From a PCB sourcing company to a manufacturer

Since 2018, Starteam has been under CML management and now the – former – sourcing company can announces that the transition was successfully completed in May 2020. During this period Starteam became a German PCB manufacturer in China. CML is currently located in 17 cities globally. Since 2001, the company has been driven by the demanding quality standards of the automotive industry supply chain. Over the past 2 years, CML has invested an abundance of resources into Starteam. CML deployed PCB experts to the factory, investments into machines and USD 2.5 million into a new IT infrastructure, connecting them globally within seconds, which has proven beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, this latest move will kickstart Starteam will accelerate with phase two of its expansion plans. The company believes this growth will bring more opportunities and new markets for CML and Starteam. “With our own factory we are very well positioned in terms of availability of material, flexibility and price competitiveness. Together, we are confident to offer something new to the market, cater to advanced requirements and brings sustainability to every company’s supply chain. In the past, due to technical limitations, CML had a lower percentage of IMS (Aluminum) projects. At Starteam, we have several special machineries (e.g. laser routing) for this kind of product and a team with many years of experience for local and international customers. We plan to grow further in this product segment,” says Daniel Jacob, Managing Director of CML EurAsia, in a press release. The company foresees the trend of moving PCBA manufacturing further to China, especially related to the new generation of e-cars. CML’s business in the Chinese domestic market business has grown annually and it accounted for more than 10% of the company global turnover in 2019. With this growth, the company says it sees more and more opportunities coming in from the North and West of China as well as global customers with local assembly sites. “Together with all our long – term reliable manufacturing partners, customers and teams we will keep growing in the coming years. Starteam is already an important pillar in our organization and will be a very important differentiator for us in future,” says Moritz Hoeft, Managing Director of CML Europe.