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Solectron headquarters in Milpitas

Solectron Corporation was a global electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It pioneered the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry in 1977 and was a leader in the field. Solectron's first customer designed and distributed an electronic controller for solar energy equipment, hence the name — "Solectron" is derived from combining the words "solar" and "electronics".^[3] The company was acquired by Flextronics International, Ltd. on October 15, 2007.

History[link]

Solectron was established in 1977 to provide outsourced manufacturing services to third parties. Solectron founder Roy Kusumoto saw a larger opportunity emerging from the growing number of electronics companies in California's Silicon Valley. There was a need to provide printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) services — handling the manufacturing overflow from OEMs. Solectron recognized, early on, that when high-tech companies created innovative products, they had to produce and deliver those products much more quickly and efficiently than the competition. Solectron saw that its customers — OEMs — needed more than an extra pair of hands to assemble and manufacture printed circuit boards. They needed support along the entire product supply chain, from start to finish.^[3]

During the 1990s, as leading OEMs began to outsource more of their manufacturing functions to stay competitive with the rapidly changing market environment, Solectron’s business grew quickly.^{[citation needed]} Solectron focused on improving assembly capabilities and investing in automation and state-of-the-art process technologies, building a strong foundation for future growth.^{[citation needed]}

Management succession[link]

Koichi (Ko) Nishimura, Ph.D., who served the company as chairman of the board, president and CEO from 1988 until January 2003, played a key role in transforming Solectron from a regional entity into one of the world's largest EMS companies. Solectron won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice — in 1997 and in 1991 — after Nishimura instilled the rigorous certification criteria into the company's corporate culture and strategy. From the beginning, a focus on quality has pervaded every aspect of Solectron's business — in part due to the pioneering efforts of Winston Chen, Ph.D., an early Solectron innovator, and a recognized crusader for manufacturing excellence. Solectron was the first company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for manufacturing twice in the program's history.

Under the guidance of Michael R. Cannon, who was named president and chief executive officer in January 2003, Solectron continued as an industry leader. Formerly, Cannon was president, CEO and a director of Maxtor Corporation, a leading global supplier of hard disk drive storage products and solutions. With Cannon's leadership, Solectron was building on its quality heritage and setting the standard in the EMS industry by implementing Lean Six Sigma operating principles, executing with greater precision and providing integrated supply chain services that deliver the best value to its customers.

From a single manufacturing location in the early days to eventual global manufacturing presence in Asia, Europe and the Americas (approximately 50 sites worldwide), Solectron offered global manufacturing, supply chain management and product life cycle services to the world's leading technology companies.

In 2007, Cannon announced his departure from Solectron to join Dell as their President of Global Operations. Solectron's Chief Financial Officer, Paul Tufano, was named interim CEO while the company searched for a replacement. Flextronics bought Solectron on June 4, 2007 for an estimated US$3.6 billion in cash and stock, in a deal Solectron called a merger, but was, in fact, a buyout.

Flextronics takeover[link]

On June 5, 2007, Flextronics International, Ltd., the top Singapore-based contract electronic assembly firm in the U.S., announced its intention to buy Solectron. On October 15, 2007, the eve of the company's 30th anniversary, Solectron was acquired by Flextronics. The deal was concluded at a cost of US$3.6 billion in cash and bonds. Solectron shareholders were offered their choice of either the June 1, 2007 price of the stock or one share of Flextronics stock for every three shares of Solectron stock.

Core businesses[link]

Solectron core businesses consisted of designing, manufacturing products and providing after-sales services for OEMs.^[2]

• Computing and Storage — Mainframe computers, PCs and notebooks, point-of-sale systems, servers, storage systems and workstations.
• Networking — Core and edge routers, core and edge Ethernet switches, DSL and cable broadband equipment, NICs and optical interconnect.
• Telecommunications — Cellular infrastructure equipment, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment, IP PBX, wireless and wireline Broadband infrastructure, optical networking equipment and DSLAMS.
• Markets Automotive — ABS and airbag control modules, car audio and navigation systems, engine and ignition control modules, telematics, HVAC units and body electronics.
• Consumer — Handheld devices (MP3 players, mobile handsets, GPS), video game systems, PDAs, personal video recorders and digital set-top boxes.
• Industrial — Process automation equipment, test and measurement instruments, security systems, semiconductor fabrication equipment controls and handheld instruments.
• Medical — X-ray equipment, ultrasound equipment, fetal monitors, MRI scanners, blood analyzers and surgical robotic systems.
• Field Services — Solectron also holds direct contracts with large companies, providing an end user defect exchange solution for electronic units in the field.
• Aftermarket services — warranty management, parts management and logistics, forward and reverse logistics, fast repair and return, asset recovery and remarketing.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Companies portal
	San Francisco Bay Area portal

• Flextronics Web site
• Solectron Corporate Web site (from The Web Archive)