Accelerating Technology Innovation: An Interview with Marc Bertino, VP, Industrial Markets, Celestica

Celestica’s Industrial team is excited to participate in Electronica 2024 (booth #A1/127). They are more focused than ever on helping OEMs to overcome the challenges they face when bringing new technologies to market. 

We spoke with Marc Bertino, Vice President of Celestica’s Industrial market segment to get his unique insight on these challenges. Whether it's the next generation of  factory automation, complex industrial electronics or advanced automotive controls, Celestica is helping their customers to accelerate technology innovation. 

What are the most pressing challenges your customers face, and how does Celestica help?

As the main commercial contact  for Celestica’s Industrial customers, my team focuses on a diverse range of market segments. And while our customers’ products differ greatly, the common challenges we address are the need to scale production quickly and drive faster time-to-market.  Many of our customers are regionalizing supply chains to ensure product development and manufacturing is in close proximity to their end markets. With our proven global network and qualified supply base, we help our customers meet in-region production needs or develop a multi-site strategy that enables global fulfillment.

Each market segment we support also has its own set of unique challenges. Industrial automation companies require high-quality, rugged and reliable solutions, and rely on us  for our proven engineering and global and local materials sourcing capability. Building and HVAC controls customers are challenged to develop smart, scalable solutions. Our technology accelerator solutions combined with an agile supply chain, leadership in complex assembly and integration, and mechanical and electrical design expertise help them launch and scale their products with confidence. Automotive companies are focused on the rapid acceleration of vehicle electrification that is driving demand for extended range, reliable performance, and advanced battery management systems. We are well positioned to support these requirements through our electronics manufacturing experience, engineering depth and our certified global network.  

Our test and measurement customers’ ultra-complex products depend on our high-mix, low-volume manufacturing capability, test solutions and product development to speed time to market and build supply chain resilience. And lastly, Data Center Infrastructure customers, representing a microcosm of most of our other markets, are faced with unprecedented expansion driven by AI/ML. As a result, they are accelerating technology deployment by leveraging many of the capabilities we just discussed.

Why do these OEMs partner with Celestica to accelerate technology innovation?
How is Celestica different? 

Celestica’s extensive global network of Centers of Excellence offer a wide range of engineering disciplines to our customers.  They can draw on our proven track record of full product design, depth of engineering expertise and unique technology investments to enhance their product offerings and deliver innovations to market faster and better. 

We also make it easy for our customers to work with us.  We do this by focusing on driving value in specific markets to ensure we have the level of common understanding, consistency, and capability our customers need.  We have also designed our organization to enable streamlined access to engineering support – with a single point of customer contact responsible for navigating the Celestica engineering network to drive the best outcomes for our customers.

This approach, combined with our experience serving diverse OEMs across the globe, enables our customers to reap all the benefits of working with a global tier 1 company, with the personal attention and focus they’d expect from a smaller organization. 

What is the one common challenge that you see coming up across this diverse market set?

Supply Chain Resilience is critical in all markets. As we all know, supply chains are constantly disrupted by numerous factors including  geopolitical conflicts, technological advancements, obsolescence and shortages, and trade disputes. These factors can be a major impact on a company’s ability to meet their commitments. Delays in production and product releases can mean missing delivery dates or worse missing market opportunities. This can jeopardize critical objectives as well as damage a company’s reputation and bottom line.

Celestica has over 30 years of experience in building resilient supply chains for our customers. We specialize in electronics and electromechanical manufacturing. Our approach combines proactive risk management strategies and predictive analytics to mitigate potential disruptions.  

We prioritize supply chain resiliency from the outset, starting with a robust Design for Supply Chain (DfSC) strategy to mitigate risk. By understanding the product requirements, time to market, unique material or technology and key components; we ensure the right supply chain strategy is developed to provide best overall cost and the lowest risk solution. Our dedicated commodity management experts have a deep understanding of the market and risk factors, and develop strategies to ensure security of supply. 

Regionalization is also on the rise as customers seek to protect their supply chains from disruption, meet regional requirements and get to market faster. Celestica has developed Centers of Excellence in our Industrial segment for each of the unique markets we serve. These sites leverage our regionalized supply chain capabilities  supported by global systems and buying power to provide best overall cost and the lowest risk solutions.

Our team also analyzes key risk indicators that could impact the supply chain. We monitor geopolitical, trade, health, environmental, and industrial issues with the potential for global or regional impacts. Supply continuity plans, alternate parts sourcing and obsolescence management are key factors to proactively mitigate risk. Experienced partners like Celestica are prepared to adapt and adjust.

From design to mass production and future product generations, our teams bring global expertise and insight to every stage of the product lifecycle—– so our customers can launch and scale their next product with complete confidence.

To learn more visit, www.celestica.com/industrial-technology