Looking Back at 2023
2023 was a year of implementation and consolidation of investments and projects of previous years. Putting plans into action means following up and adjusting afterwards in order to maximise the return on investment in service to our customers and in contribution to operating income.
The 3 major topics were:
- Commissioning of the new assembly plant in Eger, Hungary.
- Reform and expansion of customer service.
- Available through thick and thin for electronics developers
Our European factories in the heart of our market
In early January 2023, we inaugurated our new assembly plant in Eger, Hungary. It took some getting used to for the people working there, but with 3 times more space available than before, everyone quickly found a suitable place and working method.
The investment in the new factory with additional machinery (see report looking forward to 2023) allowed us to grow to an average of 59 assembly jobs per working day in 2023 compared to 44 in 2022. With 25% growth in number of customers and 35% growth in number of orders, this meant that by the end of 2023 we were delivering an average of 70 orders per working day.
For PCB manufacturing and Assembly together, the Eger team has since grown to more than 320 employees bringing the Eurocircuits group total to more than 550 for around €50M in turnover.
Stabilising supplies
The supply in general has normalised in 2023 in terms of delivery but not in terms of cost levels. Almost none of the costs have folded back to pre-2021 levels but have stabilised at higher levels. Especially in terms of inflation on labour and energy costs, this trend is clearly observable while in terms of components, a more relaxed situation has emerged.
Optimal customer support
The Team
We have made great strides towards accessibility and responsiveness. In 2023, we expanded the commercial department and split customer service and sales. Customer service is now a team of about 15 people operating from our assembly plant in Eger, Hungary. Closer to the factory, they are able to answer technical questions adequately faster. Sales are the familiar people with a local presence in several countries who can now concentrate more on caring for their market instead of answering ad hoc urgent questions.
Electronic parts
Our Verified Component Database (VCDB) has grown to more than 450,000 different parts. This makes BOM analysis even faster and easier for our customers, whether they do it themselves or leave it to us. The more relaxed situation regarding parts availability also has a similar effect.
In addition, more efficient management of Eurocircuits stock parts and the increased use of Eurocircuits generic parts by our customers lead to smoother BOM processing, cost reduction for our customers and faster logistics.
Data feedback
Data Feedback is a great tool that is part of the communication with our customers regarding quotes and orders. The topics it describes should naturally grow and improve as it is used. That was one of the main focal points in 2023.
With the customer service team in Eger handling data feedback for orders and local account managers handling feedback for price quotations, we now have more leverage to inform our customers even faster of anomalies or ambiguities in their PCB project data.
Parts Pre-Order
The more relaxed situation in the component market has slightly reduced the need to order critical parts at an early stage.
However, we note that those customers who have discovered the Parts Pre-Order service use it repeatedly and are very satisfied with it, as it gives them the guarantee and thus the peace of mind that these parts will be available when the PCB goes into production.
The Parts Pre-Order service is available and usable for those who want to experience the same comfort.
Commitment to electronics designs through manufacturing in Europe
While series production in Europe last year scored at a lower level than the year before, Eurocircuits, as in the past more than 30 years, has always remained focused on prototypes and small series, both in PCB production and assembly. The result of this described in figures below is therefore very positive because our friends, the electronics developers, have continued to develop. And that is very beneficial for the electronics market as a whole. From development come products and these are generally made in larger series by our European colleagues.
We have also continued to show the same commitment to students and teachers. We still rejoice every day at what these creative people get up to, mostly in their spare time.
You can find all the blogs written by the students teams and students we support on our website under Student Projects.
Thank you
Our loyal customers are the reason for our existence. So we would like to thank them wholeheartedly for their business in 2023. Many thanks to our more than 550 employees and their families, who work hard every day to deliver our services.
2023 in Figures
Overall
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PCB Manufacturing
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PCB Assembly
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* an order can consist of a PCB, a PCB + a stencil or a PCB + assembly or… All items that are ordered together with a PCB are considered as one order.
** a customer is a legal identity buying from us one or multiple items or services per calendar year.
*** Based on 250 working days per calendar year.
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