Resource Category: Company news

Editors Note: Serena Ross has now returned to work. The following is preserved for historical purposes.

With Circuitwise CEO Serena Ross on maternity leave until April 2021, the company has appointed an experienced electronics manufacturing executive from Canada as acting CEO in her absence.

Duncan Reed previously had 20 years on experience in electronics manufacturing with a variety of roles at Creation Technologies. Creation is one of the most successful electronics manufacturing companies in the world with over 3000 people working in nine manufacturing locations across four countries.

Duncan was part of the executive team that saw Creation grow from humble beginnings when he joined the company in 1999 to a business operating at over US$500 million revenue by the time he left in 2019.

During his career at Creation, Duncan managed the launch of several new manufacturing sites, managing over 300 people at each, and was responsible for process engineering, capital equipment strategy, business growth and more. He rose through the ranks to become Executive Vice President responsible for 3 manufacturing sites across North America.

Serena chose Duncan as he had already been providing advice to Circuitwise on strategic direction and development of its team.

“A year or so ago, I came across Duncan’s name. I admired Creation Technologies for their spectacular growth from a small manufacturing firm to a global player competing with the biggest and the best,” Serena said.

“I reached out on social media, not expecting much. I was stunned to find that not only was Duncan willing to talk, he just happened to be sitting on Bondi Beach at that very moment – his first-ever visit to Australia!

“A few hours later, we met up and he quickly agreed to help with everything from reshaping my team to the strategic development of the business.”

With Duncan exiting quarantine and joining the company today, we took the opportunity to ask some questions to help Circuitwise customers get to know him better.

Q: How have you been working with Circuitwise up to now?

To date, I have been part of the leadership team and a resource to Serena to help with team development, organisational structure and providing advice around core business processes.

I’ve been working with people in senior roles, including the team leaders in quality, engineering, accounting, sales, production, and supply chain. I’ve been helping them to understand what it means to be part of the leadership team.

My focus has been less on their specific responsibilities and more on what is required to build a strong organization which is healthy and a rewarding place to work. We are ensuring that everyone is trained in the fundamentals of the business, from financials to customer relationships. We want everyone to truly work as a team and have a high degree of trust in each other.

Everyone is excited about the changes we are making. At each meeting of the leadership team we start with a good news roundtable, so people can begin to see what others are doing and recognising the contribution others are making to our overall success. When you share good things others are inspired by that.

Q: Describe your acting CEO role at Circuitwise. What do you expect to be doing on a day-to-day basis?

I am here to help. I want to be a resource to the team rather than dictating what needs to be done. I am looking to unblock anything that is hindering people from doing their role, empowering people to make the right decisions. Specifically, I will be helping the leadership team put a strong playbook together about what they want to achieve in the next year.

My main focus will be on customers. I will take the opportunity of being resident in Australia to get to know our customers better. I will also help each member of our leadership team better understand how to delight customers.

My goal is to continue what Serena has started and make sure things run seamlessly while she enjoys family time with her husband and new daughter. We will be briefly chatting daily and I will keep her informed, but I want her to not worry about what is going on at work and to come back refreshed.

Q: What is your biggest strength? What differences do you think you will make in your time at Circuitwise?

I love strong teams and am looking forward to helping an already strong team be more than the sum of its parts. The best way to grow a company is to help the team to unleash its potential.

About 20 years ago I was part of a team that grew a business unit from 30 to 300 people over 3 years, with a tenfold growth in revenue. Although I was leading a team of talented people we did not collaborate well. I realised I could not sustain that.

I remember having to hire a new person and thinking that I really needed to hire someone who could do my job better than me. I did that, and for the next few hires as well. I started to respect the people reporting to me and getting them involved in my strategic decision making.

That was the start of my journey on team building. Over the next several years later, we started learning together, having offsite development meetings and yearly leadership summits. It turned out to be a much better way of working. Since then my focus has been on enabling teams.

I like to help people look at work differently – to help them know when to make their own decision and when they need to involve others. Success for me is having people set and achieve targets that are above my expectation. I hope that people will come up with things on their own that I could never have thought of. It’s really about getting people focused on what a great company environment looks like and get everyone rowing in the same direction.

Q: What is the most important tip you would give to clients of Circuitwise in developing and manufacturing their products?

Pick the right partner and ensure they are the right fit for you. Ensure your reason for choosing a manufacturing partner is clearly understood by yourself and them – e.g. speed of launch, flexibility, cost etc.

Circuitwise is uniquely suited for customers building high-reliability products. When we build the right relationship, our customers are ultimately able to out-perform their competition with us as the manufacturing partner. If you are open in the relationship on what you need and what the long-term plan is for your product and company, we can best tailor our solution to meet your needs.

