EMS@C-LEVEL

The Way We See It: Day One Wrap with EMSNOW's Eric Miscoll and Koh Young's Joel Scutchfield

• Philip Spagnoli Stoten

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Amid the bustling energy of APEX 2025, there's a sense that electronics manufacturing is at a pivotal point. Despite swirling uncertainties about politics, trade, and economic conditions, some companies aren't waiting for perfect clarity—some are moving forward with confidence and purpose.

Reshoring momentum is real. "It's a directive, a mandate for certain customers, certain manufacturers, to get out of China," the panel notes. This shift particularly benefits America's mid-tier EMS companies in the $50-200 million range who can absorb returning production without massive expansion. The long-championed principle of "in-region, for-region" manufacturing is finding even more relevance as companies recognize the risks and inefficiencies of stretched supply chains.

Yet significant challenges remain. The industry faces what some call a "missing generation" in its workforce—plenty of 20-somethings and 50-plus veterans, but noticeably fewer mid-career professionals. Companies are getting creative with talent strategies, though compensation remains central: "Pay $50 an hour, your lobby's full", suggests EMSNOW Publisher Eric Miscoll.

Automation continues advancing rapidly, with AI integration moving at remarkable speed. These technologies may help bridge the talent gap while enabling the American manufacturing renaissance that stakeholders across the political spectrum desire to see.

Whether you're navigating reshoring decisions, addressing workforce challenges, or exploring automation opportunities, this insider perspective offers valuable insights for your manufacturing strategy. 

EMS@C-Level Live at APEX is sponsored by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Creative Electron (https://creativeelectron.com)

EMS@C-Level is hosted by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Global Electronics Association (https://www.electronics.org)

You can see video versions of all of the EMS@C-Level pods on our YouTube playlist.

Day One Impressions at Apex 2025

Philip Stoten

Hello , I'm Philip Stoughton . I'm at Apex 2025 and we are at the end of day one of a busy , busy show . I am joined by Eric Miskell and Joel Skutchfield . Guys , thanks for joining me . It's been busy here , it's been busy everywhere . You happy with what you've seen today ?

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

I am , I'm very happy . Actually , it's been very busy and , uh , I just had that verified by a couple of different folks that uh have been here most of the day and have actually also also walked the show . So , yeah , that's , uh , that's why we're here , right it's good .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

Yeah , just just that , people . I just I didn't want you to take my advice . Don't take my word for it . It's been verified , Just that people as I say , is that what you just implied there , I didn't want you to take my advice .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

Don't take my word for it . It's been verified by multiples . But yeah . I checked with the girls just a few minutes ago . I think we're already over 200 scans .

Philip Stoten

That's pretty good From what I've seen it's pretty high-quality stuff .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

We had a discussion about not just grabbing anything and everything to make numbers . Let's try to make sure we're being judicious . So I feel pretty good about it and just from the people I've talked to and I've met today , all very positive .

Philip Stoten

That's what we like to hear .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

And a good amount of near-term real activity . Yeah , so you know , with all this stuff going on and talk and waiting , and there's there's activity , there's activity , I think there's people that have basically said you know it's going to be what it's going to

Reshoring and US Manufacturing Renaissance

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

be .

Philip Stoten

Let's yeah , let's go let's get on with it . Let's get on with it , and that's what I've been hearing .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

I've I've gotten away from the booth for a bit and everybody's been . It's the same thing good activity , a lot of ems . They're thankful that , because of the event yesterday , the executive ems leadership yeah uh that a lot of them kind of hang around that first day yeah and they're out here . So there were quite a bit people , very even some oems , yeah right out there , and I think that people I talked to are saying the same thing and it looks busy wherever you walk in that hall .

