TTM Technologies and Jabil: Delivering Results to the Right Market at the Right Time

Headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., TTM Technologies, Inc. is global leader in technology solutions and PCB manufacturing. With a laser focus on time-to-market, TTM's time-critical, advanced technology and manufacturing services enable customers to shorten the time required to bring their game-changing electronics to market. And that’s just the type of partner Jabil values.

A strategic supplier to Jabil for nearly two decades, TTM focuses on volume production of technologically advanced PCBs, backplane assemblies and RF microwave components used across multiple Jabil customer sectors, markets and products.

“Working with the Jabil team, we conduct transactional business, as well as meet OEM and design needs,” says Rob Farrell, Vice President of Sales for Networking & Computing at TTM Technologies. “I've been calling on Jabil personally since the early 1990s, which increases our efficiency and adds value to both companies.”

“TTM is Jabil’s largest PCB supplier, we benefit tremendously from their leadership, knowledge and expertise. Continuity and communication from their sales and customer service teams brings value to Jabil,” says Allan Clark, Director of Supplier Relationship Management at Jabil.

Vanguards of Manufacturing Technology

Successful companies don’t wait for others to take the lead. That’s one of the reasons why the Jabil-TTM Technologies partnership works so well. “Our long-standing partnership with TTM provides a total solution on PCB supply and engineering development. They provide solutions to improve PCB design, material utilization and cost management. We value TTM’s team effort and support to Jabil,” Clark says.

“Jabil likes to push the envelope. They like to align their business units with where their customers are going. And we take a lot of pride in that,” Farrell says.

“Our ability to launch programs aligns well with what Jabil is doing for its customers. It's more than just putting components on boards. It's understanding these markets and really driving to success,” Farrell adds. “Our ability to support Jabil comes from our ability to be a one-stop solution, bringing in the engineering resources and support to better understand what the challenges are, and what type of services and solutions we can provide.”

Market Specialization Delivers Results

“About half of the business we do together is OEM directed, where we have more of a transactional relationship,” explains Farrell. “But the exciting part of the Jabil relationship is the design aspect of it as we look at where your company is going, understand those market segments and try to develop capabilities to support those initiatives.”

“Due to the way our companies match up from a business unit standpoint, we have a very good portfolio to support all aspects of the business from an electronics standpoint. We have niche business units that I’d consider to be Centers of Excellence that are similar to Jabil’s areas of focus,” he notes. Those verticals are:

• Aerospace & Defense/Specialty
• Automotive & Medical, Industrial & Instrumentation
• RF & Specialty Components
• Communications & Computing

“In order to serve these industries, we have a global structure with 24 production sites worldwide, Farrell explains. “I think that one of the things that attracted our companies to each other is that our footprint matches up.”

Relationships That Work

“The executive teams have been very close for 15, 20 years also,” Farrell says.

“Because of the long-term relationship we've established with Jabil, we are operating from the executive team on down to the buyers – and really everything in between – including engineers, design centers and the facilities that are actually doing the assembly,” he says.

In addition to Farrell’s long-time commitment to the partnership, one of TTM’s Global Account Managers, Brian McClannahan, has spent virtually his whole career supporting Jabil.

When teams work together for decades, the collective solutions are more powerful than those created in a vacuum. The ultimate winner is the customer – just as it should be.