Q: What are your favourite activities outside of work? What are you most enthusiastic about?

Relationships are important to me, including family, friends and colleagues. I like having deep discussions with people that are impactful. If you really care about people you can have deep conversations. So, I like to have a lot of BBQs and take the opportunity to get to know people deeply.

I also like to travel and coming to Australia during the pandemic is a great opportunity. I expect to spend a lot of weekends in the car visiting parts of NSW.

My main hobby is golf, which I play most weekends in the Canadian summer. Although I am far from good at golf, I find it is the best way to see the country so I look forward to exploring courses around Sydney.

Q: Where did you grow up? What was it about your childhood that brought you to this industry?

I grew up in Toronto (Canada’s largest city). I went to school in Kingston, Ontario and lived in Edmonton, Alberta for several years early in my career.

I was schooled as a chemical engineer and worked in the industrial gas industry. I then transferred to the electronic manufacturing services industry. My brother, an accountant, was one of the founders of Creation Technologies and asked if I was up for a challenge. He said that I would have to buy my job by investing in Creation. It was the best thing I ever did and that led to a 21-year career with the company.

Circuitwise is proud to have supported Women’s Health Week by sponsoring a webinar on FemTech last week with the NSW Active MedTech Community.

FemTech is an approach to MedTech development that puts the perspective of women first to ensure the technology meets their needs. This webinar takes a closer look at the scope of this field and why it is needed. The field naturally covers technologies relating specifically to women, such as fertility, period-tracking, pregnancy, sexual wellness, reproductive health, menopause and mental health, to name a few.

As much of MedTech has been developed by men, there has been a consequential male-focussed bias in the way products and services have been developed, including a lack of development at all. This webinar describes the scope of FemTech and explores what can be done to improve the development of FemTech products and service to improve women’s health.

The overview is presented by the Sydney Ambassador of the FemTech Collective and FemTech consultant Megan Capriccio. Megan will be supported by a panel of leaders in the FemTech industry including Sarah McDonald, CEO of Baymatob and Dr Michelle Perugini, CEO of Life Whisperer.

Circuitwise general manager Serena Ross was interviewed earlier this week by ABC News on our role in an Australian consortium of companies developing emergency ventilators for the Australian government. The news item was broadcast on ABC News. It may be viewed for a short time on ABC’s iView at the 23rd minute in the Sunday 31/5/2020 bulletin.

The film crew came to Circuitwise’s facilities to film manufacturing of the printed circuit board assemblies being used to control 2000 ventilators. The ventilators are being developed for the NOTUS Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program led by Melbourne-based Grey Innovation. Grey won a $31.3 million contract with the Federal Government to deliver the ventilators by the end of July.

Ms Ross was interviewed by the ABC’s Western Sydney reporter Kathleen Calderwood. The theme of the news item was not just on the ventilator program but on efforts underway to raise awareness of local manufacturing capability.

Serena Ross said she was pleased to be able to represent a range of other companies in the electronics sector that can provide advanced manufacturing services to Australian companies looking to go Australian-made.

“We are just one of over 2000 companies that put their hand up to help. In electronics, we have shown we are now competitive with Asia by investing in advanced technology and rigorous quality systems to enable manufacturing of high-reliability product like medical devices.

“There will be many other companies in other manufacturing sectors that have raised their competitiveness and now warrant a closer look from companies that have blindly assumed that they should go offshore. These companies should realise that the new smart move is to manufacture in Australia.”

Press Release: 4 May 2020

Circuitwise has joined a consortium to manufacture emergency ventilators being developed as part of Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Circuitwise will deliver printed circuit board assemblies to control 2000 ventilators being developed by a consortium of companies led by Melbourne-based Grey Innovation. Grey won a $31.3 million contract with the Federal Government to deliver the ventilators by the end of July.

Circuitwise general manager Serena Ross said she was humbled her company was chosen to deliver the critically important electronic controls in such an important project and to be part of the resurgence in Australia’s ability to manufacture advanced technologies locally.

“This pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of our supply chains and product developers are now realising that the new smart move is to manufacture their sub-assemblies in Australia, rather than Asia,” Ross said.

Grey’s NOTUS Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program is supported by the Victorian Government and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre. Victoria may purchase a further 2000 ventilators and Grey Innovation is hopeful the ventilator will also be attractive to other countries, having already fielded inquiries from Asia.

The program will manufacture under license a mechanical ventilator design from UK-based Smiths Medical. Smiths has been at the forefront of the UK government’s efforts to ramp up that country’s supply of ventilators.