Philip Stoten

That's , yeah , that's what we want yeah that's a good sign yeah , I think you know . I think it's interesting where we've got this very complex dynamic going on at the moment . We're not quite sure what's happening with politics and trade . We're not quite sure what's happening with the economy , you know I'm laughing , yeah , because we've had this conversation before .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

It's , uh , one of your , one of your , uh comrades . Uh , several years ago I was going through a litany of excuses , yeah , and and he looks at me , says when have we not , yeah , had something to deal with ?

Philip Stoten

And I said you know what You're right ?

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

And I think that kind of changed my outlook a bit . But you're right , it's real and it's real in the minds of a lot of people and that's all that matters . Perception can be reality .

Philip Stoten

But I think here in the US there's enough optimism . There are plenty of companies that are doing really well . Actually and I heard you saying it on one of the interviews today I really like where the middle tier are those kind of $50 million to $200 million EMS companies . They have got a solid business model that works , doesn't fill the bumps too hard and most of them don't aspire to be tier one , right they ?

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

they love their spot , they know it's two ones pretty hard work that well , that's a whole different industry yeah , for sure but I have

Regionalization and In-Region Production

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

a feeling , you know , they move , may move closer to it as a result of some of this near shoring reshoring , because they seem to be the best position to take on that kind of work . I talked to a couple of folks just in the last couple of hours that are looking at a significant amount of work coming back from China that they're positioned to be able to take and without mass expansion and brick and mortar , so I think they could be the recipient of whatever windfall is created .

Philip Stoten

It's good that you mentioned nearshoring , because I think there is certainly this impetus we're in at the moment with respect to trade . If you're manufacturing here you don't have to worry about . It gives a little bit more impetus to , to reassuring and the potential of a us manufacturing renaissance , which I think , regardless of what your political complexion is , that's what everybody wants . Everybody wants to see that . Do you ? Do you think that is more about stuff coming back or do you think it's more about stuff actually not leaving when the volumes start to get a bit bigger ?

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

That's interesting . What do ?

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

you think ? Well , a little of both . I don't think there's any doubt that there is a what's the right word for it here . It's a directive , a mandate for certain customers , certain manufacturers , to get out of China .

Philip Stoten

If you're not building for China as quickly as you can and don't make it there .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

Yeah , so that's real , that's real , and so that will certainly bring back somewhere , whether it's here , whether it's Mexico , whether it's India , other parts of Southeast Asia . But again , yeah , the same rule applies . In the old days it was okay . This is basically now , after about what ? 2000 , 2001, . We become an NPI center to a degree , right , all the engineering is here and then boom , send it to China , send it to Asia . But I think more of that will stay too .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

You know , I'm still a proponent of regionalization in-region , for-region . It's always the most sensible model for this industry right .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

Regardless of volume right .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

It makes no sense if you're consuming it here , with all the concern about supply chains and sustainability and all that . If it's a billion cell phones needed in the US market , build them in the US . The desire to ship them and put on the risk and bring it overseas . I think is diminished .

Philip Stoten

Yeah , I agree with you , because it's a different world now , I agree with you there , and when you think about that regionalization , you think about that from a

Talent Challenges and Automation Solutions

Philip Stoten

US perspective and you think about some kind of renaissance . It kind of brings up two of the topics that have come up constantly today , and that is talent and how to manage , retain , train , develop , create a structure for talent where you actually understand how that works and how you get the culture . And secondly , the automation question how do we manage with the talent we've got or with less numbers , to grow those businesses ? So you know , much as we can retain talent , we're all fishing in the same pond and that pond isn't getting any bigger .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

So I think those are two big issues , are they ?

Philip Stoten

issues you've been talking to people about today already .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

Eric . Well , the talent issues come up . Automation just seems we're at apex . Automation is everywhere .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

And AI is just going to fuel that even further , and it's just going to fuel it even further , but the talent is real .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

I still think there's plenty of people . So it's not that all of a sudden we've wiped out half the population and we're suffering . That's not it . It's the appeal of it . And I've said pay 50 bucks an hour , your lobby's full , so it's a margin issue for the industry right , More so than anything else . That's the challenge , but automation is the answer to that in most cases and attracting younger people , and I think people are doing some really creative , good things to make this industry . I don't want to call it sexy , but more appealing .

