Succeeding in today's extremely competitive promotional toy industry requires much more than creative concept development Winning in this market which follows short seasonal cycles often with tie-ins to popular movies and television shows also Learn more

IEN What are the major concerns facing providers of assembly technology and related products and services in the next few years? How can they be addressed?Earley A major challenge facing providers of assembly technology is to increase efficiencies Learn more

IEN How much progress do you see toward tying together design with the overall enterprise (manufacturing front office back office and all aspects of logistics)? What major hurdles remain? Does the Internet continue to increase its presence in Learn more

IEN What are the major concerns facing the design/OEM sector in the next few years?Ping Fu: The biggest concern is how to differentiate your products in a saturated market where everything is becoming a commodity Customers have an increasing Learn more

The race to the marketplace the drive to distinguish products and the battle against commoditization continues to keep the design sector on its toes."The biggest concern is how to differentiate your products in a saturated market where everything Learn more

IEN How can manufacturers who employ traditional low-tech packaging methods convert to more advanced assembly technology?Earley: Many small and mid-size consumer goods manufacturers continue to employ low-tech and often manual packaging methods Learn more