According to Grey’s executive chairman Jefferson Harcourt, the decision to use a design that was already certified was the best approach.

“Using a certified design means that Grey only has to prove equivalence to Australian regulators. Certifying a new ventilator design developed from scratch would have been infeasible in the timelines required.”

The new smart move is to manufacture in Australia

Circuitwise was chosen to join the consortium because it is one of Australia’s leading ISO 13485 certified contract manufacturers of medical devices. It is already working with other medical technology clients delivering essential equipment for hospitals including CT injection, sterilisation, radiology and remote healthcare. Circuitwise services highly innovative Australian-owned business such as Nanosonics, right through to global giants such as Bayer and Siemens.

Grey Innovation has been guided by a medical and clinical advisory team including Prof. Rinaldo Bellomo, Prof. David Story and Prof. Bruce Thompson, representing a range of universities and other medical institutions in Melbourne.

“Ventilators are the next step from supplying oxygen via respirator to the patient who is having difficulty breathing; they are essentially life-support devices that take over the breathing for patients,” explained Prof Thompson.

“The ventilator design is lightweight and portable and has been selected for its ability to be easily transferred to us for the actual production, and its ease of use for our medical teams.”

There is a range of companies in the consortium Grey Innovation has brought together. ANCA and Marand are doing machining of critical components and sub-assemblies and Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions is making the test equipment required for the ventilators. The other partners in the consortium led by Grey Innovation include Planet Innovation, Braemac and Hosico.

Circuitwise is a 100% Australian-owned contract manufacturer of electronic devices, specialising in complex products such as those used in the medical and mining industries. Situated in Bella Vista NSW.

We are supporting the campaign for Australian made in electronics manufacturing.

UPDATE: 3 August 2020: Product Launched

Just a few short months after starting the project Grey Innovation Group Pty Ltd has shipped the first of the NOTUS Viviere emergency ventilators that Circuitwise helped manufacture, with the delivery of the product’s PCB assemblies.

See the official Tweet from Minister Karen Andrews https://lnkd.in/gv76P6r and the post from Grey Innovation celebrating the first shipment at https://lnkd.in/gzJ7wme

Circuitwise Electronics Manufacturing has won a new contract with global powerhouse Siemens and created a little bit of history in the progress – helping reverse the tide of electronics manufacturing being outsourced to Asia.

Circuitwise is to manufacture the printed circuit board assemblies for the Communications Module of Siemens Fusesaver and the Compact Modular Recloser (CMR). Both products are one of a kind.

Fusesaver is the world’s fastest vacuum circuit-breaker for medium-voltage (MV) outdoor power distribution systems and the CMR features integrated self-powering from line-voltage, a world-first technology.

In 2018 Siemens opened a new facility for its Australian Competence Centre of intelligent overhead switching technology. The new site houses production lines for reclosing devices, including the Fusesaver and Compact Modular Recloser. Both products are developed in Australia and exported.

PCB assemblies for the Fusesaver Communications Module were initially outsourced to manufacturers in two different countries in Asia. During a recent review of the production arrangements, Circuitwise was asked to quote. The review considered factors such as cost of freight, duty, the mix of high and low volume work, and speed to market. When the data was analysed over a three-year period, Circuitwise was found to deliver a lower overall price position.

Siemens strategic procurement specialist Brian Usher said: “In addition to their competitive pricing, we found that the responsiveness and customer focus of Circuitwise made the case for manufacturing in Australia compelling.

“Requests for updated quotes were delivered within an hour and they were proactive in making constructive suggestions. We liked the dynamic and energetic nature of a young management team, along with the conscientiousness and dedication that comes with a family business.”

Circuitwise general manager Serena Ross said she was proud to be helping change the tide of electronics manufacturing being outsourced to Asia.“With the most advanced high-speed SMT production lines in place, we have known we were close to price parity with Asian manufacturers for some time now. It is pleasing to get confirmation from a company like Siemens”, Serena said. “

When you take into account the risks and inconveniences of dealing with Asian manufacturers, the case for manufacturing in Australia is becoming attractive for many original equipment manufacturers.”

The case particularly stacks up for high-value products that are subject to strict regulatory approval processes, such as those in medical, mining and aerospace industries. Manufacturers are typically required to have full traceability of components and absolute reliability that is not easily found elsewhere.

Circuitwise has been investing in sophisticated computer systems delivering the reliability that cannot be matched by low-cost providers in Asia. Coupled with smart designs that minimise the need for manual labour, we are finding that more and more Australian companies are choosing to manufacture locally.” Fusesaver is the world’s fastest vacuum circuit-breaker.

