microelectronics, and advanced mechanicals. You can also take advantage of our deep domain knowledge of material science for high-quality machining, tooling, molding, assembly, finishing, and more.
We can make sure product development goes off without a hitch — even without a prototype — using simulation and time studies. And since failure is not an option, we help ensure your product stands up to any possible scenario or condition with our reliability and failure analysis capabilities. We bring our advanced engineering knowledge to PCBA testing and assembly, constantly improving the efficiency of our processes through extensive digital manufacturing insights across our sites.
Where does design end and manufacturing begin?
Where excellence meets your end goals. We can help you get there faster and with less risk with the support of our full suite of design engineering services to take your idea from protype to product.
You don’t have to compromise when it comes to cost, quality, and time-to-market. Tap into our expertise in complex machining, including metal forming, plastics, and tooling.
See how our mechanical design, engineering, and manufacturing operations provide superior quality.
We have the extensive advanced manufacturing experience and proprietary process methodology to meet your quality, performance, and speed targets for next-generation PCBAs.
From product design, tooling, and assembly to packaging and logistics, we can support you through any stage of the product lifecycle with our expertise in complex injection molding and mold fabrication, including for precision plastics.
Our manufacturing expertise, disciplined execution, Agile operations, and Lean principles ensure the highest quality and efficiency for our customers. We have a culture of continuous improvement and regulatory compliance across our global manufacturing sites. We develop products using a worldwide ISO-certified quality management system. We also regularly conduct Kaizen workshops both internally and externally, with customers and suppliers, in all regions.
No matter the regulatory requirements in your industry, we provide the manufacturing experience, systems, and processes needed to help you confidently maintain compliance while upholding the highest quality and safety standards.
In a culture of continuous improvement, there’s no end point to optimization, as it’s a journey and not a destination. For us, that means we strive to seek a better way, move fast, and always do the right thing — all in service of creating more reliable and repeatable manufacturing processes for you.
When you partner with us, you can have confidence in maximum levels of quality and efficiency as we drive excellence through Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing.
By eliminating waste in our processes, we’re always moving faster according to Lean principles. But we also make sure faster does not mean rushed by using Six Sigma to drive data-driven decision making and process improvement toward a reduction in variation.
Plus, our learnings are yours — we make sure the knowledge transfers through customer workshops that build more trustworthy partnerships.
For us, quality manufacturing isn’t just a vision. Measuring is believing, so we benchmark progress on a monthly basis using our Continuous Improvement Maturity Tracker, which measures Lean Six Sigma engagement in our organization across 19 elements in 7 categories.
Additionally, our efforts to continuously optimize our manufacturing models enjoy robust support from our Global Business Excellence (GBE) and Quality organizations. GBE supports 100+ sites worldwide, applying our Lean Six Sigma Agile methodology across all the industries we serve.
These are the goals driven by our Kaizen to Business Needs workshops. We’ve set quality targets for productivity improvement, inventory reduction, lead time reduction, scrap elimination, and defects elimination.
And because people are our most valuable asset, we regularly hold internal Kaizen workshops to equip our teams with the resources and tools they need to reach those targets — and then set even higher ones.
Staying Lean means amplifying value-added activities so manufacturing operations can move faster and produce less waste. For example, why automate what’s not useful? Using proven Lean tools, we can identify and reduce the number of non-value-added activities so you can maximize the value and effectiveness of Industry 4.0 technologies.
Through best practice sharing, industry benchmarking, and a global Lean Six Sigma competition with more than 300 participating teams, we make sure we are advancing the latest in efficiency and mistake proofing.
We deploy systematic process improvements at our ISO-certified manufacturing facilities using Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodologies to reduce variation, eliminate scrap and rework, and implement process control.
For regulated industries like healthcare and automotive, you can have confidence in our compliance in product creation and scaling. We have also made impressive progress on our Quality 4.0 implementation, putting us on par with fewer than 30% of companies worldwide that have taken this leap. Our Quality 4.0 program is built on a strong foundation of our quality management system across multiple standards.
We leave no stone unturned in our continuous improvement journey. That means suppliers and customers are vital contributors in our end-to-end process. We’re constantly engaging both parties to deliver the highest quality products and reduce manufacturing cost through improved efficiency.
We start by choosing the right partners through our Preferred Supplier Program, which helps us select suppliers that meet or exceed our quality and cost standards (among other factors).
And ask any Flex employee — internal team involvement spans all levels of our culture of continuous improvement.
