Philip Stoten enjoys sharing his views on what's new or disruptive in the industry he has spent a career of more than thirty years working in. First and foremost, Stoten likes to write, but he is happy moderating a workshop or interviewing an executive on video. Since Stoten was young, he wanted to be a journalist, but an aptitude for science, the technology boom in Cambridge and his weak performance in English at school, led him into manufacturing, where he worked in design, manufacturing, management and sales and marketing. "You can do anything you want", was the inspiring advice given to Stoten by his entrepreneurial father Paul, an approach that led Philip to start his own design company in Cambridge in his twenties. An approach that led him to switch from technology to journalism in his thirties, publishing his first magazine, going onto launch two others and a communications company. Stoten founded Scoop to help companies in the electronics manufacturing industry plan, produce, deploy and measure content, supporting their brand and their lead generation strategy. He is at his happiest working with clients, exploring their products and markets, and helping create solutions to show their thought leadership and bring their customers to their products. If Stoten weren't working in the electronics manufacturing space, he'd like to be writing about travel or food, two of his greatest passions. He enjoys the travel opportunities his role allows him and the chance to visit some of the world's best restaurants. Of course, he takes his running shoes with him, keen to keep in shape as despite the good food, he likes to fit running the occasional marathon.
Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies, like most manufacturers, are trying to manage though a severe component shortage that’s expected to last well into next year. One European EMS provider, KATEK Group, has implemented several strategies – including a shortage task force – to maintain production levels. Components are just one part of the supply chain…
Every day, the news about tariffs fills the headlines. India retaliates against the perceived slight. China continues on its way, while American manufacturers beg the powers that be to reconsider tariffs on our North American neighbors in Canada and Mexico. When speaking to investors, Forbes dubbed the recent happenings as “Tariff Mania” and offered a…
Since the White House announced its intention to impose tariffs on Mexican imports earlier this week, consumers have been reading the mainstream press to figure out how this might impact consumers. Supply chain professionals meanwhile have been wrestling with how these shifts might impact the global electronics supply chain. The President affirmed the intention on…
The Additive Manufacturers User Group (AMUG 2019) is not your normal trade show. It really is a ‘by the user, for the user’ event, which is great in that those concerned with the sector get to share ideas in a closed environment, but not so great in that it does not really open the technology…
In the surface mount technology (SMT) industry many equipment makers have been focused on what to do with data, how to collect and share it, and how to process it to produce better machine and line performance. Whilst this is important, it is also essential that those equipment makers continue to develop their machines and…
Material shortages often cause more surface mount technology (SMT) line downtime than changeovers. It doesn’t make sense to develop faster changeovers in equipment sets if those lines are stopped due to wrong or insufficient components being available at the line. Line downtime cost millions and with some factories running at close to capacity the impact…
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be the one technology that unleashes the value of the smart factory and the suggested potential of the fourth industrial revolution. But there are many misconceptions of what AI can and can’t do. While it can beat the world’s masters at Chess or Go and outperform specialist diagnosing…
Although robotics play an increasing important role in manual assembly, they have not yet arrived on to surface mount technology (SMT) line in any meaningful way. Perhaps the SMT line is as automated as it can be or perhaps collaborative robots (cobots) are more suited to roles in materials management. In recent years, more robotic…
Many see cloud computing as a key element for smart factory implementation, particularly over multiple factories. Others are concerned by the potential for cyberattack and the risks to intellectual property and manufacturing data. So, what’s the answer? No cloud at all, yes to cloud computing and get the security right, or is perhaps a hybrid…
Barely a day passes without one politician or nation taking a shot at another with trade tariffs. During his keynote at CES in January, Consumer Technology Association (CTA) President and CEO, Gary Shapiro, simplified things when he described tariffs as taxes. So, are they the right tool to correct imbalances in trade or are tariffs…