The device‘s protection algorithm detects a fault current, opens and clears the fault in as little as half a cycle (10ms). The device is self-powered from line current and can either protect or replace a fuse. Features of the system include multi-phase protection with grouped Fusesaver devices communicating with each other. The Communications Module provides a short-range wireless link and supplies a backup energy source during periods without line current.

Showcasing world-first technology, the CMR is designed to help energy networks in the fight against outages caused by transient faults. The lightweight device features integrated self-powering from line-voltage, a small footprint and the ability for wireless firmware and configuration updates, addressing a range of utility needs.

Circuitwise is a 100% Australian-owned contract manufacturer of electronic devices, specialising in complex products such as those used in the medical and mining industries. Situated in Bella Vista NSW, the company employs over 70 people.

Circuitwise is proud to be organising and sponsoring the NSW Active MedTech Community, which was launched today. The mission of the new community is saving and improving lives by making it easier to develop medical devices with electronics and software.

MedTech entrepreneurs face steep learning curves in multiple disciplines required to develop a product. To help reduce the learning curve for entrepreneurs, the community will run a series of thought leadership webinars and events with expert MedTech service providers.

The first activity of the community was a MedTech Hypothetical session. The session showcased an early stage startup and aimed to identify critical success factors for taking the project forward.

The case study was on MOSkin, a radiation dosimeter technology was developed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics at the University of Wollongong and is being commercialised by Electrogenics Laboratories.

Up to half of the patients who receive radiotherapy will suffer some level of collateral organ or tissue damage leading to a decline in quality of life, which can be debilitating or even lead to secondary tumors. The MOSkin project aims to develop a single-use, disposable sensing system, customised for use during a variety of cancer treatments, as well as angiogram, diagnostic and interventional scans. The device will have a small electronic device attached to the sensor to community the dose a patient is receiving, in real time.

During the panel session at community launch, Circuitwise General Manager Serena Ross offered a key piece of advice – that the developers focus on the testing bottleneck as much the assembled cost of each device. Because the MOSkin product will be high-volume and disposable, the temptation will be to focus on the lowering the component cost. However the cost of testing the device, an integral part of the manufacturing process, can dwarf the component and assembly cost. Unfortunately many product developers leave this critical step until the last minute, often when it is too late to optimise the design for testing.

There is a perception that developing active MedTech products such as MOSkin is hard – so hard that it scares off a lot of people with otherwise great ideas. The community is seeking to change that perception by identifying critical success factors in the disciplines required for successful MedTech commercialisation.

Circuitwise encourages anyone involved in the MedTech industry, from any discipline, to join the NSW Active Medtech community.

Circuitwise today hosted a visit today from a group of aspiring and inspiring undergraduates from three different universities. Organised by FLEDGE Innovation Labs, the students were studying either biomedical or electrical engineering. The 23 students came from the University of Newcastle, Macquarie University, and Sydney University.

The group were on an educational day trip that took in Circuitwise’s neighbour Resmed. The purpose of the visit was to better understand the electronics manufacturing process. After a tour of the factory floor, a presentation was given covering every step of the manufacturing process, with tips on how to optimise electronic designs for manufacture.

What we found inspiring about this group of young engineers was the wide range of questions that clearly showed an astute understanding of the complexities of the medical device industry.

The CEO of FLEDGE, Gary Jones, said It was very rewarding to see our tour fully booked, and admired the effort made by all the students to attend a day-long event, particularly those who travelled from Newcastle.

Gary said “the students asked a lot of great questions about manufacturing, quality management, costs and customers, which reinforces our view that students who think holistically enjoy significantly better employment prospects.

“One student has already approached FLEDGE for an internship position, and we’re planning to put something in place for them over summer break, with a possibility of further work in 2020,” Gary said.

“We found a job for another student, helping to design PCBs for a social-impact project, and of course we hope the PCBs will be assembled at Circuitwise.”

FLEDGE is an incubator that specialises in Medical devices, relating to diagnosis and treatment of disease/injury, as well as the monitoring and management of health. FLEDGE operates as a profit-recycling social enterprise and one of its core values is to support the next generation of technology leaders and innovators.

Gary said: “We sponsor a number of student societies involved in innovation and medicine, mainly through our internship programmes and mentorship of student projects.

“We also believe there’s no substitute for practical experience when it comes to promoting innovation. It’s important for students to have the first-hand experience of how things are actually made, and to establish relationships with the best manufacturers and service providers in the industry.”

Circuitwise today hosted a visit by engineering students from the University of Sydney, as part of their professional engagement program.