Philip Stoten

I kind of noticed that some bit , and I was talking to someone about this earlier , about talent . It's almost like we skipped a generation . There seems to be quite a few 20-somethings around and low 30-somethings . There are plenty of 50-somethings and 60-somethings and even more , but we just seem to have missed that , that middle piece . Yeah that middle piece of the the missing generation . Yeah , that just weren't interested and maybe we just didn't have jobs to offer them .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

I've been in this sales world for a long time and working with sales channels , rep organizations and watching that group get older and older like myself and getting closer to retirement and all of us asking and wondering who's next , who's going to take over ? How can we sustain this ? But we had our sales channels team , our reps team ,

AI Integration and Industry Evolution

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

who are all younger , yeah , again ready to go , excited , yeah , and I thought you know that's great , that is great .

Philip Stoten

and all it tells me is those owners are getting ready to yeah , getting ready to get ready to exit , but at least they had at least a have , a succession , and they found you know what I would consider to be , you know , relatively young , energetic people to uh , yeah , to carry on and that's what .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

But you also need that because the people that are across the table from them are going to be that generation and I was that guy one time too right , believe it or not , I was young once , and that's it we have to make sure there's the vulcan mind meld in there somewhere where it's passed along .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

Now , some of that . I think about my quoting right Quoting especially an EMS company that was a closely held secret how they did that . Now we have the quoting software which is ubiquitous in the industry , right . So it's almost that some of those secret the gamesmanship has been flattened out . I'm sure you can tweak it a bit . I'm not an expert on the software , but you know . So there's some advancement .

Philip Stoten

There's some software automation , more openness , exactly .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

Transparency in the industry . There's change and probably some AI in there somewhere too right , I hear a little bit yeah .

Philip Stoten

Just ahead , just ahead , I mean they used to do .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

What was it ? The old trick on the spreadsheets is you put it to the third decimal point , right , because most just reflect two . But if it's two , four , four , right , how does that round ? People made a lot of money in the industry on that third decimal point right .

Philip Stoten

Well , that past price variation is pretty important to the MS industry , especially when you get into tier one and that high volume , exactly right . Without it it didn't exist , no , no , especially when you get into tier one .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

And that high volume , exactly right , it's super sensitive . Without it it didn't exist .

Philip Stoten

No , no , it absolutely makes all the difference . So yeah , AI is obviously a bit of an elephant in the room . You've seen it in lots of places at the show . There's lots going on . We'll be talking about it on every panel , every interview we do for the coming months

Looking Forward to Day Two

Philip Stoten

.

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

It's the new buzzword to replace Smart Factory . Right , I'm excited by the speed it's moving .

Philip Stoten

Yeah , I mean certainly in the way I use it as a consumer rather than in the industry . But actually I am certain that we'll have real game changing between now and the next Apex .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

Oh , yeah , it's happening quick so I've been challenging some of the ai guys away from the booth telling them that the solution on one handle is the loading of an airplane the most efficient way . I think ai there's a , there's a problem that screams for it .

Philip Stoten

Right , just start in the back it makes sense to load back first , but the people at the back have paid the least and the people that paid the most want to get on first because they want the overhead space . Yeah , that's it right maybe the door should be at the back maybe it's maybe the airplanes yeah , yeah , they used to , so and then some blew out , and so we went .

Eric Miscoll, Publisher of EMSNOW

You know they minimize that , but there you go .

Philip Stoten

Yeah , there's always a problem to be solved absolutely , absolutely , and you're the people to solve it . Thanks very much for talking to me absolute pleasure . I hope you have a great day tomorrow at the show . So we'll chat again soon sounds good .

Joel Scutchfield, GM of Koh Young America

Look forward to it .

Philip Stoten

Thank you .