April 25, 2017
Contact: Neda Simeonova / Communications Director / nsimeonova@era.org
Northern California ERA Members Tour the Jabil Blue Sky Center
Northern California ERA members gathered on April 11, 2017, for the chapter’s monthly meeting, which included a special tour of the Jabil Blue Sky Center in San Jose, Calif.
The event was organized by Don J. Hnatyshin, senior vice president, chief supply chain and procurement officer, and Koti Ancha, supply chain innovation and solutions of Jabil Inc., who did a presentation about Jabil and its operations. The Jabil Blue Sky Center displays some of the world’s cutting-edge technologies such as factory-of-the-future capabilities like automation, as well as product design, intelligent digital supply chain, the Internet of Things and more.
More than 45 people participated in the Jabil Blue Sky Center tour, including four distributor organizations, 12 representative organizations and two manufacturing companies. The tour showcased new technologies being used in manufacturing. Attendees were impressed with the new technology on display, especially the 3D printed plastic and metal parts.
According to Northern California ERA President Dave Gastel, one of the key takeaways from the event was that robots are becoming a major factor in manufacturing.
“Wow! Our world is moving into robotic manufacturing with realtime data transmission, in a very rapid manner,” Gastel said. “We saw the future for electric self-driving cars and how this is changing much of the world.”
The chapter continues to plan networking programs. Visit ncalera.org for upcoming events.
About ERA
The 82-year-old Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is the international trade organization for professional field sales companies in the global electronics industries, manufacturers who go to market through representative firms and global distributors. It is the mission of ERA to support the professional field sales function through programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives, the principals they represent and the distributors who are reps’ partners in local territories. ERA member representative firms (often called “reps”) provide field sales services on an exclusive basis to manufacturers of related (but non-competing) products in a defined territory. For more information about ERA, visit era.org.
About Northern California ERA
The Northern California ERA Chapter is one of the largest in the ERA. Chapter activities encompass education, training and many networking opportunities to interface with reps, distributors and manufacturers to discuss issues and solve problems. Technical and managerial programs are offered as a benefit to member firms. Chapter programs have been recognized by the National Board of the ERA and have resulted in the prestigious Chapter of the Year award on a few occasions. For more information, visit ncalera.org.