Years ago, an electronics contract manufacturer (ECM) that built boards for an automation company went out of business. Before closing its doors, the ECM asked if the customer wanted to buy the intellectual property (IP) that was used to make its boards. Why did the automation company, a major global player, allow itself to be put in this position? And what choice did it have than to buy the IP from the ECM?
Unfortunately, IP issues like this aren’t isolated. Here’s another example. At Z-AXIS, we speak with companies that would like to use us as a second source. When we ask them to share their design files, they’re afraid to do so. It wasn’t anything we said or did. Rather, our potential customer’s IP is held by their current ECM. And there’s a risk of upsetting a sole-source supplier like this.
Z-AXIS serves entrepreneurs with back-of-the-napkin sketches, inventors who hold patents, and major multinationals with mature product lines. We also work with companies that have purchased a U.S. patent and need help bringing it life. All ECMs aren’t the same, so pick a partner that lets you keep your IP – and that provides electronics design and manufacturing services all under one roof.