The program consists of site visits and participation in educational events, in addition to the more traditional work experience and internship components. Completion of the program qualifies student to become members of Engineers Australia and helps form a habit of continuing professional education, required of professional engineers.

The purpose of site visits is to give students a better insight into real world engineering practice and put their theoretical learning into context. Students are required to reflect on their experience and share them in workshops each semester, developing their interpersonal and professional skills.

The Manager of Education Engagement and Partner Relationships at the university’s engineering faculty, Keiran Passmore, said the overall aim of the program is develop well rounded engineers. Circuitwise is pleased to be able to contribute to this process.

It is perhaps the longest leadership transition in the history of Australian electronics manufacturing. However, the owners of Circuitwise Electronics have decided to formally announce the passing of the leadership baton to the next generation of the Ross family.

Siblings Serena and Sean Ross have officially taken over the day to day management of the company, as their parents Roz and Greg Ross transition into retirement.

Serena and Sean have been in and around the company since they were small children, starting their apprenticeship helping out on the factory floor. Towards the end of their schooling, they would regularly work for the company in the evenings and school holidays, rotating through each area on the factory floor. Their grounding in this core operational function means they know every aspect of the business inside out.

Sean gravitated toward the technical side of the business and studied electronics. He became highly proficient in mechanical and engineering tasks, and now leads the operational side of the business.

Serena obtained a bachelor of Business Management and had a strong focus in the administration side of the business. For a few years Serena branched out on her own, starting her own fashion business. After six years, she sold her business and returned to Circuitwise to focus on the procurement and sales departments. Serena now leads all the business management functions of the company as General Manager.

Watching their children take increasing responsibility of the business has been immensely satisfying to Roz and Greg Ross. Two years ago, they began the final stage of the transition, ensuring Serena and Sean understood all remaining aspects of the business, and increasingly fronting all business interactions.

Roz Ross founded the business, then known as Tresmine, in 1987. Greg had been working other technology companies and saw the need for outsourced PCB assembly. Initially, the business operated out the couple’s living room but quickly expanded, requiring separate premises.

As the business grew, Greg left his employment to help build the new company’s information systems keeping track of customer orders, different builds, component supply and delivery deadlines. As the quality revolution took off, Greg continued to expand the technology to develop one of the most advanced Manufacturing Resource Planning systems in the industry.

Roz focused on managing the business as a whole and took particular pleasure in developing a loyal workforce with a great culture, which underpins the high-quality standards of the company. Today the business employs over 70 people with a retention rate that is the envy of the industry – 90% of employees have been with Circuitwise for over ten years.

This employment trend is likely to continue as the staff have all known Sean and Serena for many years. Some of the staff’s children are even starting to join the company.

Roz is still a director of the company and Greg can’t resist dropping into the offices regularly to provide guidance as needed.

With the passing of the day-to-day managing of the business passing to Serena and Sean, the only thing that is changing is what is meant to change – continual innovation in the business, as required by the company’s ISO 9001 quality management system.

Sean is continually looking for ways to further streamline operations and innovate the technology. He has taken over operation of Circuitwise’s sister company, Cluso Vision Systems, which exports the best of the company’s innovations to non-competing markets around the world.

If you have any questions about the new management arrangements, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Circuitwise today hosted an educational workshop for developers of advanced sensing technologies. The event was organised by the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN) and delivered by the CEO of Genesys Electronics Design, one of our key electronics design partners.

The participants were researchers and business development managers from four different universities, including the University of NSW, University of Wollongong, Macquarie University and Sydney University. The NSSN covers fields as diverse as optical sensing for medical diagnostics, nano-scale sensing, plasmonic sensors for DNA, and even wearable sensors woven into fabrics.

While researchers are highly expert in their fields, they are always looking for insights from experienced commercial designers and manufacturers of electronics products.

Genesys worked with NSSN to develop an educational workshop that highlights what is required to create a commercial device that is scalable, environmentally robust, meets regulatory requirements and is ready for global distribution.

Success factors shared include how to manage your learning curve around IoT technologies, moving beyond MVP to deliver a maximum viable architecture and the importance of modularity at both a hardware and software level.

The event also focused on the practicalities of designing and manufacturing printed circuit boards for commercial production. A tour of Circuitwise’s facilities was included, showcasing our advanced surface mount technologies.

NSSN was established in 2016 with funding from the NSW Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer, as a strategic innovation focus area of the NSW government. The aim is to explore how advanced sensing can help solve key challenges in energy, resources, manufacturing, the environment, transport, agriculture, space and health.

Circuitwise will be hosting periodic repeats this workshop. Contact us if you want to participate in future events.